Breaking Free: L.A. Wine Culture
Shattering the stereotypes
JarAny place in town can serve you a grilled T-bone, but Suzanne Tracht's snazzy steak house is strictly postmodernsville, chefly riffs on the strip steak and the porterhouse, the hash brown and the French fry that may or may not incorporate every last pea tendril and star-anise infusion in the Asian-fusion playbook, if that happens to be your desire. Some people we know have never even tried the steak here — the braised pork belly, the glorious pot roast and the duck fried rice are just too compelling. And there's a wonderful, mostly Italian wine list to contemplate. But the steak, seared at 1,100 degrees, is about as good as it gets. The decor is straight off the set of a Cary Grant movie. And there's banana cream pie for dessert. 8225 Beverly Blvd., L.A., (323) 655-6566. Mon.-Thurs. 5:30-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5:30-11 p.m., Sun. 5:30-9:30 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V. California American.
Joe'sEverybody loves an underdog, and at Joe's, which has been an institution since it was the size of a rent-controlled studio beach apartment, half of Venice has a crush on Joe Miller's uncomplicated cuisine and small but intelligent wine list. You may not have a transcendent experience at Joe's, and you'll spend more than you think you should for a supper of Little Gem lettuce and salmon, but there is this to be said for the restaurant: The kitchen never, ever screws up the fish. 1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, (310) 399-5811. Lunch Tues.-Fri. noon-2:30 p.m., dinner Tues.-Fri. 6-11 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 6-11 p.m., brunch Sat.-Sun. 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Entrees $10-$25, plus $38-$45 prix-fixe dinner. California.
Literati IILiterati is just as happy to serve you a really good pork chop as an exquisite organic salad, a stiff drink as a bottle of Viognier, and it seems as if some of the customers have practically set up their offices here beneath the framed pencils and the old photographs of Santa Monica, borrowing novels from the dining-room bookcase to read over lunch — like Literati Cafe next door, from which it spawned, Literati II is popular with screenwriters and others eager for a second home. Chef Chris Kidder and pastry chef Kimberly Sklar are both veterans of Campanile in the very best way, in love with woodsmoke and seasonal farmers'-market produce, generous portions and plenty of herbs; tapping old Mediterranean traditions and making them their own — don't miss the pasta with arugula pesto or the hot churros with bitter chocolate. 12081 Wilshire Blvd., W.L.A., (310) 479-3400. Lunch Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner Mon.-Thurs. 6-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5:30-10 p.m.; brunch Sat.-Sun. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Full bar. $2 valet parking in rear. AE, MC, V. California Contemporary.
LouIf pigs had their way, pig candy would be made out of chocolate — better yet, out of chocolate that made its way into their troughs. But for better or worse, pig candy is the vernacular name for a snack made out of smoky, thick-cut bacon baked with lots and lots of brown sugar until it transforms itself into demonically fragrant slabs that bear more than a passing resemblance to pork-belly terrine. You want some of this stuff. Lou, a tiny, wonderful wine bar on the south end of Vine, serves a pretty decent range of artisanal cheeses, including the incredible 10-year-old Hook cheddar from Wisconsin, the garlic-laced salamis of Seattle's Armandino Batali, and house-made rillettes. The wine list is pleasantly oddball, thick with rustic bottles of obscure country wines and including as many ultraorganic biodynamic wines as Amdur can find. Lou has a minor specialty in both long-braised meats and tasty vegetarian soups, and the elaborate Monday-night wine dinners revolving around, say, choucroute, Alsatian baekehoeffe or the season's first Alaskan halibut have become legendary. Still, on cool nights there may be nothing better than a plateful of that pig candy made with Lou's house-smoked bacon, a bowlful of olives and a glass of organic Cotes Catalan. 724 N. Vine St., Hlywd., (323) 962-6369 or www.louonvine.com. Mon.-Sat. 6 p.m.-mid. Wine. Lot parking. MC, V. California Contemporary.
LucquesThe California-Mediterranean cooking of Suzanne Goin, which is feminine in all the best ways, is profoundly beautiful in its simplicity, rich in beets, goat cheese and squashes, and there is satori to be found in every bite of grilled fish, every herb salad. When she's on, Goin teases out the flavor from a tomato with the precision of a sushi master, making textural contrasts dance and playing with bursts of acidity and the resinous flavors of fresh herbs. Lucques, named for a vivid green variety of French olive, is located in Harold Lloyd's old carriage house; it boasts an ultrasleek Barbara Barry design and one of the nicest patios in West Hollywood, but on loud weekend nights the restaurant can sometimes seem as if it is about 90 percent bar. Sunday family dinners are not to be missed. 8474 Melrose Ave., W. Hlywd., (323) 655-6277. Sunday nights feature three-course prix-fixe dinners. Lunch Tues.-Sat. noon-2:30 p.m.; dinner Mon.-Tues. 6-10 p.m., Wed.-Sat. 6-11 p.m., Sun. 5-10 p.m. Full bar (limited bar menu available 10 p.m.-mid.). Valet parking. AE, MC, V. California-French.
Now Trending
2012 - Food & Drink
