West LA: Two Rounds at Picca

I love the Mezzanine level of Picca. It’s such a great place to dine and if you like people watching, the ultimate peakaboo spot. There are mirrors were you can see the bar and Deysi, one of the bartenders, told me they can spot the upstairs diners that way as well.

There was a week where I went twice in a week so this post is a combination of those two dinners. The cocktails have recently changed but I’d still like to highlight these.

Don’t eat the salt under the scallop shells. It’s not good with the scallops.

Perfect empanadas with a crust that isn’t too chewy or hard.

The tiradito is still one of my favorite items at Picca. The yellowtail is just so good. Tuna is popular as well but I like fattier fishes.

I am hankering for a new camera. I love my Canon S95 but man I want to do better in low-light. The jalea mixta from above was taking in full sunlight and the rest of the pictures were taken in the evening. But the taste? Always good, no matter the light. Who doesn’t like fried seafood?

Several years ago, way before the craft cocktail movement started (at least for me), I was at a tailgate with a bunch of Peruvians. They had brought tequila, sure, but also pisco. It was probably the best introduction to pisco. Then years later, I found a bar that served pisco sours. That’s it man, that’s my favorite pisco cocktail. Well, one of several. And Picca is already renowned for theirs.

Both the Critic and SIV didn’t care for the causas. Well, whatever dudes, I like ’em. And give me plenty of the scallop ones.

I wasn’t sure about the banana cocktail but my friend loved this cocktail.

On my first visit to Picca, I really wanted to try the beef hearts but the Opportunarian wasn’t quite ready to try that yet. I first had it at Incanto, Chef Chris Cosentino’s shrine to pork but  he does a great job with other meats as well. I did wonder though if I would like the organ meat hot. As it turned out, I know my taste very well. I LOVED Picca’s beef heart anticucho. And the filet? Even better. Sure, some people may argue the heart is the best but the filet has uni butter! UNI BUTTER. Ahhhh.

The Santa Barbara spot prawn is one split in half but it’s awesome. I can go for another right about now. After another order of beef and beef heart.

I went with the Sabertooth which was a great name for the cocktail. It’s so…prehistoric. And epic at the same time.

More flavor. More everything. Am I getting full? No, but I’ll take more of that cod and uni.

While I love pisco sours, the All Saints takes it to the next level. And the cross design is perfect.

Although we usually stuff ourselves with a variety of shared plates, causas and anticuchos, I can’t resist getting one of the carb-y delicious plates like the duck rice and the paella to share.

Picca Peru

9575 W Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035 – (310) 277-0133