The Dough-baking Hub for the Rustic Canyon Restaurant Group, Neighborhood Bakery & Pizzeria, Milo & Olive, Cooks Up Wood-fired Favorites
With four restaurants in their Rustic Canyon collection, restaurateurs Josh Loeb and Zoe Nathan have a shining star with Milo & Olive, their Italian-focused concept in Santa Monica. By serving up an ever-evolving menu of small plates and seasonally-inspired dishes, Milo & Olive stands as a dining destination for the community.
Ensuring the direct connection between kitchen and local farms and markets is Executive Chef Erin Eastland. Combining attention to freshness and seasonality with her experience working in kitchens across the U.S., Eastland creates Milo & Olive’s wholesome, soul‑satisfying cuisine.
With two wood-burning ovens anchoring the restaurant, guests dine at individual and communal tables. Designed as an industrial workshop of sorts, the long bar overlooking the open European-style kitchen puts patrons one step closer to the action.
“Milo & Olive is set up like a workshop in dough,” explains Loeb. “The space and kitchen are wide open and our doors are open every day of the week. It’s where we take high-quality ingredients and play with them to discover the next great menu item.” Or baked goods.
With the aforementioned large oven, Milo & Olive functions as the bread-baking hub for all Loeb and Nathan restaurants. Churning out Nathan’s acclaimed morning breads and pastries, this is also where the duo’s handcrafted breads—many of which use organic flour and include bagels, bialys, country bread, rustic baguettes, whole-wheat potato bread, challah and rye farro loaves—are produced.
Chef Eastland also utilizes the wood-burning oven to turn out a selection of 10 to 12 different seasonally-inspired pizzas, made with Nathan’s signature 48-hour, whole-wheat pizza dough and an array of wood-fired vegetables. Milo & Olive’s pizza-topping combinations, which reflect the market’s best, include: Mixed Mushroom with Fontina Val d’Aosta, thyme, lemon zest, and Parmigiano-Reggiano; Roasted Potato with rosemary cream, caramelized onions and Parmigiano-Reggiano; and House-Smoked Pork Belly Sausage with escarole, tomato sauce, and fresh mozzarella.
Lunch and dinner menus feature a collection of shareable fare, with small plates such as Organic Chicken Meatballs with roasted tomatoes, arugula and red onion, and their signature Wood‑Fired Garlic Knot, a pull‑apart bread brushed with extra virgin olive oil and topped with sea salt. Larger entrées include the House Sausage and Kale Lasagna with pickled chili, Fontina, tomato sauce and Parmigiano-Reggiano and the Potato Gnocchi with arugula and pistachio pesto, baby broccoli, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Inspired by the farmer’s market, Pastry Chef Nathan also brings a bounty of ever‑changing, fruit‑driven sweets to the table. Highlights include Sweet Cream Brioche, Maple Walnut Sticky Buns, Fat Uncle Farms’ Almond Croissants, Seasonal Fruit Kouign Amman Tarts, Gluten‑Free Oatmeal Cookies and more. Open daily from 7 a.m.–11 p.m., at Milo & Olive, where fresh-made fare is the mantra, it’s all about good taste.
Milo & Olive
2723 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90403
310.453.6776 | MiloandOlive.com
Photos courtesy of Milo & Olive