Owner/Chef David LeFevre took over the space formerly occupied by Talia’s on Manhattan Ave in Manhattan Beach with his latest restaurant: Fishing with Dynamite.
Since it is only two doors down from his MB Post restaurant, LeFevre and his other staff are able to bounce between the two establishments quite easily. At Fishing With Dynamite, He returns to his seafood roots established when he was executive chef at Water Grill in Downtown LA.
“Under promise, over deliver! Integrity, Respect, Humility” are the words on Chef David LeFevre’s Twitter profile. Consistent with that theme, the exterior of the restaurant is somewhat minimalist with the building painted grey and limited signage. Even when I happened to see him assembling dishes, he said “Hi, my name is David, what’s yours?” Now, how many times has a chef greeted you that way?
Inside, the restaurant has a very positive vibe. The interior benefits from an abundance of glass windows resulting in a lot of interior light. The staff was extremely attentive, professional and well trained. Water glasses remained filled and I was amazed that each of our plates arrived about 5 minutes after we ordered them. I was happy that our server was familiar with our dishes as well as the wine we selected.
Fishing with Dynamite features east coast tradition with west coast innovation. Menus are created and printed daily and feature items from three “schools”: Old School (traditional seafood dishes), New School (items that the chef would like to highlight, and No School (non-seafood). LeFevre even has handwritten notes with personal messages in the menus.
The specialty cocktail list looked extremely intriguing. Here are a few of their selections, each priced at $12:
- The BFG – lemon drop w/ tito’s, chamomile, honey, lemon & smoke
- Rag Doll – fizz w/ old grove, blueberry, rosemary, egg & violet
- Original Gangster – boulevardier w/ white dog, aperol, vya sweet & grapefruit
Craft beers dominate their beer offerings. With the exception of Duchesse De Bourgogne – Brouwerij Verhaeghe from Belgium, all of the others are based in the US. The 24th Street Pale Ale by Strand Brewing is from Torrance. Beers range in price from $6.50 to the Belgian offering at $12.50.
LeFevre pays homage to his mother by including her squash rolls with rosemary butter. They reminded me of the signature MB Post buttermilk biscuits; same caramel color and texture. Combined with the rosemary butter, they were delicious.
We started out with two selections from their raw bar: Little Neck Clams and Peruvian scallops on the half shell. It was accompanied with two sauces: yuzu koshu mayo and remoulade as well as horseradish. I later found out that yuzu koshu mayo is mayonnaise made with fresh eggs and the juice from the yuzu fruit. The yuzu koshu mayo was a bit tangy and worked very well with both items.
The clam chowder was described by our server as “summer-style” and not as dense as some that I’ve experienced. It included a fair amount of carrots, onions and sliced baby white potatoes and it was more like a stew than a chowder. What surprised us is that the clams were still in the shell.
Loup de Mer is a European sea bass that is finely textured, sweet and mild. It was grilled with the skin on and served over fennel with a red wine reduction. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed that dish. In fact, it was my favorite dish of the evening. All of the flavors worked very well and I enjoyed the crispiness of the skin.
The creamy polenta had an ultra smooth consistency and it tasted just like it included fresh corn. Parmesan reggiano, mascarpone and rosemary were other ingredients in the polenta. After tasting it, we both wondered if they made their corn meal in-house.
Chef Ray Hayashi developed the tuna tartare with kimchi furikake. Now if you know kimchi it’s typically fermented cabbage with other ingredients. On the other hand, furikake is a dry fish-based seasoning that is typically placed on top of Japanese white rice. It came out beautifully presented. Diced Asian pears were on the bottom, followed by the tuna and the furikake was used as a crust to top the tuna. House made shrimp chips also accompanied the dish. I enjoyed the sweetness of the pears combined with the saltiness of the furikake.
My daughter ordered key lime pie because she knows that it is my favorite dessert. The graham cracker crust was thicker than most and a bit crunchy. It was topped with kaffir lime meringue. Kaffir lime is commonly used to make Thai curry paste. After sampling their version of key lime pie, I’d have to say that it is my new favorite dessert.
Fishing with Dynamite advertises that they don’t take reservations. I did find out from the staff that they limit reservations to two tables in the restaurant and make 6 reservations available daily.
Overall, the food was delicious and the staff was delightful and attentive. If you enjoy seafood like I do, you should pay a visit to Fishing with Dynamite. Even if you don’t enjoy seafood, there is plenty to choose from.
- Fishing with Dynamite
- 1148 Manhattan Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA. (310) 893-6299
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eatFWD
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChefDLeFevre