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Madame Chou Chou is currently in a soft-open mode that finds the chefs, owners, and bakers tweaking a short menu of made-from-scratch bistro eats and French pastries. But the incredibly cute space, much of it hand-designed by Parisian co-owner Erlyne Roestch, is complete, reflecting a jewel of dark mystery and Romani-reminiscent romance on a street of clean-lined, contemporary spaces. Natural wood, stark black walls, white trim, chalk drawings of "ghost furniture," and eerily beautiful, vintage details peek out between the bar, pastry display, and spacious back patio. Check out this slide show of Madame Chou Chou and see a very early menu below of its well-priced French-Morrocan-Italian cuisine, which will be redesigned often in the coming days until it feels as right as the room itself.

Madame Chou Chou, 2518 Main St. Santa Monica. 310-392-2509.

MENU
subject to change

Baby Lima Beans Salad $8
with shallots, goat cheese, and poached egg

Roasted Beet Napolean $7.75
with blue cheese and caramelized walnut

Moroccan Lentil Salad $8.75
with crispy duck prosciutto

Goat Cheese Salad $9
breaded goat cheese, pear, walnut, gastrique

Caesar Salad $9
served with poached egg

Hot Dishes

Wild Mushroom and Asparagus $8
served with a poached egg

Duck Confit $16
ginger citrus sauce, Moroccan pumpkin puree, and broccolini

Pork Belly $14
marcona puree, butterbeans, potato beaujolaid, xerez gastrique

Lamb Osso Bucco $15
served with gnocchi, pickled fennel, cipollini