Chef Jeremy fox put Napa’s vegetarian Ubuntu on the culinary map; since coming to Rustic Canyon last year, the iconoclast has allowed his Atlanta origins to work their way into a California-French menu. Yielding and compact, the trotter patty is scattered with okra seeds, red onion, and stone-ground mustard. Fox reduces French onion soup to its essential components, pouring a burnished consommé over pickled ramps and a crouton bubbling with melted Gruyère. His cooking bestows great energy on a Santa Monica fixture that has always been as mellow as a day at the beach. The pozole, made with Rancho Gordo hominy that’s been thickened with green garlic and studded with clams, is a pure rush.
