Le Great Outdoor

There’s an air of mystery surrounding Le Great Outdoor in Santa Monica. The name sounds like it could be an REI surplus store and its Instagram presence, however beautiful, doesn’t give away many details. So here’s the deal: it’s an order-at-the-grill dinner spot in the Bergamot Station parking lot where meat, fish, and veggies are cooked right in front of you. The menu is essentially a list of Things Alice Waters Might Bring To A Potluck—bok choy with sumac, goat cheese tartines drizzled in local honey, and a whole branzino that was probably caught before you went to work this morning. Everybody’s hanging out on picnic tables (you might know this area as Bergamot Cafe during the day), drinking chilled wine from Argentina, and eating platters of root vegetables like it’s a horticultural block party. And maybe that’s what this place is. We’ll be there all summer long.