It took six years for chef Michael Mina to open his Southern California outpost of Orla, which has another location in Las Vegas inside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The restaurant debuts on Wednesday, October 16, inside the nearly completed Regent Santa Monica Beach hotel serving an ambitious Egyptian-Middle Eastern menu from the Egypt-born chef. Orla, with its striking view of the Pacific, will likely become Santa Monica’s new hot spot for oceanside fine dining.

Mina, who operates Hollywood’s globally-inspired Mother Tongue and Bourbon Steak in Glendale and published his second cookbook, My Egypt: Cooking from My Roots, on October 8, was originally planning to open Orla in Santa Monica before Las Vegas but ran into a series of delays. Mina’s latest restaurant incorporates dishes made by his mother and aunts while highlighting the cultural similarities between Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines.

Photo by Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images

Mina says that the LA team led by chef Jacob Solomon (formerly of Chicago’s Tusek) will decide on the menu daily depending on what is available at the farmers market. “We won’t do big shellfish platters at Orla,” says Mina. “We’re doing crudos and tartare with spices that aren’t super traditional. It goes with the style of Orla’s food and [its location] right on the water.”

Starters feature a hamachi crudo, Turkish chile pepper (urfa) big eye tuna with crispy falafel and whipped tahini, and a Greek salad. Hot dishes might feature charcoal-grilled octopus and phyllo-wrapped prawns. Bread service comes with eggplant butter. The pasta section has macaroni bechamel with mushroom, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and black truffle, as well as gnudi and lamb meatballs. The king crab and salt-baked seabream is a favorite of Mina’s, while the Yemeni spice hawaij flavors the prime New York strip. Orla’s kebab platter for two is massive with filet, lamb kofta, chicken dolmas, halloumi, tangerine labneh, smoked eggplant dip, saffron basmati rice, and pita bread. “We have a good foundation with the dishes because we’ve been working on Orla for a long time,” says Mina. Staff will roll custom fish carts through the dining areas and a dessert cart post-dinner.

Orla’s layout by design firm AvroKO includes 270 seats spread across the main dining room and an ovular bar, two levels of outdoor seating, and a private dining area. “I wanted Orla’s design to be more comfortable since this restaurant and this style of food is about sharing,” says Mina. AvroKO procured 300,000 custom-made mosaic pieces from Italian specialist SICIS showcasing a fish and octopus theme throughout. Look up to see a hand-painted octopus ceiling mural by the Chicago-based Pretorius Studio. Orla is fully committed to the oceanic theme with plank flooring used on luxury boats, wallpaper featuring ships and the ocean, plus an octopus chandelier.

The Mina Group’s wine director Jeremy Shanker curated an 800-bottle list with 40 options by the glass. The cocktail menu brings together 16 different drinks, including the tradition-bucking Negroni called Arabian Nights Negroni made with Ford’s Gin, Campari, Darjeeling tea, toasted coconut cardamom, and ginger spice.

Los Angeles is experiencing an uptick in Middle Eastern fine dining options with the recent opening of Hotel Figueroa’s Deme and chef Charbel Hayek’s Ladyhawk in West Hollywood.

Orla is located at 1700 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, CA, 90401. It is open for breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The bar is open Sunday to Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to midnight and until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Reservations are available via OpenTable, Resy, and Seven Rooms.

Andrew Bui

Andrew Bui

Andrew Bui

Tanveer Badal Photography / TANV