Silver Lake’s New Ceviche Specialist Puts Raw Fish on Pure Display

The marble bar is set, the brass shelving is in, and the seafood is on ice. It’s time for Ceviche Project to go legit.

After years of spanning the globe, popping up at hotels, food festivals, and soon-to-be-demolished restaurant spaces, Ceviche Project chef/owner Octavio Olivas now has a home all his own. The sliver of a storefront sits along Hyperion Avenue in Silver Lake, where one can sit and watch the sunshine stream in as the cars roll past. The compact room is mostly meant to be accessible for bar dining, since that’s where the real in-house show will be. Olivas is a maestro at sourcing superior fish, and works his ceviches and tostadas with more than a little bit of flash and flair. Add in some sake cocktails, and all of a sudden it’s a night to remember.

As for what’s on the menu, Olivas will be doing a variety of takes on ceviche, scaling ingredients up or down depending on need. There’s the razor clam ceviche with loads of citrus; the kanpachi tostada with trout roe and avocado mousse; or an aguachile with fish chicharron. In short: This is prime summertime eating, in one of LA’s most laid-back dining corridors.

The glowing new Ceviche Project opens next Wednesday night, keeping daily dinner hours only to start, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Want in? Just step through the front door; Olivas will be waiting behind the bar.

Ceviche Project. 2524 Hyperion Ave., Los Angeles, CA.

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