1 Pico Los Angeles

1 Pico sits at 1 Pico Blvd, literally steps from the sand of Santa Monica State Beach. It is the kind of room that leans into the geography, trading the city’s concrete for a direct line to the Pacific.

The contemporary seafood menu here is better for its restraint than the more elaborate dining rooms scattered along the nearby Third Street Promenade. While those places fight for attention with heavy concepts and noisy crowds, 1 Pico relies on the proximity to the water to do the heavy lifting. The room runs smart and elegant, but it is the lack of pretension that makes the address work; you choose this over the Santa Monica Pier’s more frenetic options because you want the view without the sensory overload. It is a calculated distance from the tourist crush that keeps the mood steady.