Pasjoli is a fancy French restaurant with much of the baggage that comes with the genre. It’s prix fixe only. Polished servers make you feel proper via osmosis. Butter is mandated by law.
Those details might suggest an outdated Santa Monica restaurant gouging people too rich to care about wine bottle markups. But eat the incredible pressed duck tasting menu, drink some 2016 Bordeaux, and the proof is in the (duck leg bread) pudding. Pasjoli backs up the traditional French schtick with technique and care. A night here offers some of the best indulgence money can buy on the Westside.
That said, we do think you’re getting a good deal. Pasjoli’s five-course prix fixe dinner is $95 per person and includes enough food to leave you stuffed like one of their choux canapés. Dishes sway traditionally French, but their presentation, however, makes things like chicken liver mousse suddenly seem sexy. Circles of the rich spread sit inside slices of brioche-like keyholes. Cloud-like scallop quenelles float in delicate beurre blanc, and shrimp toasts are bathed in lobster velouté thickened with rice for a light, silky texture. But nothing on the menu compares to Pasjoli’s pressed duck.
The demolition of this duck carcass tells you everything you need to know about Pasjoli’s food as a whole. It’s elaborate, showy, and genuinely delightful. For $125, you’re served a multi-course celebration of all things quack. First, the chef invites you to the kitchen pass to watch him squeeze Daffy in what looks like a medieval torture device. The juices are then used to whip up a cognac gravy in front of you, like a Costco food demo with a Marvel budget. After returning to your seats, you’re served a simple but perfect pile of lettuce topped with the bird’s crispy skin and a plate of leg meat baked into bread pudding. Somehow, you’ll be expected to go home and continue living every day knowing that meals this spectacular exist.
As deluxe as the duck press may be, Pasjoli’s space is otherwise unremarkable. The brick-walled dining room blurs in the background, neither adding to nor detracting from the experience in any way. There’s no valet service. You’ll hunt for a parking meter on Main Street Santa Monica as tipsy UCLA students walk into an Irish pub. Rest assured, servers wear uniforms and take their jobs seriously. Courses fade in and out before you have time to pick out the duck skin between your teeth. Each dish comes with a little TED Talk on what’s in front of you or maybe why the kitchen uses a wooden stick (not a metal one) to bake a hole in the brioche before stuffing it with chicken liver mousse. We’re talking fancy, not gaudy. That’s the energy.
Unless you come for cocktails, burgers, and deviled eggs at the bar (which has a separate, more casual menu), you’re not leaving Pasjoli without spending at least $100 per person. The splurge is worth the bill, though. Pasjoli might not have reinvented the wheel when it comes to the kind of buttery, showy French dinner suited for special occasions, but they have perfected it.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Foie De Poulet À La Strasbourgeoise
Delicate brioche meets the iron punch of chicken liver mousse. It’s a hot meet-and-greet. The side of sweet shallot and truffle jam makes every element taste even stronger. Lay it on thick.
photo credit: Sylvio Martins
Quenelles
These creamed scallop dumplings are so light they float buoys. They’re custardy in the middle and a little sweet to complement the dollops of caviar on top. The tangy beurre-blanc with heaps of chives is also so delicious we politely slurp it like a bonus soup course.
photo credit: sy
Shrimp & Lobster
Many crustaceans died in the making of this dish, and we’re grateful. Each piece of sourdough is covered with big chunks of plump shrimp, and the entire dish is spooned in a tangy lobster velouté that’s not as rich as it looks. (The secret: it’s thickened with rice, not cream.)
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Canard À La Rouennaise À La Presse
If you’re doing this multi-course duck dinner, don’t order anything else. It’s more than enough and also the best thing Pasjoli has to offer. The two sliced duck breasts are the perfect fatty vessels for the savory-tart cognac sauce made from the bird’s pressed juices. The salad is made from gorgeous lettuce with a simple vinaigrette, but the crispy duck skin topping takes it to the next level. And then there’s the silky duck bread pudding that’s so rich it KO’s you faster than sevoflurane but is truly so special.
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Soufflé Au Chocolate
A perfectly executed classic. It’s light and airy but intense in dark chocolate flavor. It leans more bitter than sweet, and that’s why it pairs so well with the nutty Madagascar vanilla ice cream.