Skratch in Culver City | Photo by Jacy Young/LAist

Skratch is a new entry in that great thing that's happening in the middle of Culver City these days, with fresh, original food served up fast. Though a lot of restaurants LA are jumping on the organic bandwagon with mixed results. Culver City has a number of the better places on its roster.

Skratch has a menu of eight or ten items that it serves as both sandwiches and salads, as well as soups and cookies. The turkey three mustard and roasted chicken are both solid (moist, well-made), if not exciting entries. This might be helped by using full-sized tomatoes instead of the little grape ones. The soups tend toward that common LA mistake of being spicy, instead of putting in the work to come up with a more subtle and nuanced flavoring. That being said, the mushroom brie soup is good, and some people even consider it a show stopper.

Pulled Pork Sandwich @Skratch | Photo by Jacy Young/LAist

Though it has both vegan and vegetarian entries, Skratch's real talent comes out with the pork dishes. They definitely take it up a notch with the Braised Pork, moist and fully flavored, which comes with sliced green apple and fig and white grape compote. In the salad version, it comes with a truffle dressing. An interesting gambit, though it ultimately overpowers the dish.

Skratch has an ace up its sleeve though with the show stopping BBQ pulled pork sandwich. It comes with their succulent pork in smoky BBQ sauce with cabbage and smoked gouda. It's a show stopper. I haven't been able to order anything else since.

Skratch is still finding its feet, as evidenced by their rearranging of the store every week. But it's off to a solid start, with its minimalist interior and banging music selection, its food served up with the kind of pride that comes from giving people more than what they want -- what they need. Good food is good for the soul, and Skratch is off to a great start in that regard, even if they're only open for lunch on weekdays.

Skratch
3867 Hughes Ave, Culver City, CA