A whole roasted duck finished tableside in a silver press, its juices built into a sauce, the 350 dollar centrepiece of Santa Monica's French dining.
Where to eat it: 1 restaurant across 1 city.
Canard a la presse is a nineteenth-century Parisian ritual from La Tour d'Argent, and Pasjoli on Main Street made it Santa Monica's signature splurge: the duck roasted whole, carved, the carcass crushed in a duck press and the juices mounted into a sauce at the table. The dish survived the restaurant's recent loosening into bar-food territory and remains its calling card.
Common allergens: Dairy
Tip from the editors. Without a duck press, crushing the chopped carcass in a sturdy potato ricer over a sieve gets you most of the way there.
Pasjoli on Main Street is Santa Monica's French bistro benchmark, lately loosened up with a bigger bar menu and its famous tableside pressed duck restored.
Order: Tableside canard a la presse, or the cordon bleu chicken wings at the bar
Tip: The pressed duck is a 350 dollar whole-bird production for the table; order it when you book, not on arrival.
More cities are in research. Want canard a la presse covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.