Inside Little Dom’s Seafood, Opening Up the Coast from LA

The team behind longtime Los Feliz hot spot Little Dom’s is ready to expand into Carpinteria, the surfside city well up the Central Coast. The new Little Dom’s Seafood sits just blocks from the beach south of Santa Barbara proper, and starting this week will offer a casual mix of red sauce basics and seafood staples like uni, oysters, crudos, and more.

Owners Brandon Boudet and Warner Ebbink are well-known operators with years of experience in Los Angeles, turning out pastas, chicken parm, sandwiches, and cocktails from their 12-year-old corner hangout on Hillhurst. They also operate the 101 Coffee Shop and cocktail bar MiniBar.

The jump more than an hour north to Carpinteria is something new altogether, though the tight-knit community is not altogether unknown to traveling LA weekenders, and has itself been asking for an upgrade to its dining scene for years. It helps that Boudet lives part-time in Ojai these days, and Ebbink has called Carpinteria home for some time.

Boudet’s menu is a mix of $19 spaghetti and meatball plates, wood-fired seafood and pizzas, and approachable dishes like a $14 meatball burger. There are salads and sides and loads of boiled shrimp and smoked fish rillettes to enjoy too, along with lots of wine and rotating desserts from pastry chef Ann Kirk.

As for the space, Little Dom’s seafood is decked out in rustic woods, deep reds, and whimsical touches like sea foam green flooring in the bar area, and a wooden pelican statue welcoming diners at the front door. Of course, with California governor Gavin Newsom’s current ban on indoor dining in place for now, there won’t. be any eating inside just yet. Instead, expect room for three dozen or so diners out on the patio, with seats available only by reservation on Resy.

Little Dom’s Seafood opens this Thursday at 686 Linden Avenue in Carpinteria, California. Expect dinner hours only to start, from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.

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