Once By Ricardo Zarate

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED.
It has been closed since October. I know because I booked a reservation and went there in December, and the new occupants told me it was closed.
I notified Unilocal and for some reason they haven’t marked the listing as closed.
I also contacted the restaurant website and suggested they tell Unilocal and Opentable to take their listings down.
Do not go to Once. You will leave hungry.

Very very cool — a pop up hidden within Santino’s, Chef Zarate of Picca, Paiche, and Mo-​chica did not disappoint! It’s been a long while since I’ve a had a meal where I enjoyed every since bite, without any flops. The couple we went with (who had no idea of the backstory) mentioned that this reminded them of an «amazing» meal they had at Picca when it first opened way back when (and that they revisited recently and were disappointed) — BINGO! The ceviche is to die for, as was the paella. You really can’t go wrong with this small, curated menu. The ambience is totally laid back and chill. All in all, perfection. If you can get a reservation, take it!!!

Once (Ohn-​say) is Spanish for 11. Ricardo Zarate is the 11^th of 13 children. I thought it meant 11 dishes on the pop-​up menu. And I think there were 11. It was also the introduction of his new cookbook, The Fire of Peru.
Not my usual BBQ or AYCE lunch. The baby back ribs were cooked melt in your soft and meaty, with an occasional taste of sweetness. The carne was so so so very rare on the inside, seared on the outside. The chorizo and chicken were fine. Morcilla is Peruvian blood sausage. So not Jewish, we don’t eat blood, ever, but I had to try it. Once. The texture was a bit mealy; I don’t know how it is supposed to taste. Not my favorite meat.
The eggplant in a red sauce was sublime, as were the brussel sprouts, and the roasted and sauced potato wedges, cooked with chopped up crunchy dried Chinese sausage bits. The coleslaw was a bit too spicy for me. The other sides were dill rice, beans, and a barley dish. I tried all the sides and went back for more eggplant, brussel sprouts and potatoes, when i went for a second helping of ribs and carne. All this for $ 30. Well spent. There was an $ 18 Mimosa and Sangria AYCE optional addition.
I can’t wait for his next move. This Sunday was the last day of Once.

Everything was delicious, our waiter was awesome. Very small place, apparently this is a different restaurant called Santino’s but the chef was here last day as a promotion which we were able to dine to his marvelous food. The Picca location is definitely a better atmosphere and better selection but it still was worth trying. Good Job!

This is one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to. The food is absolutely divine. My favorite dishes, although they change frequently, are the ceviche and the Paella. The first time I had the Paella, it was cooked with squid ink, and I’ve never eaten anything so amazing in my life. I don’t even like Paella that much in general, but this was out of this world, seriously! The first time I went to this restaurant, My husband and I just wandered in, and before we left, he told the chef he’d never had such a delicious meal. They also make signature cocktails and unique presentations for some of the appetizers.

Absolutely delicious. Prosecco and passionfruit cocktail was phenomenal. The ceviche, Lomo saltado are must haves. Wait staff was great, super knowledgeable. Old school Peruvian with a modern twist. I know they’re a pop up but I really hope they stick around.

Well, that was 90 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. What a waste of time. On the upside, the food is above average. However, this was the most frustrating dining experience I’ve had in awhile. The venue is beyond loud. By comparison, an LA Kings game sounds like a church. Furthermore, maybe because it was a warm night, the kitchen staff left the door open allowing countless bugs into the dining room. Yuck. But, the worst part was that we waited over an hour for the main part of our meal. When I inquired with the server (whom ignored us for the entire hour) about where our order was, he replied «the dishes arrive as they are finished. That’s just the way it is.» I cancelled the order and left without adding a tip for the first time since I went to Tokyo in 2006, where it is customary to leave no tip. That’s just the way it is.

Excellent! I absolutely loved everything about it. To say the food was wonderful is an understatement and the staff is amazing.

Once is chef Zarate back to his very best. He’s trying new and interesting things, and it makes for a delicious meal. I won’t go into details about the individual dishes. (Mostly because this review comes after two visits, and there were 2 – 3 new dishes on the menu the second time around.)
What I will say is to try what sounds good to you. You can’t go wrong. And if your server raves about a particular dish that may not sound appealing to you, give it a try.
Great experience at Once.

Just came here with my husband and 2 friends. Like the previous reviewer, I always wanted to try Picca while chef zarate was there. Also, I was really excited since Once got such a glowing review in LA mag.
We started with a round of cocktails. My friend and I both got a variation of a passion fruit spritz involving champagne and an aperol + passionfruit popsicle. Very delicious and refreshing. ⁵⁄₅ stars.
We ordered 4 entrees.
First off, the Ceviche criollo crocante. The fish had a very good texture and the crispy calamari was a great crunchy addition. My biggest gripe with it (and with most of the dishes) was the amount of salt. The citrus level seemed about right but the dish on the whole was overly salted. It was painful to see such a promising dish and concept go this way. ³⁄₅ stars.
Our second dish was the Tiradito de Erizo, a Yellowtail and Uni crudo dish. The presentation was spectacular – see pictures – but on the whole the dish was lacking. I personally am not a huge uni fan, but my dining companions love uni. What we all agreed on was that the dish seems to have been lacking in all the richness of the uni, while leaving the less desirable fishy/​oceany taste. The citrus balance was tricky, but on the whole you couldn’t really taste the yellowtail. Again, the dish was overly salted. ²⁄₅ stars.
Lengua Risotto — If the lengua was served by itself without the Risotto, it would be a ⁵⁄₅. Incredibly tender, flavorful… it was delicious. Unfortunately the risotto was lackluster. I personally liked the citrusy cut, but my friends were surprised because they were expecting a more savory dish. We agreed that it was also oversalted. Another dish with potential but poor execution. 3.5÷5 stars
Chaufa Paella (chinese style fried rice peruvian paella). We were all a bit confused when the waitress kept telling us that the fried rice was on the way. Part of me was starting to wonder if it was because I’m Asian… It made more sense when the pan came out.
In essence, it was fried rice with chinese sausage served in a paella pan. Not quite what I expected when I ordered Paella, but I actually I liked the crispy parts of the rice. My husband thinks that the star of the dish is the tangy aioli-​like sauce drizzled on the side. Overall though, it was not a spectacular asian fried rice or anything resembling paella. My asian mother would kill me if she ever found out I paid $ 30 for fried rice. ³⁄₅ stars
Overall, this was a somewhat mediocre dining experience with some potential. The venue for the pop-​up certainly wasn’t anything to write home about, but it was probably a little too low key for the price of the entrees. I wouldn’t mind trying a more polished version with a more spacious layout and attentive service staff, but for now it’s hard to give an endorsement to Chef Zarate’s test kitchen.

Get the ceviche! They have cocktails with Popsicles! Eat the paella! The last review gave this place 3 stars… He is out of his mind! Go eat here! It’s definitely a refreshing twist on Peruvian food.

We are fans of Peruvian food and had always wanted to try Picca when Ricardo Zarate was there. Alas, we never made it so were happy to hear that he was doing a pop-​up at Santino’s in Santa Monica. Overall, the food was good, better than your typical Peruvian joint but likely not worth the much increased price compared to your local Peruvian restaurant. The favorites were the lomo saltado, churro balls and ceviche criollo crocante. The yellowtail with uni tiradito (carpaccio) was good but not as good as the previous three. The pan fried branzino was well executed but not that inventive. The chaufa paella was not bad, but it was the most disappointing as there wasn’t the expected crunchy bottom of a typical paella. All in all, we were glad we came but wouldn’t be in a rush to come back anytime soon.
The ceviche criollo crocante was probably the best ceviche I’ve ever had. It had deep fried baby calamari rings on top that served as a nice contrast to the sea bass ceviche. The ceviche was seasoned well and the brightness from the citrus element was perfect, not over powering. It was a very good way to start the dinner.
The churro balls were a nice surprise in that they were stuffed with a Peruvian fruit, so the effect was a nice crispy churro exterior with a soft liquid-​filled warm interior. It was served with a white peach sauce that was also very tasty.
The lomo saltado was probably the best executed lomo saltado we’ve had before. The flavors will be immediately familiar to anyone who has ever had lomo saltado. The flavor does not stray from the typical flavor of lomo saltado. The filet mignon was perfectly cooked and seasoned well. But, unlike the ceviche and churro balls, this dish was not as inventive.
The yellowtail with uni tiradito was basically a yellowtail carpaccio with uni on top and some crunchy rice bits. The uni added a nice sweetness to the dish, and the crunchy rice bits also added some additional flavor and textural contrast. However, there wasn’t much here that sets it above other places that serve some form of yellowtail carpaccio.
The pan fried branzino was like the lomo saltado in that it was very well executed, but there was also nothing inventive here. There were no new flavors to be found. It sat on a bed of quinoa in a green sauce. I found that quinoa sauce added nothing to the dish. It tasted fine by itself but the branzino would have been just fine by itself.
I must admit that I was the most excited to try the chaufa paella as I am a big fan of arroz chaufa, the Peruvian version of fried rice that I find sometimes better than the fried rice served at some Chinese restaurants. I’ve got a thing for fried rice. When it’s on, it’s on. So in the context of all this anticipation, I was a bit disappointed with the chaufa paella. First, the flavors weren’t as intense as the typical arroz chaufa. Second, it was a bit soggy compared to the typical fried rice. The over-​used egg on top of a dish didn’t help with this as once the egg yolk was broken, it just made the rice more soggy. Third, I was expecting the typical crunchy bibimbop-​esque crunch at the bottom of the paella which can be seen at places like smoke.oil.salt, but alas it was nowhere to be found. This was the most disappointing aspect of this dish. For comparison, while the meats in the arroz chaufa at Takatis may be a bit overcooked, the flavors of the arroz chaufa there are better than here at Once.
The service was very attentive. The progression of the dishes was a bit scattered. It took a while for the ceviche to come out. After it came out, I was expecting the tiradito to come out, however instead, the lomo saltado came out. The problem with this is that once you put this intensely flavorful dish out, it almost makes the tiradito and branzino irrelevant. The first few bites of the tiradito and branzino were as if they had no flavor as our taste buds were already overwhelmed by the flavors of the lomo saltado.
In conclusion, there were some things that were interesting and novel, and every dish was well-​executed. However, the level of innovation is not that far above what a typical Peruvian restaurant offers.