Culver City’s cursed corner that once housed Sublime Food Lounge and later, Batch, is now serving as Muddy Leek. Sure, it sounds sort of like a broke, B-grade blues legend or a salirophiliac’s contribution to water-sports, but it’s actually a restaurant (surprise, person reading a restaurant news blog!). The name is actually intended to put chef Whitney Flood and his wife, Julie Retzlaff’s, made-from-scratch, super-seasonal approach front and center, rather than shout out their country collaborators, including Tutti Frutti, Weiser, Weredowski, and Windward Farms.
Muddy Leek, this couple’s first brick-and-mortar business, follows a six-year career as owners of Bon Melange Catering and features lunch and dinner with globally-motivated dishes like rabbit-pistaccio gallontine and Dungeness crab with harissa in a charcuterie section, chicken-fried bacon with tomato chutney, Merguez hot dogs, spicy chicken jjigae with kimchi and poached egg, and cardamom pot au creme for dessert.
Former Seven Grand and The Parish bartender John Coltharp is on cocktail duty in the simple space, also adhering to the made-from-scratch philosophy with his bitters and local ingredients for cocktails like a Oaxacan e Scandolo which mixes mezcal with IPA and lemon and a Blind Lemon Jefferson with citrus and rye ( see, we knew there was an appreciation for an impaired blues singer in there somewhere).
Muddy Leek is now open for lunch from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Monday through Friday, with happy hour Wednesday through Friday from 4:00 to 6:00 P.M. Dinner starts at 6:00 P.M. Wednesday through Saturday. Brunch is planned in the near future. See the full dinner menu below.
Muddy Leek, 8631 Washington Blvd. Culver City; 310-838-2281.
DINNER MENU
apps
house salad
wild arugula fennel & pink lady apple, emulsified cider vinaigrette-$10
market winter greens salad
with persimmon & citrus vinaigrette -$10
seasonal soup of the day-$5
spicy chicken jjigae soup
kimchi & poached egg…-$10
chanterelles & eggs
with roasted kabocha squash & sage-$12
chicken fried bacon
gem lettuce & tomato chutney-$7
scallop crudo
sea urchin roe and mustard on petite baguette-$16
charcuterie plate
seasonal accompaniments & fresh baguette
spicy-chicken liverwurst-$6
rabbit-pistachio gallontine-$7
duck rillettes-$6
la quercia speck-$8
dungeness crab & harissa-$10
entrees
duck
kumquat relish, hazelnut quinoa & rapini-$25
juniper-venison
braised bacon-sweet potato hash & fried egg with port-$28
mushroom & leek tart
spinach and black truffle vinaigrette-$21
wild caught alaskan halibut
melted leeks, black trumpet mushrooms & crispy risotto cakes-$28
paso prime flat iron steak
grilled celeriac, new zealand spinach ravioli and lemon caper brown butter-$27
for the table- $8 each
roasted brussels sprouts & hazelnuts
winter squash gnocchi sage brown butter
wilted bloomsdale spinach, sultanas & pinenuts
roasted root vegetable “fries”
potato-celeriac gratin
puffed farro with kale, pomegranate & almond
desserts
chocolate & cream
warm chocolate cake, hazelnut brittle and fresh whipped cream-$7
persimmons
persimmon ginger cake, pistachio & caramel-$8
panna cotta
cardamom panna cotta orange cookie, coconut crumble and rose essence-$8
