A friend of mine recently introduced me to this gem of a restaurant in Santa Monica. Since we had nothing planned for New Year's eve (the holiday is overrated anyway), we decided to celebrate at Rustic Canyon with a small group of our closest friends. What a great time we had! We pigged out on eight exquisite courses -- including succulent oysters, fresh tortellini, and sinfully delicious dessert. Near midnight, the friendly (and good-looking) staff passed out tiaras, hats, horns, and of course flutes of champagne. We counted down and toasted to the ending of a crappy year and the beginning of a new year with promise.\r
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By the way, my friend had warned me that the one downside to Rustic Canyon is that when it gets busy (and it's always busy), it is impossibly loud in there. But we were pleasantly surprised to see newly installed sound absorption panels on the ceiling. We had no trouble hearing one another on New Year's. Guess Rustic Canyon is pretty good at taking customer feedback, so speak up. I do!
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