Viewing entries tagged
charcuterie

Napa Valley Grille Brunch

March 1, 2018

Napa Valley Grille is one of the enjoyable spots I like to visit when I'm in Westwood. Including that day, I think I've ate here in total of 4 times. This time we've attempted to dine during brunch. They have a spacious patio to get some of that Vitamin D.

Coffee Cake. They bake their own bread to serve before your meal. This changes pretty often depending on what they decide to make. Dinner also changes as well. I love freshly baked bread and pastries so this is always a treat.

1/2 salmon caesar salad. They served the salad in another 1/2 since it was shared between 2. Super thoughtful. This was also very delicious. Simple, but salmon was cooked perfectly.

Shrimp & Stone-Cut Grits served with an over-easy egg, and fennel-frisée salad. Love the touch of shaved fennel. This isn't your New Orleans style shrimp and grits. The broth was definitely lighter and not filled with a pull of grease and sausage. Very flavorful nonetheless

. Crab Cake Benedict with roasted potatoes, hollandaise, and fresh herbs.

Charcuterie - prosciutto, duck salumi, soppressata, housemade brandied chicken liver pâté, seasonal jam, and charred rustic bread. My favorite is their brandied chicken liver pâté.

This restaurant is extremely spacious. They also have intimate rooms for private dining for groups or business meetings. I recommend Napa Valley Grille if you've never been here.

1100 Glendon Avenue, #100, Los Angeles, CA 90024

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Napa Valley Grille - Westwood

March 23, 2017

I've been to Napa Valley Grille before and find how crazy time flies since it's been a year the last time I talked about it. Last year during my first visit, it was for their grand reopening after an amazing 2 million dollar renovation. Now I am back to try a few additions to their menu.

Here are the new items on the menu:

Dinner Menu

Grilled Ancho-Crusted Albacore Tuna
Seasonal Harvest Salad
Caesar Salad
Crescenza Cheese & Serrano Ham Tartine
Oven-Roasted Jidori Chicken Breast
Bucatini Pomodoro
Grilled Prime New York Strip
Grilled Wagyu Tomahawk Chop

Sides:

Creamy Polenta
Sautéed Brussel Sprouts
Charred Marble Potatoes
Sautéed Wild California Mushrooms
Cavatappi Mac and Cheese

Desserts:

Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownie
Warm Sticky Toffee Date Cake
Strawberry Vanilla Mascarpone Cake

Charcuterie - Prosciutto, duck salumi, soppressata, housemade brandied chicken liver pâté, seasonal jam, and charred rustic bread

My favorite bite was a slab of chicken liver pâté on top on the rustic bread with a smear of their jam.

Grilled Ancho-Crusted Albacore Tuna -peppercress, pink peppercorn, lavosh, dill sauc

Prime NY Strip - 14 oz, charred onion-thyme jam, green peppercorn-cognac jus. Cooked Medium Rare. — Prime NY Strip - 14 oz, charred onion-thyme jam, green peppercorn-cognac jus. Cooked Medium Rare.

Charred Marble Potatoes - white truffle, crème fraîche, chive

Sautéed Brussels Sprouts - crispy pancetta, sherry

Strawberry-Vanilla Mascarpone Cake - strawberry jam filling, mascarpone cream

1100 Glendon Avenue, #100 Los Angeles, CA 90024

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Little Beast - Eagle Rock

February 9, 2016

Little Beast

1496 Colorado Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90041

I've heard about Little Beast for quite some time now and having had lived in Eagle Rock for over 10 years, it definitely feels like home every time I am back in the area. Little Beast was highly recommended by friends all over. This just felt like the right place to celebrate John's birthday. He didn't want a big party or dinner so I promised him I wouldn't throw him a surprise birthday party like I had the past few years (whooops).

Little Beast is located on the corners of Colorado and Loleta Avenue. There is valet parking as well as street parking on Colorado if you are lucky. We arrived 10 minutes before our reservation, but there wasn't any trouble at all to seat us. We were seated outside in their patio which was lovely. There is a canopy outside to shield you from the rain if any, and heat lamps to keep you warm if chilly. Glancing through the menu, I already knew I wanted the Crudo and the Octopus from their small plates.

First things first, drinks.

Beer for my brother and I, and Stumptown coffee for John (french press).

It wasn't long at all before our small plates came flying out from the kitchen.

California Sea Bass Crudo

The crudo is composed of blood orange, cucumber, radish, yuzu vinaigrette, crispy wonton in between and topped with a frisée poof. This was definitely a palate opener. It was pretty hands down that this was the best rendition of this dish we had. As simple as it sounds, I think the most important part of a crudo is having an extremely balanced acid ratio which was beautifully balanced by the yuzu and the slight spiciness of the fresno chiles. I'm sure we can order 2 of these next time.

Indian Butter Octopus

To be honest, we didn't expect the octopus to come out like this. The "Don't judge a book by its cover" is playing hard on this one. That first bite I took, I felt my eyes roll back. The spices were beautiful and complimented the octopus so well. The fingerling potatoes seemed roasted or fried before it was tossed into the sauce, the flavors were harmonious. The brussell sprouts were also drizzled lightly with a simple vinaigrette which cut through the slight richness of this dish.

Charcuterie

Charcuterie is always a fun item to order. The meats were beautifully laid out on a wood board with delicious pickled condiments like caperberries (one of my favorites, great on carpaccio) and cornichons. We also received a plate of bread to go with out meats and I can't believe how much of it we actually ate.

Hickory Smoked Spicy Pork Meatballs

Ok. So you might not believe it, but I think these are the best tasting meatballs that I've ever, EVER put in my mouth. Let me tell you that the sauce on it's own is dynamite. I've never had smoke executed so perfectly like they did with these meatballs. I could have this in a jar. Buy it frozen. If I lived across the street I would be here for this a few times a week and THAT WOULD BE DANGEROUS. I think this was the best thing we had that night. And the reason why I say that is because it's a meatball. How can one meatball taste so different from another? I think, that if you can make one item that is extremely universal to our tastebuds, and then slug a curve ball like "WTF that was not what I was expecting!" it deserves to be the best thing of the night. They were moist, smokey, spicy little balls and I guarantee you will love it.

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Roasted Mushroom Rissoto

The mushrooms used were king oyster, maitake, and porcini. The risotto also included thyme, black truffle, and parmesan. The flavors were creamy with a sharp roasted mushroom funk you would expect in any mushroom risotto dish. Black truffles always leave a nice touch to any dish no matter what it is. It's totally necessary.

Braised Short Ribs

The polenta was nice and creamy that balances the saltiness of the sauce that was used to braise the short ribs. The short ribs were also a good portion considering all the items we've had so far. It was definitely fork tender with nothing much for you to do but to spoon the meat around the polenta into your mouth. The veggies were carrots, turnips and asparagus.

Caledonia Prawns

The Caledonia Prawns were served over fried wild rice with porkbelly, edamame, carrots, cilantro and a honey soy vinaigrette. This was from their special items menu. The flavors were definitely different from what we had all night. John and David weren't too fond of the wild rice, but I loved the texture. Also, the honey soy vinaigrette was money. I can totally see this sauce glazed over a roasted pork belly. UGH!

I HiGHly recommend Little Beast whether you are from the area or visiting. Little Beast definitely made a bold statement to the neighborhood that you don't need to travel an hour through traffic to have fantastic food. They definitely know what they are doing, you just better make your reservations to find out.

1496 Colorado BoulevardEagle Rock, CA90041 (323)-341-5899

Instagram: @littlebeastrestaurant

Twitter: @LittleBeastEats

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Wine & Dine

Napa Valley Grille Brunch

Napa Valley Grille - Westwood

Little Beast - Eagle Rock

Little Beast

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