Valley Ho! Three New Restaurants in the SFV Show Some Weaknesses, a Few Surprising Strengths

Inside, it's a barn of a room. The owners apparently split the difference when trying to decide which wall-covering du jour to use: One side of the restaurant is lined with white subway tile and mirrors, the other with reclaimed wood, vintage glass bottles and metal glowing lights. A central bar anchors the space, and giant black booths nestle up against a walk-in beer cooler in the back corner.

That beer cooler holds an impressive range of brews. The Matilda Belgian strong pale ale from Chicago's Goose Island Beer Company is especially fine with food — I'd go back just for that. Alas, I cannot recommend the cocktails here. The "keghattan," a barrel-aged Manhattan made with an ungodly amount of some sweet stickiness not found in a true Manhattan, tasted very much like cough syrup. The others were no better; my notes say things like "tones of sweet cucumber dish detergent with a spicy rim."

But let's not linger on that, because almost everything else about the Local Peasant was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting much from the food, not when the menu boasts items like fried cheese balls with cheese sauce, or salmon with jalapeño mashed potatoes and mushroom chardonnay lobster sauce.

PHOTO BY ANNE FISHBEIN

The Summer Flatbread at Pedalers Fork

Location Info

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Pedalers Fork

23504 Calabasas Road
Los Angeles, CA 91302

Category: Restaurant > New American

Region: San Fernando Valley

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The Local Peasant

14058 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423

Category: Restaurant > American

Region: San Fernando Valley

Salt and Pepper Cuisine

20969 Ventura Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91364

Category: Restaurant >

Region: San Fernando Valley

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• Woodland Hills
• Anne Fishbein
• Calabasas
• Main Dish Recipes
• Food and Cooking

I opted for crispy pork belly with pickled watermelon, and a voluptuous salad of beets, heirloom tomatoes and burrata. Both dishes sounded like clichés of one sort or another, yet both avoided tasting clichéd: the pork belly truly crispy, with enough acid from the pickle to stand up to the fat; the salad, generous piles of beets and tomato draped in milky cheese.

The grass-fed burger tasted meatier and juicer than many grass-fed burgers manage, and the peasant stew — a homey dish of braised chicken legs and thighs over basmati rice with chickpeas and lemongrass — was one of the most comforting, beer-friendly things I've eaten in a long time. At $13, it's a fantastic bargain, too.

It's clear that Woodland Hills is thrilled to have the Local Peasant — the place has been packed. And why not? Cocktails aside, it's a bright spot of energy, great beer and good food. Any neighborhood would be lucky to have it.

22901 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills. (818) 876-0105, thelocalpeasant.com. Daily, 4 p.m.-2 a.m.; kitchen open until 11 p.m. Sun.-Thurs., mid. Fri.-Sat.

Reach the writer at brodell@laweekly.com.

See more of Anne Fishbein's photos of Salt and Pepper Cuisine and Pedalers Fork.