Everybody has them. Those neighborhood joints you walk/drive by a million times but never go into. For no good reason. The place looks nice enough and clearly has customers, but you always just pass it by. We've lived in the Valley for over a decade, within walking distance of the Great Greek and we never went until last month. Our friends, S and K (who used to live nearby) were horrified. Turns out the GG is one of their all time favorite places. Or so they claimed. You'd think if that were true they would have drug us there long before the night K was due to leave the country for an extended length of time. Of course, it was the one restaurant she just had to eat at one more time before she left, so that has to count for something. I guess there isn't a lot of Greek food where she's going.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Via Alloro
When relatives come for the holidays in the words of the Eagles, it can be “heaven or it can be hell”. In our case it was delicious!
My favorite Aunt and Uncle escaped the blistering cold of NYC during this past holiday season and came to visit my family and get a bit of LA sunshine. My uncle is a man who loves his food. It is second only to his wife, my aunt who he’s been married to for 32 years and he is still as gaga and giddy as a love struck teenager. It is quite beautiful to behold. As is his wide eyed appraisal of a good menu.
It is fortunate, indeed, that my uncle has done very well financially so he can indulge in both of his passions; spoiling his wife and satisfying his taste buds. Living in NYC and traveling the world they eat in the best restaurants so needless to say when they come to LA, we eat well. Since they stay at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel and enjoy driving in LA traffic about as much as we do, we confined our restaurant hopping to Beverly Hills.
Huckleberry Cafe
photo: Joshua Lurie/944.com |
With a sensibility learned from fairy tales, one would expect a baker, the conjurer of butter, sugar and fruits, flour and spices, to be a kind and gentle person. Peering over a row of story-book cakes and pies, the baker, always wrapped in a white apron with a dusting of flour, desires only the customer’s enjoyment of what has been produced by “her” skilled hands and generous heart.
That fairy tale baker has come to Santa Monica with the appearance of Zoe Nathan, she of the mile-wide smile, generous heart, and magical hands. Zoe and husband Josh Loeb are the proprietors of Huckleberry (1014 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica CA) and Rustic Canyon Restaurant and Wine Bar just across the street from Huckleberry. Since Zoe begins baking each day at 3AM, she is not always peering over the display case filled with her efforts, although one morning I glimpsed her dancing behind the pastry board. The display case at Huckleberry makes for its own worthy peering and astonishing, addictive eating. Every day it is a bit different depending on the availability of farmer’s market fruits and Zoe’s whims.
Yatai Bar
Merrick and I had the honor of attending a costume jewelry auction at
Decades hosted by the original Zoebot herself—Rachel Zoe. I die! Events
don’t get much better than that. The people watching was on another
level. Dresses from every decade, necklaces bigger than my head; heels
for which the word “high” doesn’t even begin to describe it; and Hermes
bracelets on every wrist in the house.
As amaazing as the outfits were, the hors d’oeuvres were offensively
wafer sized and even at that scale, the pin thin socialites were
turning their noses up at them. The server looked shocked that I even
took one and, god forbid, ate it! It was tuna tartar with wasabi caviar
by the way and it was delicious (despite its miniscule size). Merrick
had a vision of throwing a Sprinkles cupcake into the crowd and
watching the emaciated socialites knock each other out with their
Chanel handbags as they fought for the red velvet treat.
Don’t get us wrong. Merrick and I love skinny as much as the next
Angelenos. Merrick practically coined the term manorexia and I may or
may not be responsible for the offensively amoral
www.thisiswhyyoureskinny.com blog. But even we had to pig out after
that event.
R+D Kitchen and M Cafe
Yabu, Il Fornaio and Musha are my favorite restaurants. They have great food and they're
comfortable and affordable. I'd go to them every week if I could.
Having said that, without realizing it, I'd fallen into a rut. It took
my wife, Michelle, to shake things up and get me to try two new
restaurants.
R+D Kitchen is part of the Hillstone restaurant group that includes
Bandera, Gulfstream, and Houston's among others. Recently opened at
1323 Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, R+D took over an address that was
something of a black hole. Montana Lounge and Yu Restaurant had failed.
Even a successful entrenpeneur like Wolfgang Puck couldn't make the
space work for him. With the Aero theater directly across the street,
this should be a good location.
Good design makes such a difference. The previous tenants had sealed off the space, creating dark interiors. Walking into the restaurant, it's easy to see that R+D came up with a fresh approach. With a minimalist design, a skylight in the middle of the dining room, an L-shaped bar to one side, and windows that open out onto Montana, R+D is inviting both inside and out.
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