Beer, on the other hand, is taken seriously, with a fantastic list and different glasses for different brews. I can particularly recommend the Lost Abbey Inferno Ale to pair with your mussels or fish and chips. Its balanced malty heft is a gorgeous match for Connie & Ted's very good french fries.
Cimarusti has brought in Providence's pastry chef, David Rodriguez, to make classic American desserts that just may restore your faith in things like brownies à la mode and whoopie pies. OK, maybe not whoopie pies (a nostalgia I could do without, no matter how well-prepared), but Rodriguez makes a damn fine rocky road brownie and an even better strawberry-rhubarb pie.
After originally planning to incorporate lunch service, Cimarusti and service guru Donato Poto (who has long run the floor at Providence and is also a partner at Connie & Ted's) have decided to stick to dinner for now, with lunch served only Friday through Sunday. After the hushed room and relative calm of years at Providence, the 330 or so people coming though the door daily at Connie & Ted's must feel like a punch in the face every night. Still, they're handling it incredibly well, and though I get the impression that no one in the management team is sleeping much, quality and service have yet to suffer due to the mayhem.
PHOTO BY ANNE FISHBEIN
Oysters on the half-shell
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Which is what we might expect from professionals at this level. Connie & Ted's is not the most exciting opening of the year, nor is it the most creative food in town. For that, try Cimarusti's other restaurant. This, rather, is a tribute to a set of ingredients, a style of cooking and an ocean far away that first inspired many of L.A.'s great chefs.
See more of Anne Fishbein's beautiful photography of Connie and Ted's.
CONNIE & TED'S | Three stars | 8171 Santa Monica Blvd., W. Hlywd. | (323) 848-2722 | connieandteds.com | Mon.-Thurs., 5-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sun., 11:30 a.m.- 11 p.m. | Entrees, $15-$44 | Full bar | Valet parking
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