The second half of chef Raphael Lunetta’s new powerhouse Santa Monica restaurant duo is here, as the aptly-named Lunetta arrives for service on Tuesday, June 20. A dim, inviting counterpart to the sunny Lunetta All Day (which practically shares and address and definitely shares a kitchen), this new dinner-and-drinks iteration is sure to draw in the neighborhood.
It helps that the big windows up front act as a sort of looking glass, letting passersby on Pico eye the midcentury touches and leather and wood finishes beyond. What they won’t see from the street, though, is the back lounge. Kitted out with a heavy carved wooden bar, plush high-backed chairs and a working fireplace, this is the pre- or post-dinner classic smoking room that Santa Monica never had — complete with casual landscape shots and brass-topped cafe tables. De Jong & Co. designed the entire restaurant.
Back up towards Pico guests will find Lunetta the man, overseeing a supremely open kitchen that comes complete with seven bar seats looking in on all the action. He spent years running Westside stalwart JiRaffe, and now settles in to a new gig working an 80-seat restaurant and a menu filled with California riffs on classic American fare.
Lunetta is a partnership with the Divide + Conquer, Inc., team (Maple Block Meat Co.). The dinner-only restaurant opens for service next week, keeping hours from 5:30 p.m. on, nightly. Guests will actually enter through the back off the parking lot.
Lunetta
2424 Pico Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA