Executive chef Jeremy Fox, chef de cuisine Brittany Cassidy and their finely tuned team somehow found a higher gear for Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen. This Santa Monica standby keeps getting better. The exceptional lynchpin for Rustic Canyon Family of Restaurants sources impeccable of-the-moment ingredients while flexing impressive techniques. The combination factors into a charcuterie program that yielded delectable cotechino sausage.

Fox showcased velvety sliced Cotechino Sausage ($21) in a well-worn cazuela. An earthy Kandarian Farms green lentil bed co-starred bright sorrel, moderately spicy Calabrian chiles, and mirepoix. Fox describes Rustic Canyon’s cotechino as “a pretty basic sausage of ground pork shoulder, simmered pork skin, and spices.” Instead of stuffing the mixture into a casing, they roll the pork into plastic-wrapped logs. Fox, Cassidy and crew poach and griddle until the meat picks up a hint of color. If this sausage preparation passes for “pretty basic” at Rustic Canyon, I’d love to taste a dish that Fox considers complex.

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.