Tomorrow evening, Santa Monica’s Locanda del Lago continues its end-of-the-month series of rare and exotic meat menus under the name “Morso della Bestia” (Bite of the Beast), with a $42 five-course offering of Italian dishes, four of which are made with bison, the red meat typically found packed into burgers in Wyoming and South Dakota.
Also known as the American buffalo, aka “the salmon of the prairie,” aka “the chicken of The Plains,” bison meat is known for being much leaner than beef and for its significant stash of omega-threes. Starting at 7:00 P.M. and offered until closing this Thursday, chef Gianfranco Minuz will prepare South Dakota-reared bison and S.M. farmers market veggies in dishes including buffalo tenderloin carpaccio with portobellos and blackberries, buffalo tortelloni with herb consomme, buffalo ragu lasagna, and a roasted ribeye of bison carved tableside with celery root puree and summer truffle-red wine sauce, followed dessert of vanilla custard and fresh ricotta and heirloom tomato sorbetto. Make reservations at 310-451-3525 if you want to knock buffalo off on your quest to finally declare, “We ate a zoo!”
