Selva Long Beach is a gem in more ways than one—and it goes far beyond the fact that Chef Carlos Jurado has lifted the space into the eye and interest of food lovers outside of Long Beach. Selva is undoubtedly one of the city’s best restaurants. Its ability to keep staple items—like its always-on-point smoked pollo, a Long Beach classic, if there was one—on top of innovating, is due to Chef Carlos’s choice to expand his culinary horizons continually.
The vulnerability compounded by determination is what makes Selva Long Beach run.
For those who haven’t attended the Los Angeles Times’s annual 101 Best Restaurants announcement party, it is unquestionably the region’s most essential and glorious celebration of our food culture. And I say that not with some grandstanding, look-upon-the-peasants platitude. I say it as someone who witnessed the SoCal food community come together and celebrate one another in a way I hadn’t seen.
There was Nancy Silverton, layering slices of prosciutto atop crostini and happily conversing with anyone willing to talk. Jennifer Faltham from Sonoratown handing out chivis and hugs on an equal basis. Chef Dima Habbibeh of Ammatolí handing out musakhan rolls and ka’ak while wearing matching keffiyehs with her daughter, Massah. Restaurants going all out with giant tins of caviar. Or their best oysters.
It is hard not to be proud, and I had the honor of standing next to Chef Dima and Chef Carlos as the restaurants were announced. Ammatolí climbed from its previous year’s ranking, Selva dropped. And with it, so did Chef Carlos’s spirit.
Whether a restaurant is seeking prestige or patronage, choices have to be made—and some are much easier than others.
“It’s really hard not to take that one in deeply,” he said. “I respect Bill Addison so much because I feel he understands the food of the region—and it only makes me want to make myself better.”
This type of admission is something that is often pushed to the sidelines of the culinary world. Speak up when you’ve scored the accolade, work it out with yourself should you lose the shiny object. The overwhelming pressure to stick to certain standards—whether it is keeping your menu seasonal or maintaining certain prices or keeping certain items on the menu 24/7 or maintaining statuses among rankings…—is often just viewed as modus operandi rather than a very hard choice to maintain. And when one slips, be it in patronage or prestige, you are left with two choices. One is to just make the basic dishes you know would sell well, do the business well, and lose the prestige; this is an easier choice. The other is to challenge yourself, flex your culinary muscles
For Chef Carlos, the dip on Bill Addison’s list only left him more determined.
Pushing boundaries but not forgetting the heart of Selva.
Since the ranking was unveiled last December, Chef Carlos has taken to task the very question of, “What is Selva?”
He has created a “test kitchen” monthly dinner that pushes the boundaries of what Colombian food can be viewed as. He has continually pushed his bar manager, Mike Borowski, toward a culinary-centric cocktail program is perpetually solid. And now, he has brought in his daughter, who officially unveiled her first item on the menu. A creamy, blueberry-meets-elderflower concoction that is delightfully mature for a cook so green in the kitchen. (She clearly has your genes, Chef.)
Chef Carlos is putting in the work. And in a way that isn’t in your face or aggressive but on his level—something that reflects his larger history.
Chef Carlos’s pedigree is rarely mentioned by the chef—for example, he worked under Chef Jordan Kahn, the genius-meets-frustrating creative whose work at Vespertine was hailed as the region’s best by much-loved food critic Jonathan Gold before his death—but it nonetheless should be noted: Chef Carlos has been in the game at some of its highest heights and while he never once to blindly chase accolades, he does exercise those experiences through his food.
And ultimately, in a food landscape where Latin American cuisine is overwhelmingly dominated by Mexican food, he represents Colombia in a way no other chef does in the region.
Here are some of Selva Long Beach’s newest and best items.
Sometimes simple but certainly never basic. Often complex yet never confusing. Here are some of the best dishes from the Selva’s updated menu.
Tomato and cucumber salad: Heirloom tomato | Cucumber | Feta | Ramp oil | Micro-cilantro
Charred seasonal veggies: Market vegetables | Rice
Plaintain gnocchi: Long Beach mushrooms | Farmers market vegetables
Mussels: Red chimi | Coconut sauce| Colombian sausage
And yes, there are sweets and new cocktails. Some highlights…
Chef Carlos’s daughter, Nico, is proving to be quite the talent given her new dessert on the menu and longtime bar manager Miek Borowski continues to concoct solid cocktails.
Arroz con leche: Rice | Milk | Coconut | Flowers | Hibiscus | Blueberry | Basil | Whipped cream
Fresa Amarga: Tequila reposado | Gin | Campari | Strawberry | Lemon
Inca Collins: Pisco | Pineapple rum | Inca Kola | Ginger
San Andres: Rum | Agricole | Banana | Guanabana
Selvais is located at 4137 Anaheim St.
