Hot New Restaurant -- M.A.K.E.

The Quick Pitch: The traditionally lo-fi world of plant-based cuisine, where the uncooked and unprocessed is king, gets a high-tech makeover by the classically trained chef Matthew Kenney, key guru of the neo-raw movement. That means thermal immersion circulators, high-speed blenders and dehydrators are leveraged into dishes – Red beet gnocchi! Kimchi dumplings with sesame foam! Sous vide Portobello mushrooms with coconut bacon! – that sound like a red state denizen’s cliché of fruit-and-nut California…and a certain strain of Californian’s idea of bliss.

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The Insider’s Dish: M.A.K.E., situated on Santa Monica Place’s third floor Dining Deck, boasts an adjoining raw food cooking school featuring all of the aforementioned state-of-the-art gizmos where students learn how to conjure Kenney-like creations.

The Must-Order Item: The slightly Jenga-reminiscent construction of market tomato lasagna with zucchini, basil, macadamia and pistachio nuts.

The Industry Neighbors: Chernin Entertainment, the Kennedy/Marshall Company, Icon Productions and GK Films.

395 Santa Monica Pl., Santa Monica, 310.394.7046, matthewkenneycuisine.com