I’ve been pining for a taste of Connie & Ted’s ever since the restaurant’s plywood came down and signage went up this past May. Seafood, especially of the New England variety, is totally my jam, not to mention that the chef behind the shiny new WeHo venture, Michael Cimarusti, is one amazing talent.

Named after the grandparents who took him fishing as a kid in Rhode Island, Connie and Ted’s is a tribute to the food of Chef Cimarusti’s childhood.

The consensus among friends who dined at Connie & Ted’s during its opening weeks was that the food and service were fine, with desserts being a highlight, but nowhere near the level where they ought to be considering the talented team in the kitchen.

On the flip side, the city’s critics have been mostly impressed with the “authenticity” of the cooking found here. L.A. Weekly’s Besha Rodell remarked that “Connie & Ted’s does by far the best job of re-creating the pleasures of that other coast” in her three-star review, while the L.A. Times’ Jonathan Gold remained vague but positive in his write up, calling the restaurant “neither a chefly interpretation of a Rhode Island clam shack nor a fantasia on the theme of New England seafood.”

To make a call for ourselves, The Astronomer and I lunched here on a recent Sunday afternoon with our friend Darin and his girlfriend Shirley. We fumbled on the reservation front, but were seated adjacent to the bar not too long after arriving.

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