365 Places to Eat

Bistro of Santa Monica is a neighborhood Italian joint, with a comfortable feel.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Bistro of Santa Monica. From the outside, it looks a bit formal. On the inside though, there is a bit more of a casual feel.

It’s easy to go to an Italian restaurant and find old favorites. Simple pastas and meats, with basic sauces and fillings. At BoSM (the waiter likes it when you call it “bosom”. But not really) the menu is refreshingly unique.

Take the filled pastas. There is the Messina: home made ravioli, filled with fresh spinach and ricotta in walnut cream sauce. Or the all Iden: Homemade chicken ravioli, fresh tomato, and light cream. The gnocchi bolagnese includes less traditional ground turkey.

It’s all good stuff, and flavors that you will remember afterward.

Prices are very reasonable too with the home made pastas in the $13-15 range. The meats and seafood are priced higher, for good reason, and the wine list sports a range selections to accompany your meal.

Bistro of Santa Monica
2301 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica
(310) 453-5442‎

Perhaps Le Sanglier can’t be classified as a hunting lodge, but the hanging guns, the hunting themed wall paper and the wild game on the menu certainly suggest the theme. The decor is decidedly French, bordering on tacky but pulling back and settling with a certain comfort and surprising transport from the San Fernando Valley to France.

We visited Le Sanglier with some friends who live in the area. After a delicious martini at their house, we scooted over to the restaurant in time for an 8:00 reservation.

Our table was waiting, in the front window, a massive booth for the four of us. I was delighted to see the specials for the night. Two jumped out at me right away: the Sizzling Mussel appetizer and the Crispy Half Duck with Raspberry Sauce. Unfortunately, a debate in my head swung me away from the duck and towards the scallops on the regular menu. For some reason, I couldn’t reconcile mixing mussels and duck. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy my scallops, but looking back, that duck was clearly on the menu for me.

I believe that our waiter was the owner. A stately French gentleman who tolerated my dining companion’s French explanation that the two ladies at the table were pregnant and wouldn’t be having wine. He complimented our dinner choices as if we had selected only the best he had to offer. I had a good view of the dining room and saw as he greeted each guest as they left, monitored the tables, coordinated the support staff and was a tremendous host, unlike what I am used to around town.

Our appetizers arrived promptly. French Onion Soup, Escargot, Beet and White Bean Salad, and my much anticipated Sizzling Mussels. I was a bit curious what the presentation would be. Without being too crude, it resembled a sizzling fajita platter at a cheesy Mexican restaurant. The difference was that this sizzling platter was piled with plump mussels in a rosemary garlic broth. The dish was all I could have wished for and more. The addition of rosemary is something that I don’t think I have had before with mussels, but was a savory combination. I had no shame in finshing much of the broth with the crusty French bread. I wasn’t even deterred when our French host reminded me that I had a whole entree on its way.

As I said, my main dish was the Scallops which were served with herbs and mushrooms as well as a pastry shell. Most of the scallops were served outside of the pastry, topped with a light cream sauce. Inside the pastry was a melange of the various ingredients of the plate. My scallops were truly tasty, but I think of the dishes on the table, mine would rank fourth of four. I had bites of the venison, wild boar and veal. All three had what French chefs do best - perfectly paired luxurious sauces.

The Veal was accompanied by an Apple Brandy sauce, the Venison with a Bordelaise and Berry and the Wild Boar with a peppery Poivrade sauce. All three dishes were deliciously unique, and if you are going to try Le Sanglier, why not go for their namesake dish, the Wild Boar (Le Sanglier in French).

If this sounds like a decadent meal to you so far, you are correct. When on the path of decadence, why stop at the main course? We plunged head first into dessert. On one side of the table was a traditional creme brulee topped with fresh fruit. On our side of the table was a house specialty, the Banana Split Le Sanglier. How is this prepared? Start with the banana, wrap in a fresh made crepe, top with a generous scoop of French vanilla ice cream and then cover everything with whipped cream. Don’t stop there! Add gravy boat full of hot fudge on the side so that chocolate can be applied and reapplied as you eat. It was every bit as indulgent and delectable as it sounds.

Sitting in our booth, clearly overcome with satiation, we were offered one more temptation on the house, a finishing glass of Moscato. It was lovely.

Le Sanglier is a gem in The Valley. Staying in business for over 30 years certainly says something for the quality of the cuisine. Particularly since this is not a restaurant which would catch your eye from the outside. This decadence does not come cheap either, each couple was in for about $125 before tip and that was with only one glass of wine.

Saved for special occasions and to reward yourself, I would put Le Sanglier high on your list. It’s easily worth a drive over the hill from the Westside. I would suggest reservations to make sure that you are not turned away.

Le Sanglier
5522 Crebs Ave. / Cross st. Ventura Blvd
Tarzana, CA 91356-3330
818-345-0470

We were looking for a spot in Culver City for dineLA’s Restaurant Week. Akasha seemed to have the best menu of the choices, and we hadn’t been there before.

Overall, our dinner was very good. Would we go back for another meal? Debatable.

Akasha is aimed at a very specific clientele. For lack of a better term, yuppies. It is possible to cater to yuppies and serve good food, and Akasha does just that. The interior is dark except for the small spotlights shining down on the middle of each table. That’s where you get to put your menu if you want to be able to read it.

I have a small suspicion that for the dineLA diners, Akasha was speeding service to increase table turnover. I hope. If not, the place is going for a Culver City record for how fast you can serve three courses. The soup and mixed greens came out soon after we ordered. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the main courses came out just as the first course was being cleared. We had to throttle the main course as we ate, just to be able to have a complete conversation. Once those plates were gone, though, the dessert was there in a snap.

I don’t have to have a slow, drawn out dinner, but this felt a bit rushed. The other three tables right next to us also had the dineLA menu and were being driven at the same pace.

Back to the food. From Akasha’s website:

At AKASHA we feel that local, organic, and handcrafted ingredients are the key to great tasting cuisine. Our purveyors include small family farms, organic growers, sustainable and fair trade companies , and artisan food makers.

And the food is good. My greens and the dressing were fresh and delicious. Scallops were well cooked and seasoned nice, portions a bit small ($28 for three on the normal menu).

The drinks and wine list have some unique options. The cocktail selection has creative martinis and there is a descent selection of wines by the glass. I had a couple glasses of Castello di Farnatella, a Super Tuscan at $10.

The desserts may have stolen the show. My apple tart had an amazing crust and the tangerine sorbet with my wife’s carrot cake was wonderfully fresh.

The food at Akasha really was terrific. I think, though, that this is the type of restaurant that is really going to have a tough time in a tightening economy. Its appeal is not broad enough. You wouldn’t come here for a festive dinner with a lot of friends, it would be too hard to see and hear everyone. You wouldn’t bring you grandparents here, it’s too dark. You wouldn’t come here for an every day meal, the prices are a tad too high for that. You would come here for an occasional romantic meal though, and occasional diners are not going to pay for the rent and staff for this place.

I wish them the best. I don’t want to see any restaurant have trouble, and Akasha does serve great food and has a noble mission around their ingredients.

Other Reviews for Akasha:

• Reservation for Three
• Bites and Bolts
• Eat Food With Me

Akasha
9543 Culver Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232
310.845.1700

Chaya Brasserie is the kind of place that you go for the LA dining experience that your friends who have never been to LA tell you about. A menu that may take itself too seriously, sleek and stylish interior, located on a trendy shopping street and filled with celebrities.

Stereotypes aside, the food is quite good and they do back it up with service to make your experience enjoyable. The happy hour with half price drinks and appetizers is also very popular.

Chaya Braserrie’s menu has been called “La Nouvelle Cuisine Franco-Japanese” (by themselves), which translates to New French Japanese for us simple folks. In other words,”Asian Fusion”.

Celebrities. I had dinner at Chaya Brasserie next to Willem DaFoe. I’m not easily star struck, but Mississippi Burning is an amazing moving and Willem Dafoe won my personal Oscar for that performance. I’m glad I didn’t say anything to him, because we coincidentally (I swear) ended up standing next to each other at both the valet stand and the urinals. It was special time for me, but he may have thought it a bit stalkerish.

Chaya Brasserie a little on the pricey side, but the food is good and unique enough that it’s not like eating just anywhere with a trendy name and brand consultant.

Chaya Brasserie
8741 Alden Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 859-8833

If you’re not familiar with dineLA Restaurant Week, a number of local restaurants offer fixed price three course meals for lunch and/or dinner. Restaurant Week is actually two weeks, starting January 25th and ending February 6th (not including Saturday).

Some places offer good deals, others seem to fill the menu with some of their lower priced items to fit within the price confines of the promotion.

Daily Grill has a good menu, priced at $26 for dinner and returning around $40 of menu food in return. Also, Daily Grill has offered up some of their best items, even giving the diner four choices for the entree, rather than the required three.

Here’s your recipe for a great dinner at Daily Grill:

• Bowl of Manhattan Clam Chowder
• Black Berry Pork Chop
• Key Lime Pie

Not only will you have a delicious dinner, but you should have almost half your meal left over for lunch the next day. The chop is huge and juicy with a mild blackberry sauce. Even the Key Lime Pie is big, I think I got a quarter of the whole pie. It’s great Key Lime pie too, with just the right amount of tang with whipped cream and blueberries on top.

While Daily Grill is a chain, the food is still good and they have a nice menu. It’s a little overpriced, in my opinion, during normal days. The dineLA menu is a nice option to give them a try.

Plus, go on a Wednesday and all bottles of wine are half price for “Wine Wednesdays”. It’s sort of an unbelievable deal. With bottles listed as low as $25, you can really cut costs down.

Daily Grill
Various locations

The Magic Castle? For dinner?

Truth be told, the magic at the Magic Castle is on the stage, not so much in the kitchen.

However, when you visit the Magic Castle, you must make a reservation for dinner and spend at least $15 (before drinks). You shouldn’t have any trouble hitting the minimum charge, but you may be a little underwhelmed with what you get. I put it on par with banquet food at a hotel — edible, but not too remarkable.

But, don’t let that deter you from going to the Magic Castle. As campy and silly as it may seem, a night at the castle is a lot of fun.

After you have your dinner and are released to wander the castle, make sure that you get to the Close Up Room. It’s the smallest performance space and has the most amazing performances. My mind still spins from the tricks I saw there. No matter how hard you try to avoid the misdirection, you can’t keep up, so go with the magic and have fun.

One catch is that to get into the Magic Castle, you must be a member, accompany a member, or have a guest pass from a member. It seems like it used to be hard to find someone to give you guest passes, but now you can even find guest passes online from magicians like Mike Wong.

There are a few more rules (found here) about the strict dress code, $20 cover charge (in addition to dinner) and the 21+ age requirement for times other then Sunday brunch.

The Magic Castle
7001 Franklin Avenue
Hollywood, CA 90028
323-851-3313