Bella Dea

Crudo e Nudo is a Santa Monica restaurant specializing in sustainable, mostly raw seafood that opened last year, and Infatuation LA gave it an 8.4. Now, they’re running an operation in the West Village called Bella Dea that’s very much the same concept—crudos, oysters, natural wine, and a mix of small cooked seafood dishes. They’re sharing the space with another LA import, Breakfast By Salt’s Cure, now taking over operations in the evenings. The seafood is of excellent quality, and the sauces they’re paired with are special: The oysters come with pink-peppercorn limoncello mignonette while the mackerel crudo comes with yuzu oil and calamansi vinegar, for example. This is a low-key dinner spot for light bites that’d work well for a date.

photo credit: Ashley Randall