Coast @ Shutters - what it lacks in food and service, it makes up for in pretentiousness

Décor: East coast design meets the west coast beach. It looks more like Ina Garten's house than a place you'd expect next to the public beach in Santa Monica. The outfits of the waiters matched the theme. The ties were in bright pastel colors with little tiny beach chairs on them (the shutters logo). The belts were all by Izod. Pink printed shirts finished the look. I felt bad for them.

Ambiance: Inside it was very loud. The bar was centrally located in the middle of the restaurant floor which lead to some of the noise. The outside patio looked very pretty, and quieter. It might be worth the wait. And since they don't take reservations, you will likely have to wait anyway. While waiting for your table and drinking a $14 mimosa on the tiny couch, it is really tempting to think that a regular or someone famous, or someone who is better at squeaking the wheel then you are is jumping the queue. But, I can't confirm that. I can just say that not allowing a reservation for brunch on Sunday is pretentious. What is not pretentious are the dark wood dining tables without any place mats or table cloths. Also not pretentious were the cornucopia of people you could see walking on the sidewalk of the public beach to which the view overlooks. At least the queue moved fast and we were seated before I finished my first mimosa. And $14 or not, I'm not the sipping kind of girl. I drink my drinks.

Service: We needed to ask for water. Again, I'm on my pretentious kick. But, it seemed as if they weren't serving water to save the environment or be "green". But, there were already water glasses on the table. So, the glasses had been washed, and would likely be washed again after we'd left whether or not we had used them. Washing those glasses probably uses more water than I could drink all week, let alone all day.

Food: We chose all three of our waitresses favorite dishes. We had the lemon ricotta pancakes. They had a weird texture, but were oddly good. They weren't fluffy and rather creamy. The corned beef and hash lacked flavor and was a little burnt. The eggs Benedict was solid. The sabayon was light and frothy. Yum. I also thought that the basil was a nice touch. The potatoes were crispy, a good accompaniment with the eggs.

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Coast (formerly Pedals)

1 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Phone: (310) 587-1707
http://www.shuttersonthebeach.com/restaurants/santa_monica_beach_restaurant.html