Lusca

Let's take a quick lookie at the new Octopus Bar peep's more upscale sequel... Lusca. Love the two octopus murals. I like how they opened up the space more which makes it brighter vs Bluefin's old set up. I also like how they have valet for the back parking lot. How Bluefin lasted that long is anyone's guess but they were just not pushing themselves to set themselves apart (their food was just a snoozefest for the prices they were charging)... Hopefully, Lusca will standout based on what they're doing with Octo Bar.

Fried California Anchovies, fennel, lemon. Nice little dish. Anchovies are so under-rated these days, such a great little fish. I love eating whole fish, so much more flavor than dusty old fillet-o-fish. The fried lemons were cute but it should really come with fresh slices of lemon, too. The taste is so much better with a few squirts of lemon juice... Pump pump. Just don't get it in her eyes.

Amaebi, Kampachi, Isaki (grunt). All seafood prepared well except the rice was a lil too moist and pasty. Temp on fish was spot on, not too cold nor warm. The quality of the fish was a lil above average but for the high premium price (it ain't cheap to eat a couple pieces of nigiri), I was expecting Sushi Nakazawa quality. Sent in the amaebi tails to be fried off too, but the kitchen said it was unsanitary, that's a first for me when every other respectable sushi joint will do this and it's really an expected practice. But it's all good, no need to make a big deal over some tail. There's always more fish in the sea.

Rock Crab, avocado, pain au levain, keylime, scallion. Tasty little dish, plenty of crab and avocado but the bread was toasted a little too much to the point of almost burnt on some parts which made it hard to chew and bitter. The portion control was out of control when I saw the next table's portion was at least 50% larger and no, they didn't order two. Weird but whatever, these are the kind of kinks that a newish resto should be aware of. Consistency, baybee, consistency.

Sea Urchin Tagliatelle, bacon, breadcrumbs, lemon, chili flake. I love anything with uni, anything, it could be on dog shit and I would eat it. A dish made popular by none other than Eric Ripert from Le Bernardin, I make a version that's fucking rad as well... But this version needs a revision. The big chunk of uni on top was great but the choice of pasta was poor. They need to toss their noodle in some neutral oil to keep from sticking and gumming up because this pile of carbs seemed like it was held together with Super Glue. I literally cut this thing in half with a steak knife and it held together like a piece of medium well protein. I have had fruitcake that fell apart easier. This dish would be better with a bucatini or any type of "spaghetti", hell, even pappardelle would work better. I would use gemelli in my version but that's just me. It tasted ok but definitely won't be ordering it again unless they make a drastic change. E for effort, though.

Is it a destination spot based on what I have sampled? No, but it has the pedigree to be something better. I do like that it's a changing/evolving menu but there's just too much Octo Bar sweat with an Armani suit in here. I'm sure with time they will evolve into something with it's own personality and not just another late night industry hangout with a high price tag. Don't get me wrong, Octo Bar is awesome, love those guys... But I would like to see them do something different with this space. Wow me, mofos!


1829 Peachtree Road
Atlanta, GA 30309
678-705-1486
http://luscaatl.com/