Fraiche

We went to Fraiche to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday. The food was very tasty; the ambiance comfortable; the service very pleasant and attentive. What was NOT OK was the arrogant person seated at the table beside us, who loudly complained about just about everything. At one point, he called the server over to exclaim, ""This is f***ed! This is totally f***ed!"" (And he would know, since he ran his own restaurant- we overheard it all) His noisy protestations made us so uncomfortable, we could barely enjoy our evening. I don?t hold this against Fraiche -- in fact, they handled the situation beautifully -- but I do regret the evening, and can only hope that the restaurant will develop a more faithful and well-mannered clientele in the future. Or, hopefully, future Fraiche-goers will not be as unlucky as we were. Pros: Great food, attentive service Cons: Tight seating more

If you're paying out of your own pocket, it's just not worth it. There's a very limited by-the-glass wine selection (although, there's an encyclopedia of wines by the bottle), a solid, but uninspired dinner menu and mildly snooty service. But, if you're itching to spend 13 dollars on a half dozen raw oysters, by all means, go here. \r Pros: Nice space. You won't have a BAD meal. Cons: Pretty much everything else. more

This place has seriously some of the best desserts! Everything I had there was delicious! The Fruits de Mer was divine...The decor - beautifully open and rustic. I had a hard time getting over the fact that this was Culver City! more

I was looking forward to try the wine and food there. However, when I arrive, I was directed to eat at the bar over the corner by the hostess since I am by myself. The wine I taste is pretty good, but I didn't stick around to try the food. more

This place is definitly a great find and you have to try it. From the service to the food everything was perfect. They have a really cute ourdoor patio to sit on too. Pros: food and scene are great more

Last week, I decided to try out Fraiche in Culver City. First, let me say that everything at Fraiche is beautiful, from the decor to the way the food is presented on the plate. We sat on the very large patio, which it was a perfect day for. The staff was very knowledgable as we asked many questions about the menu. Fraiche serves french and italian food, and everything was great. I ordered the Royale with Cheese which was one of the best cheeseburgers I have had in Los Angeles! Fraiche also has an extensive wine list, and the wine we had with our meal was perfect! Fraiche is a must if you are planning a trip to the Culver City area. Pros: Outdoor Patio, Great Food more

A group of 8 of us went for lunch to Fraiche this week, we sat on the patio which was nice, its a pretty large space out there. I shared a couple of dishes with my friend, the royal with cheese and the lamb rigatoni - both were very good. We all also shared a few desserts, the pudding and the cookie plate, those were amazing. more

Hi Everybody,\r I'm an employee here at Fraiche, and I just wanted to set a few things straight. Judging by some of the reviews, one might assume that we have a tyrannical owner running the front of the house or a haughty attitude amongst the wait staff. This is not the case. We are a small, simple restaurant, and we try to provide everyone with the same level of service. We don't make exceptions to our policies or provide ""special treatment"" for anyone. This is apparently very offensive to diners used to having their every demand met as long as they complain loudly enough.\r For example, a Mr. Feingold came in this past Saturday. He sat at a table in the dining room, but wanted to order items from the bar menu. Because the lounge experience is more relaxed than the dining room, we can offer a different choice if items, including fondue. We have a tiny kitchen, and we don't have the capacity to serve these items to the entire restaurant, so we never serve the bar menu in the dining room (even to the chef's mother, no kidding). When we explained this to him, he felt that we should make an exception for him, and he became very confrontational. And surprise, surprise, we ended up with a bad review! (posted 10/21 as djfeingold)\r I don't want to sound bitter, I just want to encourage everyone to take these ""reviews"" with a grain of salt. We have had guests who couldn't get a table because they didn't have a reservation, or got a table but wanted a different one, threaten to go online and write a bad review if they didn't get what they wanted. The reviews could be from guests who brought their own food or wine, but didn't want to pay a corkage/cake cutting fee. They could be from ex-employees looking for revenge. And the positive reviews could be written by friends or employees of the restaurant, just like this one!\r We can't be everything to everyone. We just try to provide great food, wine, cocktails and service without airs or pretense. more

I just happened to be walking by with my date looking for a place to eat and the cozy decor and interesting menu caught my eye. We were seated immediately on the heated patio and got down to the tough business of selecting what to eat. Our server was extremely nice and so helpful and she helped us choose a couple of fabulous glasses of red wine. I had the pumpkin soup with marshmallow (sounds weird but they seemed to be homemade and were to die for) and fried sage and then the lamb spezzatino. AMAZING! My date had the rigatoni lamb bolognese with rosemary. Also fantastic. I also loved the olive tapenade and the ciabatta and focaccia slices that came out first. I can't wait to go back! Pros: Service, ambiance, food, everything! Cons: Semi-pricy more

Owner/manager is the most rude, disrespectful restauranteur I have ever encountered. When I called him on his behavior, he ordered me to leave his restaurant, saying "" I don't care what you think. Get out. You mean nothing to me"". He even cursed at me in front of his staff! Simply extraordinary that someone in the service business can be that rude and bad behaviored. The wait staff warned me of his behavior, imagine how he must treat them if he can treat a paying customer so badly. more

Being a New Yorker it's usually nice to come to LA and the much more congenial restaurant scene. Unfortunately, Fraiche and especially the arrogant and untrained hostess, have transplanted the worst of New York and forgot to keep the best of what made New York scenes what they are. Called fifteen minutes before our 8:15 reservation to say we'd be ten minutes late because of traffic - showed up at 8:25 and was told they gave our table away since we were so inexcusably tardy - this was Fraiche, after all, she reminded me. Sadly, since I worked my way through school I was proficient enough to spot that none of the two tops were even beginning their meal - and they had several open that they claimed were full. After sitting at a table squeezed against the hostess stand and the doorline to get into this place I realized I was a fool for even spending a dollar on the establishment. I am under no illusions, I won't take this restaurant down with my review - the hostess will lose the good clientale over time to the competitive Culver City scene - and I'll be spending my generous expense account replete with enough high profile guests attached to it that someone else will profit. That is satisfying enough. Had a very good dinner at Wilson's, after deciding life was too short for rude and arrogant people. And if they're really that good they should open a place in New York and then we'll see if they're actually professionals. Please don't import your hostess though - in New York the consequences for being retarded are rather severe. Pros: Hot Spot Cons: Extremely Haughty and Rude more

Got a reservation for 4 at 8:15 on Open Table the night before. I was curious to see if they would honor the reservation ON TIME...and guess what...they did. Right on the money. The rest of the experience was wonderful. As for ""the rude manager,"" don't believe a word of it. Thierry Perez, the co-owner of Fraiche is very, very busy, but he wasn't too tied up to come to our table, discuss our order, and then surprise us with two bottles of incredible and rare red Rhones...for less than 50 bucks per bottle. These beauties were not even on the wine list! \r \r The food was expectedly wonderful. I had the farro salad and a double portion of the rabbit tortelli - the rest of the table had steak frites, which they proclaimed were spectacular. Classic French desserts were exactly on the money - not too sweet, not to rich and yet sophisticated, meaning not rustic or Italian in character.\r \r Our server was French/Swedish, personable, efficient and very, very charming. He wrote down the name of the wines, he saw to that we were attended to with speed and not one false move..all while the restaurant was PACKED. \r \r Noise level was medium...it's not a place for dimly lit romance, but definitely for a party of four or more who can chat comfortably at the table. We couldn't find valet parking, but there is ample public parking next door. It was cold that night, but there is plenty of space for outdoor seating. Dress code was ""smart casual,"" crowd was the general mix of Westsiders. All in all, we'd go there again in a heartbeat. The food is very, very good, the wine list outstanding. I'm still dreaming about those reds... Pros: The wine list with some incredibly rare wines for almost no money! Cons: Absolutely none! more

I've been wanting to try Fraiche since it opened in Culver City - I live and work in the area and had read so many great reviews about this place. For my 30th birthday I decided that this is where I wanted to go for my birthday dinner, and I'm SO glad it's where I chose to go. 5 of us went and each of us ordered something different (purely just because) and we all ended up sharing each others food because everything was amazing. The Beet salad and pumpkin soup were spectacular, but the Barley and Mushroom salads were awesome as well. The flank steak was perfectly cooked, the lamb stew with gnocchi was incredible, the pork was the best we'd ever tasted and the monkfish was flaky and great - the pasta dish (which was the special of the night) was just ok and the pasta was a bit crunchy! Oh well, can't win everything! Then came desert - I didn't have the chocolate cake but I heard it was divine! and the Paris-Brest and Pear Tartin were both scruptious and gone within seconds. Overall the experience was great and I will definitely go back to try all the other items on the menu and the bar menu which I found out serves until 12am! Pros: Food, Ambience, Ample parking Cons: Service was a bit slow, pasta was crunchy more

\r I went into Fraiche and was welcomed by this handesome french gengtlemen who was sooo pleasant to talk to. He helped myself and my husbnd to our table. So all these people on city search talking soo rude about this french guy they are probably some beverlyhills snobby rich people who think they are VIP beacuse they are from beverlyhills. But the couple of times i was there he treated everyone like VIP. Now lets stop talking about the snobby rich people and talk about how the food at fraiche is soooooo amazing. I had the Duck Leg Confit which has italian black rice , escarole, sherry wine. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW my mouth was wide open. And the desserts were amazing tooooo. The chef at Fraiche Jason Travi was amazing. more

The manager is extremely rude which definitely does not compensate for the mediocre food quality. There are a lot of other great restaurants in this area - I would avoid this overhyped-Hollywood-wannabe restaurant. Cons: Rude service more

We've been to Fraiche twice and the food is very good. Like most new restaurants they are still experiencing some Service issues but overall it's worth it. We havn't had the Reservation issues that others have complained about . When we arrived we were seated promptly. more

First we made a 7:30 pm reservation. Then they called to confirm and insisted we had said 7:00 pm. After enough aggravation, my party agreed to go at 7:00 pm. So my party shows precisely at 7:00 pm only to have the host tell us that our reservation is at 7:45 pm. The manager comes over and says, ""I don't even have to serve you."" So we left. I have never seen a manager that wanted to turn away customers when the customers had not tried to do anything except have their reservation honored. Good luck to anyone else who tries to go there. I don't know how places run like this stay in business. Cons: Serivce more

First trip - I was very impressed by the vast openness and beautiful decor of Fraiche and had very high expectations. The drinks were great - I particularly enjoyed the grape martini, my friends enjoyed their mojitos - but we missed out on the special sangria (maybe next time). When the food started arriving, however, I could tell the group was a bit disappointed. The appetizers were just ok - beet salad, calamari ... nothing too inspiring. The only great item was the corn soup - and that may be because I have a strange bent towards anything with corn in it. The entrees also were just ok - pasta dish was served a bit cold so it was a little congealed, the pork dish was not particularly flavorful and too fatty ... after the just so-so meal, we headed to a nearby restaurant for drinks and dessert. I may still try Fraiche for drinks and bar food, but it'll be a while before I attempt a full dinner there again. \r \r Second trip - much better so i'm increasing my ratings- my friend and i decided to play hooky on a friday and have a long leisurely lunch before catching a movie. She had the chicken milanese - yummy crispy cutlets of chicken with a bed of arugula. I had spaghetti vongole (clams) - so yummy! i slurped up every bite. Then we shared a chocolate mousse - mmmm, served with a dollop of cream and 2 chocolate truffles. What made the experience even better was the lovely and attentive service - our bartender/waitress was super sweet and kept giving us free drinks. (Granted we ordered lots of drinks already, but it's nice to be surprised by free shots and extra dessert wine) - all simple bonuses that make the experience just that much better. :) I'm definitely coming back!!"" Pros: Interesting Drinks; Beautiful Space Cons: Food and Service were Average more

i finally tried this new spot in cc and i thought it was just ok. i thought the server and hostess were friendly although i thought that the service in general was really slow. i ordered the caprese salad and that was very good and very fresh, but i figure, it's hard to butcher caprese salad.... i did order the pork chop and i had better elsewhere. don't get me wrong, it was not bad, it just was not great. the price should have been cheaper for so-so chops. my friends ordered the corn chowder and some pasta dishes. they seem to have enjoyed their meal. i had the mojito, which was a bit too tart. i did enjoy the grape martini a lot. more

Its been a few hours and i am still dreaming of the marvelous branzini fish dish i enjoyed at fraiche in the now trendy area of culver city. never in the world have a i tasted purple potatoes kissed with notable olive oil so good. mixed nicely with haricots verts. magnificent. i must go here again. if only to enjoy that dish once more. atmosphere is fancy but cozy. the service is friendly. i must return as soon as possible. no complaints, only praise. Pros: Limited but Select Menu with delicious ingredients, Burrata Cons: Pricey, but worth it more