Growing up in Santa Monica, Citrin was always surrounded by the aromas and flavors of good food as his mother was a caterer and his French grandmother was an accomplished home cook. It was this influence that led Citrin to pursue a culinary career. Straight out of high school he departed for Paris where he worked in the kitchens of fine-dining restaurants Vivarois and La Poste. His time in the French capital laid down a basis in classic French technique and respect for ingredients. When he returned to the US, he entered the kitchen of Wolfgang Puck’s Chinois on Main and then at Granita. As his culinary training evolved, Citrin began to develop his own creative vision, which he realized with the opening of Mélisse in Santa Monica. The restaurant became a standard bearer for Californian fine dining and allowed Citrin to refine and express his vision of presenting the best of locally sourced ingredients cooked to the highest level. His current flagship Citrin is a more relaxed affair and today it houses the Mélisse concept inside, with just five tables.
Restaurant
Mélisse is one of California’s most acclaimed restaurants and was awarded two Michelin Stars shortly after opening. In 2018, Citrin closed the original version of the restaurant and opened the eponymous Citrin, a more relaxed California-style eatery, with the Mélisse concept inside as an intimate backroom chef’s table experience. The food is very much fine dining with French technique (the basis of Citrin’s cuisine) at Mélisse, which Citrin runs together with chef and partner in the restaurants, Ken Takayama. Citrin, a one-Michelin-star restaurant serving modern Californian cuisine and promoting the work of local producers is more relaxed and has a large bar and elevated cocktail offering. Citrin encapsulates all that is best of modern Californian food in an approachable atmosphere. Charcoal Venice shows Citrin’s flair for the casual concept being a welcoming casual grill house for wood-fired meats, seafood, and vegetables in a contemporary space with booths.
Recipes and dishes
Josiah Citrin’s mantra is “in pursuit of excellence”, which is evident in everything he does, from rarefied fine dining at Citrin and Mélisse, to his more casual concept Charcoal Venice. With French heritage, the chef is a devotee to the cannon of French classics, but with a storied career behind him, Citrin is an accomplished chef who can express his culinary vision through a range of offerings. At the upper echelons of his cuisine, you can find dishes like his Egg Caviar, a soft egg yolk custard finished with caviar and cauliflower mousseline or his lobster Bolognese, a seafood ragu served with housemade pasta and a refined, complex sauce. Citrin is a passionate advocate for locally sourced, seasonal ingredients combining them with his meticulous approach to cooking, attention to detail, and creative flair, making him one of the West Coast’s standout culinary talents. Among Citrin's many honors include three Michelin Stars in total and being named a chef of the year by Los Angeles Magazine in 2012. His first cookbook, In Pursuit of Excellence, was awarded the gold medal and named best cookbook by the Independent Book Publishers Association.
