When you say “raw fish” in Los Angeles, you’re usually talking sushi. But another style of uncooked seafood is making its way onto plates here. It’s called crudo and it’s Italian, not Japanese.

Mario Batali and David Pasternack are widely credited with bringing the Southern Italian specialty to the U.S. at their New York restaurant Esca in 2000. But the crudo concept was introduced to Los Angeles three years earlier by Salvatore Marino, owner and chef of Il Grano in West Los Angeles. Since then, chefs have embraced the style at many local eateries, including Valentino; Catch at Santa Monica’s Hotel Casa del Mar; and West, Hotel Angeleno’s Italian restaurant.

Because Marino felt there was an increasing demand for crudo in Los Angeles, he recently launched Crudo Tuesdays at Il Grano. He offers a wide selection of uncooked fish, including Italian and blue fin tuna, and Japanese snapper, each with a drizzle of olive oil, lemon and sea salt. The fish comes to the local market mostly from Japan.

Crudo is not restricted to seafood; on Il Grano’s specialty night, everything is served raw. The menu includes a Japanese beef tartare and a variety of vegetable dishes.

Marino picked Tuesday for a reason.

“Tuesdays are when the freshest fish arrive in the downtown Los Angeles fish markets,” Marino said. “The fish is literally on your table within the 24 to 36 hours when it was killed in Japan. Sometimes they are still swimming in the bags of water when they are brought here.”

Karen Cease, chief operating officer of lifestyle company Women & Wine, has started making Crudo Tuesdays a habit.

“Course after course, the crudo continues to build on itself,” Cease said.

Michael Reardon, executive chef at Catch, Casa Del Mar, introduced Crudo there in April 2007.

“People seem to like it,” he said. “It’s clean and very L.A. It took almost 20 years for sushi to become this popular and it will take some time for crudo. But crudo certainly has some potential.”

Marino, of course, believes crudo will grow in popularity.

“When people think about Italian food, the last thing they think about is crudo,” Marino said. “It definitely doesn’t trump pizza, pasta or tiramisu.”