Chef David LeFevre to Open M.B. Post Next Month

When David LeFevre left The Water Grill last September, he made it clear that he was moving on to open his own concept and that it would be opening in Spring 2011. A South Bay resident, LeFevre has been posting plywood photos, logos and tempting menu tastings on his Facebook page for the past few months, teasing friends and fans. Now we see that he's a man of his word. It's basically springtime and we have the details on M.B. Post, a social house set to open next month in a former post office in Manhattan Beach. Beverage Director/GM Jerry Garbus and Mike Simms of Simms Restaurants (Manhattan Beach’s Simmzy’s, Lazy Dog Café, and Tin Roof Bistro) are also in on this venture.

While LeFevre is known for his Michelin-starred cuisine, M.B. post will sport a playful, artisan menu of small shared plates, hand-crafted cocktails, and small production wines. Seasonal dishes fit in to standard categories: Breads; Charcuterie, Cheese and Larders; Vegetable dishes; Seafood dishes; and Meat dishes. Here, breads are elevated into dishes of their own. There are delicious-sounding things like Bacon Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits with Vermont Maple Butter, for example and Sea Salt and Caraway Pretzels with Horseradish Mustard. Cheeses and charcuterie get served with “sumin sumin’s”: house-made mustards, preserves, pickles and other house-made accompaniments.

Other dishes to watch out for/drool over: Pomegranate, Lavender, and Feta strewn Cous Cous with Mint and Persian Cucumber or Blistering Chinese Long beans; chili-pork and Thai Basil; Pale Ale Battered Halibut Cheeks with Meyer Lemon Remoulade and Devil’s Gulch Rabbit, grilled Figs, Sage.

There are five beers on tap, 12 by the bottle. 10 signature cocktails will be done up in the now-standard fresh-squeezed juice, house-made syrup-style. 100 wines will be available by the bottle with 30 by the glass.

Steven Jones of S.F. Jones Architects (Wolfgang Puck’s Spago and Chinios, and the modern Italian mozzarella bar Obika) designed the space to recreate the look and feel of a 1960s post office. Exposed rafters, cement floors, sun-bleached reclaimed wood, communal tables, and a color scheme influenced by the local lifeguard stands are sure to give the place a beachy feel with vintage structure. M.B. Post will open for dinner daily from 5PM to 10PM Sunday-Thursday, and 5PM to 11PM Friday-Saturday. Resy line: (310) 545-5405. [EaterWire]