When Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in 1971, her philosophy was simple yet, for the time, radical: use seasonal, local ingredients whenever possible. The idea transformed eating in California and, eventually, the rest of the country. So what exactly is California cuisine these days?
If you're Chris Jacobson, the top toque at Girasol, which he opened in early July in Studio City, it means amping up Ms. Waters's approach: he procures up to 80 percent of his restaurant's seasonal ingredients from local food purveyors.
His food purveyors include Pascal Baudar, a forager who regularly combs through nearby Angeles National Forest for seasonal ingredients, and Soledad Goats, a goat rescue farm in Mojave that produces the intensely flavorful goat cheese in Mr. Jacobson's berries and beets dish (a curious combination that worked wonderfully).
Mr. Jacobson, a "Top Chef" alum and Southern California native who has logged time at the wildly acclaimed Noma in Copenhagen, has two other distinctive proclivities: a heavy emphasis on texture (the toasted macadamia nuts in the hamachi with preserved grapefruit added a welcome, if unnecessary, crunch) and blending fruit into nearly everything (the grapefruit in that hamachi dish, grilled wagyu steak with watermelon, ultra-tender roasted chicken with a citrus jus). He eschews that tendency in the very satisfying (and obviously popular) fried whole red snapper.
Service is professional yet friendly to the point of being borderline officious. Before a waiter led a family of four to their table on a warm Sunday evening in late July, he took the 3-year-old girl from the tired-looking mother's arms and guided them through the L-shaped dining room (highlighted by a ceiling etched with backlit sunflower petals).
At odds with the menu's philosophy, the wine list is far from local. It stretches well beyond Napa to France and Italy. Sometimes even Californians have to leave California.
Girasol, 11334 Moorpark Street, Studio City, Calif.; (818) 924-2323; girasolrestaurant.com. An average meal for two, without drinks or tip, is about $70.