Tapenade - West Los Angeles, California

Address: 11301 W Olympic Blvd, Ste 116, Los Angeles, CA 90064

Items Ordered:

• Burrata cheese with fresh fig, toasted hazelnut, EVOO, aged balsamic
• Mushrooms and parmesan polenta with truffle oil
• Chicken liver parfait with port, country bread, bacon, and cornichons
• Italian brussels sprouts with currants, pine nuts, parmesan, aged balsamic
• Tuna tartare and seared sashimi with avocado and ginger orange dressing
• Banana gratin with almond crust, and vanilla bean ice cream

Tapenade is probably my best kept dining secret. It's hidden by the large Olympic Collection building, and the location has such a rapid turnover, I'm always afraid Tapenade will no longer be there the next time I want to visit. Of all the dishes, definitely try the mushrooms and polenta--it is rich, creamy, and so fragrant with the aroma of truffle oil. Get the brussels sprouts too. They make it in 7 different crispy delicious varieties, but the Italian one described above is probably my favorite. Okay, and the real reason why I love Tapenade? All their happy hour drinks are AMAZING! I especially loved the red wines I tried (Pinot, Cabernet, Tempranillo, Merlot), but the food is great even without any libations ;). If you're ever near Little Osaka or looking for a great happy hour location, then definitely give Tapenade a try!

-y

Farmshop - West Los Angeles, California

Address: 225 26th St, Brentwood, CA 90402

Items Ordered:

• Farm egg salad w/ mixed greens, beets, and brioche toast
• Frittata w/ mushrooms, onion confit, and frisee
• Granola w/ Straus family creamery yogurt

Living on the outskirts of Brentwood inspires me to dream of richness and dine at fancy restaurants. Farmshop was one of the fancy restaurants on my Brentwood to-eat list (the other one is Tavern), and I thought I'd bring some of my Houston visitors along. I thought my egg salad was masterfully prepared, and the butter lettuce in my mixed greens salad was refreshing. The frittata tasted healthy, and the granola homemade. Nothing was too salty or fatty, and I told myself that if I were a celebrity I would eat here whenever I wasn't drinking my lemon/cayenne pepper juice cleanse in preparation for the Oscars. However, my Houston friends are much less delusional than I am, and promptly after this meal, they asked "Where are we really going to eat for lunch now?" So while I had a nice snack at Farmshop and would probably return to try the acclaimed fried chicken one day, the winning meal of my day was really the fatty and rich Daikokuya tonkatsu ramen that came after this lunch. Who says you can't have the best of both worlds?

--y

Salt's Cure - Los Angeles, California

Address: 7494 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046

Items Ordered:

• Pretzel dog with housemade ground mustard
• The Bookworm sandwich - grilled ham sandwich with braised kale & swiss cheese

Sometimes living in L.A., I get jealous that I'm not a hipster, or a Real Housewife, or a valley girl, or Selena Gomez. So I try to at least eat at places that will make me feel like I belong. Thus, in true hipster fashion I visited Salt's Cure to try their locally sourced, homemade dishes. The Bookworm definitely tasted fresh, but was a little too mild in flavor, while the housemade ground mustard overpowered the tastiness of the sausage. I liked Salt's Cure just fine, but it didn't really blow me away. Since the hipster persona is not working out for me, I will let y'all know in next week's post how my bourgeoisie personality is coming along :).

--y

Gordon Ramsay at The London - West Hollywood, California

Address: 1020 N San Vicente Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069

Items Ordered (DineLA):

• Lamb belly w/ Spanish chorizo, stewed gigante beans, jalapeno sauce
• Chanterelle mushroom risotto w/ sauteed scallop & quail egg
• Short rib served w/ Yorkshire pudding & bacon wrapped asparagus
• Tai snapper w/ coconut milk, shrimp curry broth over jasmine rice
• Lemon tart
• English sticky toffee pudding w/ mascarpone cheese & brown butter ice cream

Items Ordered (Afternoon Tea@Boxwood Cafe):

• Teas - rose w/ French vanilla & Mediterranean Mandarin teas
• Freshly baked scones w/ devonshire cream & lemon curd
• Sandwiches -black brioche w/ smoked salmon & cucumber, hummus w/ crisp shallots, curried chicken w/ golden raisins, roast beef w/ red onion marmalade
• Cakes - honey madeleine, L'opera cake, apple crumble, lemon meringue bar, fresh fruit tart

I tried to limit myself to only one DineLA restaurant in January, and luckily Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at The London did not disappoint. I thought every dish tasted amazing, except the lamb belly since it was a little too fatty, and I'm not a huge fan of lamb anyways. We should've gotten 2 orders of risotto instead. The creamy risotto was flavorful, the scallop cooked perfectly, and the quail egg added some richness--this was probably the best risotto I've ever eaten! The short rib entree was tender, and my tai snapper had a nice crispy skin, not to mention the Jasmine rice was fluffy and went well with the curry broth. I wish I could recreate this dish at home, it was so comforting and flavorful. The desserts were good, but definitely not the most memorable part of the meal. If you visit, definitely try the risotto option and Tai snapper--I'm still salivating over those dishes now!

Since we received $20 off a return visit, I thought it'd be a good idea to try their afternoon tea the 2nd time around. The scones had just the right amount of sweetness and weren't too dense. They were delicious with the lemon curd and cream. The savory sandwiches were interesting, but the breads were a little dry. The cakes were ridiculously cute, and my favorite from that plate was definitely the apple crumble since it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet. However, I wasn't impressed with the fruit tart since the cream tasted a little artificial and resembled something I could've purchased at the grocery store. I learned a lesson after having afternoon tea with my boyfriend...don't bring boys to tea, they will still be hungry after the miniature offerings! I guess Gordon Ramsay is a little warranted in his tirade against other chefs since I was pretty impressed with the dishes at The London. Try it and let me know if you agree.

--y