By: Tallulah Bates '25
Restaurant Review: Little Dom’s Seafood
Location: 686 Linden Ave, Carpinteria, CA
Overall recommendation: ★★★☆
Thirteen years after opening the inaugural Little Dom’s in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, Chef Brandon Boudet and Restaurateur Warner Ebbink spun off a sibling, Little Dom’s Seafood, in downtown Carpinteria. What would two big city slickers want to do with a former ‘surf n’ turf-ery’ space in a small, coastal town?
The location is less random than it may seem, given that Ebbink lives in Carp and Boudet has a place in Ojai. Inside, the restaurant looks sleek and sharp, with some old Hollywood, retro, je ne sais quoi, and charm of the original Little Dom’s. The spatial room has a long wooden bar and classic leather booths against the expansive windows, letting in the warm evening light. The rearmost section of the building is a ‘deli,’ with pizzas, fresh dough, pre-made sandwiches, desserts, and more available for takeout.
As their website proudly iterates, Little Dom’s Seafood offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, featuring fresh & local seafood prepared in a raw bar and woodfire oven; they also serve pizza & many other ‘famous California-Italian classics.’ Truth be told, the restaurant’s name is a slight misnomer. While there is a ‘seafood bar’ (six items, half raw and half cooked), the rest of the menu is more ‘turf’ than ‘surf.’ Nevertheless, they offer an expansive selection of delicious flatbreads, plates of pasta, cleansing salads, and meat.
On Friday, 27 September, a few senior members of the Girls’ Varsity Cross Country Team patronized the chic Carpinteria venue. These five (very hungry) girls made for excellent customers, indeed.
Our nibbles:
Cold Smoked Salmon with Whipped Burrata, Fried Capers, Seasonal Herbs & Seeded Flatbread ($23)
Arugula & Parmesan with Lemon & EVOO ($14)
Grilled Artichoke with Red Wine vinaigrette ($14)
Sourdough Bread with Butter
Our nosh:
Ricotta Cavatelli with Spicy Vodka Sauce, Basil & Grana Padano ($23)
Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe ($21)
Pizza Margherita with Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato Sauce & Basil ($15)
Rice Balls with Mushroom & Mozzarella ($13)
Sautéed Corn with Basil, Butter & Grana Padano ($11)
The nibbles were exceedingly agreeable, notably the Arugula & Parmesan salad, which was deliciously light and fresh. However, one party member, Brooke Friedman ‘25, noted that the salad’s accompaniment of a ladybug, hidden among the leaves, was less than desirable. The Sourdough Bread was baked in-house and was served warm with creamy, sweet butter. When smoked salmon has long dominated the brunch buffet line, ordering off a dinner menu was a pleasant, although unusual, experience. The dish was presented beautifully: long, healthy ribbons of pink flesh curled next to soft bubbles of burrata and piles of flatbread, all adorned with delectably salty fried caperberries–a necessary addition that tied the entire plate together. Similarly, the Grilled Artichoke was thoroughly enjoyed by the dinner party. Like most special things, artichokes can require some effort to appreciate properly, but these were prepared well with a superbly soft interior complimented by a zingy vinaigrette.
Now onto the nosh: the Pizza Margherita presented more like a glorified flatbread, which, while tasty, may disappoint those favoring a traditional, pillow-soft pizza base. The pastas–Cacio e Pepe and Ricotta Cavatelli–were crowd favorites. The former dish was simply indulgent, with peppery notes that perfectly balanced the heaviness of the cream sauce. The latter was similarly exquisite if lacking ever-so-slightly on the “spicy” element hinted to in its description. The Rice Balls–also known as arancini–was an unexpected delight: panko crust fried until golden protected a creamy, cheesy risotto interior encasing a sublimely melted mozzarella heart. This paired well with Dom’s housemade pomodoro dipping sauce.
In what some have recently designated foodie-centric Central Coast, it’s hard not to find a great meal in or near Santa Barbara and Little Dom’s Seafood is one gem among many. While the dining experience isn’t quite groundbreaking, that doesn’t make its dishes any less delicious, and there’s good reason this restaurant is popular with the small coastal town residents and Cate School families. If you need a classy-yet-comfortable, feel-good meal, Little Dom’s Seafood in Carpinteria may just be the place for you.
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