The cantina on Tatooine in the first \u201cStar Wars\u201d film. A Greek taverna on a layover in Miami. A mermaid\u2019s womb. Every friend I take to, or even ask about, Cento Raw Bar and its fantastical design has a knee-jerk one-liner at the ready.<\/p>\n
The wildest new bar in Los Angeles<\/p>\n
Walk into the West Adams space adjoined by an awning to Cento Pasta Bar \u2014 both conceived by chef Avner Levi \u2014 and the first sight of the curving walls will spin anyone\u2019s mind. They look plastered with a mixture of stucco and meringue, smeared like a frosted cake in progress, that\u2019s meant to evoke the shimmer and shifting light of a Mediterranean cave. A three-sided seafoam-green bar anchors the room, girded by tall white chairs with metal backs patterned in a snail\u2019s spiral. Details fill every corner: rounded, sculptural pillars and pedestals; a blue-tile floor mosaic resembling a pond; pendant sconces in shapes that remind me of the \u201cenergy dome\u201d hats worn by the band Devo in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A mosaic moment in the dining room of Cento Raw Bar.<\/p>\n
(Bill Addison \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
The effect leans more toward trippy than transportive. As one stop during a night out for a drink and a stopgap plate of seafood or two, I\u2019m into it.<\/p>\n
Idiosyncrasy is welcome right now<\/p>\n
Maybe in another era I would gawk once and move on. But in times like Los Angeles is living through, in a half-decade that has begat one trial and horror after another, the operators of new restaurants, particularly those in the highest-rent districts, tend to default to conservative choices. Menus full of comforts familiar to whatever cuisine is being served. Atmospheres easily described as \u201cpleasant.\u201d The decisions are so understandable, and given a particular neighborhood or desired audience perhaps it pays off economically. Familiarity is a priority to many diners. Hospitality workers deserve stable incomes.<\/p>\n