Elina ShatkinThis weekend, Tender Greens in Hollywood will kick off its first Sunday beer garden, a monthly event with all-you-can-eat roasted meat and all-you-can-drink craft beer for a flat fee of $35. (We had a chance to preview the event when the chefs did a test-run with dueling roasted goats a few weeks ago, and we'll give it a thumbs-up.) This Sunday, it's a whole lamb roast and beer by Tustin Brewery, but the event is already sold out. Since we've whetted your appetite with the notion of a Sunday supper that doesn't require church attendance or cooking, here's a list of 10 Los Angeles Sunday suppers you shouldn't miss, just in time for spring.
A dish from Eva.; Credit: Anne Fishbein
1. Ammo: “Ammo's Sunday Roast dinners mean different things to different people: you might go for chef Daniel Mattern's good food, for the decade-old restaurant's casual setting, for a good value — usually three courses for $32 — or for pastry chef Roxana Jullapat's remarkable desserts. You might also go for the books. Yes, books, as the restaurant occasionally hosts book signings.” — Amy Scattergood
[Reservations recommended. 5:30 – 9:30 p.m. Regular menu still in effect. (323) 871-2666]
2. Church & State: Walter Manzke is no longer behind the stoves, but Church & State's Sunday menu — four courses for $39 plus $10 if you get the optional wine pairings — is definitely popular. The menu is market-based and determined on the day of the dinner, so call in the afternoon if you want to know your options. Closed on Easter.
[Reservations recommended. 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. Regular menu not available. (213) 405-1434]
3. Dominick's: “$15 Sunday dinners that come with the option of a $12 bottle of a house wine with the unfortunate name of Dago Red. Oddly, it is a very pleasant place to be, even when you are not watching young television stars grope one another, which you usually are.”
[Reservations recommended. 6 – 11:45 p.m. Regular menu still in effect. (310) 652-2335]
4. Eva: “Sunday nights see not just family-style dinners but epic family dinners: processions of chicken braised with hen of the woods mushrooms; braised brisket with frizzled broccoli rabe; sweet-corn risotto; meltingly tender butter-poached sea trout; and perhaps a spoonful of frisée salad in a lightened Green Goddess dressing, all for $39 ($20 for kids), including wine and a dessert or two.” —Jonathan Gold.
[Reservations recommended. 4 – 9 p.m. Regular menu not available. (323) 634-0700]
5. The Foundry on Melrose: On Tuesday nights, there's fried chicken, but on Sundays, chef Eric Greenspan offers a two-, three- or four-course prix fixe menu for $29, $39 or $49.
[Reservations recommended. 5:30 – 10 p.m. Abridged version of the regular menu also available. (323) 651-0915]
6. Lucques: The restaurant that kick-started LA's Sunday supper trend, lo those many years ago, is still “goin” strong, winning high-profile fans like First Lady Michelle Obama. At three courses for $45, chef Suzanne Goin dishes out a legendary spread. The menu changes weekly; check the website for details.
[Reservations recommended. 5 – 10 p.m. Regular menu not available. (323) 655-6277]
7. Noir Food & Wine: The four-course Sunday menu costs $34 or $39 with two glasses of wine. (You get to choose from four bottles.) They don't decide until Sunday what to serve, so if you're curious, call in the late afternoon to find out what's on the menu.
[Reservations recommended. 5 – 9 p.m. Wine bar menu still available. (626) 795-7199]
8. Palate Food + Wine: A restaurant, as anyone who has worked in one can tell you, is often several restaurants at once… But as far as restaurants-within-restaurants, nobody may take the concept quite so far as Palate Food + Wine. When you're sitting at a Sunday Session, drinking a wild new Alsatian Riesling, listening to DJs like Cut Chemist or Madlib spin on their way back from out-of-town gigs, eating tacos of brined range goat, grilled, simmered overnight in duck fat, and tucked into tortillas with pumpkin and pomegranate seeds, there are few places you'd rather be. There is always an inexpensive one-dish meal — turkey potpie, pan-roasted cod, etc. — for $12 or so (the tacos were far less).” —Jonathan Gold Starting at 5 p.m., chef Octavo Becerra offers a three-course menu for $35.
[For Sunday Session, reservations not needed except for large parties. Noon – 5 p.m. Regular menu not available. (818) 662-9463]
9. Sotto: Launched just last week, Sotto's Sunday menu offers a $30, five-course prix fixe menu by “abbattoir jocks” Steve Samson and Zach Pollack. The meal, featuring antipasto, pasta, secondo, contorno and dolci, is served family-style, so everyone at the the table must order it.
[Reservations recommended. 5:30 – 10 p.m. Regular menu not available. Pizzas can be ordered at an additional cost. (310) 277-0210]
10. Tender Greens: On the third Sunday during the spring and summer months, Tender Greens in Hollywood transforms their back patio into a beer garden and roasts a whole-animal, serving it with an assortment of sides and salads. That means all the meat you can eat and all the beer you can drink for $35. (That includes tax.) The sold-out April event features a lamb. In May, ReRide Ranch will supply a pig and the brewer is TBD.
[Reservations recommended. 5 – 9 p.m. Regular menu available inside. (323) 382-0380]
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.