The Rockefeller: An upscale bar in Hermosa Beach (yay!)

Hermosa Beach is essentially a beach town where the standard attire is shorts and flip flops, bars are filled with partying coeds and most meals you'll get there will consist of potato skins and buffalo wings. I'm a Brentwood girl and my boyfriend is a Hermosa guy. Therefore, I was so excited to hear about our new compromise: new gastropub The Rockefeller a block from the Hermosa Pier. The Rockfeller is trying to target a mature crowd with their selection of over 30 craft beers, wine and upscale bar food.

The place is bustling. We attempted to check it out on a Friday early evening but it was already packed, so we returned the next day for lunch.

The menu is rather limited for a gastropub. Even though the menu itself looks long, half of it comprises of breakfast items and sides. The lunch/dinner items are mainly a small selection of starters, sandwiches, salads and a burger option.

The outdoor patio is the place to sit but the restaurant has a very open layout so the seats inside still get a good view and ocean breeze.

Special of the day was the deep fried risotto fritter which is essentially an arancini. The risotto was cooked nicely and mixed with wild mushrooms, salty parmesan and bits of truffle. My only critique was that the arancinis weren't hot and tasted like they had been sitting out for a while. I also wished the truffle flavor was stronger.

Giant onion rings were pretty good. They had a crispy breading and weren't greasy. Each side comes with a choice of dipping sauce which includes chipotle mayo, lemon thyme vinaigrette and roasted tomatillo. We opted for the lemon saffron sauce which was an aromatic citrus aioli.

The side of portobello mushrooms was served in a tin can. Similar to the onion rings, these weren't oily. The mushrooms had a nice textural breading (almost panko like) and were not mushy. The side of spicy ketchup had a tangy Worcestershire flavor.

Gourmet Grilled Ham and Cheese consisted of a selection of cheeses (aged cheddar cheese, jarlsberg swiss and mascarpone), black forest ham and pesto on whole wheat bread. The sammie was oozing with cheese and sweet caramelized onions. You can tell that they select good ingredients for their sandwiches, however the homemade pickle was nothing special and tasted like a jarred pickle.

The Grilled Chicken Sandwich was a refreshing and light sandwich. It had arugula, watercress and wild mushrooms. The chicken was cooked nicely and well seasoned. The mushrooms and salad was definitely very fresh.

The food overall was decent and tasted pretty healthy. However I found the menu to be limited and the food items did not seem to jive with what a normal gastropub would serve. They mainly serve sandwiches, salads and a burger. I fell that they should serve food that pairs well with beer, perhaps some flatbreads or gourmet mac and cheese. If they wanted to stick with sandwiches, perhaps a pulled pork sandwich would be more appetizing than a salmon or chicken sandwich. But at the end of the day, I am still glad that we have Rockefeller in the neighborhood. I think it has a lot of potential - it already has a great location, decor, layout and beer selections. Now all it needs is to throw some more beer-compatible hearty pub food items on the menu.

Hits: arancini, mushrooms, dipping sauce selection
Misses: not really a bar menu
Rating: ***

The Rockefeller
418-422 Pier Ave
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
(310) 372-8467
http://www.eatrockefeller.com/

Beachside Bottomless Mimosa Brunch at Hotel Shangri-la

I've been at a loss after my favorite westside brunch spot (with $9 bottomless mimosas) Bite Bar & Bakery shut its restaurant operations. If you can't already tell, I love mimosas. And I love drinking a lot of mimosas. When I heard that Hotel Shangri-La in Santa Monica offered bottomless mimosas during brunch, I decided to check it out in hopes that it would be my Bite replacement.

The hotel was renovated a few years ago, and is located across the Pacific Ocean and a stones throw from 3rd Street Promenade.

The best spot to brunch on a gorgeous weekend afternoon is in the cabanas at their outside pool area. Since we got there at 11am when brunch started, we were able to grab the coveted spots. Some of the late arrivals were left to dine in the scorching sun. There are also tables in the dining room for the sun-averse.

The menu includes a few breakfast items, small plates and entrees. Bottomless mimosas or bloody marys are an additional $12 and if offered on both Saturdays and Sundays.

The mimosas were served in a tacky plastic cup, which was odd for a nice hotel in Santa Monica. The drinks were spiked with a good amount of Champagne (or I'm guessing, sparkling wine) but the waitress was tough to locate so I didn't get in as many drinks as I had hoped during the course of brunch.

Tomato, black truffle, burrata flatbread (with extra side of Chorizo)
My friend was having a tough time deciding between the two flatbreads (the other one being chorizo with petit basque) so she decided to get the best of both worlds by ordering the burrata and truffle flatbread, with an additional topping of Chorizo. I thought this would be an odd pairing and that the Chorizo would overpower the truffle but in fact, the ingredients all worked harmoniously. The chorizo added an intense saltiness to the flatbread. The melted burrata and greasy chorizo melded together.

Egg in the hole, crispy hash browns
I was really glad they used brioche instead of regular bread. The brioche was airy and buttery. I also liked that they kept the leftover circular bread on the plate. The hash browns were crispy, not too greasy and adequately seasoned. The only critique I have is that the egg could have been a little runnier.

I wouldn't say that the brunch at Hotel Shangri-La is one of the best in town, but right now, it's ranking well on my Westside mimosa brunch spot. The food is decent, the price is moderate (mid-teens for most dishes but over $20 for entrees) but the $12 bottomless mimosas and the lovely outdoor seating takes this brunch spot up a notch. Now if only the waitress would come by more often to fill those plastic mimosas glasses.

Hits: $12 bottomless mimosas, cabana seating
Misses: service
Rating: ***

Hotel Shangri-La
1301 Ocean Ave.,
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 394-2791
www.shangrila-hotel.com

Piccolo: Italian, in the heart of Venice (beach)

When BBE issued a special (free bottle of wine or dessert) for Piccolo Restaurant, I was game. I've been wanting to try their sea urchin pasta and I've heard many good things about the restaurant. Located just steps from the Venice Beach boardwalk in the old location of 5 Dudley Restaurant, Piccolo is a cozy Italian restaurant. It's quite an odd spot really. Piccolo is a bit pricey for the Venice boardwalk demographic.

It's relatively small and intimate inside, and filled up rather quickly. As it turned out, the BBE special was only available if each diner ordered an entree. So even though we decided on three pastas and an entree (which when summed up, the cost per person averaged over the price of an entree). It's interesting that a neighborhood restaurant was not even willing to bend on that.

Bread basket included a few options, but nothing special. Don't bother asking for balsamic vinegar. They don't offer it here. But they do serve the bread with a good quality olive oil.

Our waitress selected a reasonably priced bottle of Rosso Nottola which was smooth and light.

I was very pleased that without us asking, the kitchen had brought by our dishes in individual portions.

Garganelli Neri ai Ricci, squid ink garganelli, fresh sea urchin emulsion
I know the proper way to cook pasta is to al dente. I know what al dente is. This garganelli pasta was grossly undercooked. When we asked the waitress if this undercooked texture was normal, she said yes. It hard to believe that this is the case, the pasta tasted like cardboard and was very crunchy. Also, I was very disappointed with the sauce because I could barely taste the flavor of uni. This dish was a disappointment given that this was the reason why I wanted to dine at Piccolo in the first place.

Carbonara di Quaglia, truffle-tagliolini, roasted quail carbonara, with quail eggs, parmesan
Thankfully this pasta dish made up for the last. I really enjoyed the tagliolini which taste very fresh and homemade. The crumbles of quail were salty and gave the dish a lot of flavor. The carbonara had the right amount of egg mixture so that it wasn't overly creamy and heavy. I also liked the parmesan which added a nuttiness to the sauce.

Tortelli Zucca, ravioli with pumpkin filling, parmesan-butter and sage
Unfortunately the last pasta dish was a rather unappealing. There were parts of the pasta that were too thick and perhaps needed to be rolled out a bit more. I felt like I was eating a chunk of dough. The butter sauce also really tasted like butter, sans sage. I think it needed to be cooked down and browned a bit because it was lacking a nutty flavor.

Agnello al Porto, Risotto al Melone, boneless, natural lamb shank slow-braised in port; Tuscan melon-foie gràs risotto
As if this meal was a roller coaster, the last dish came back strong. Although the lamb preparation was a bit inconsistent- my two friends commented that one piece of the shank was drier than the other, the piece that was moist was exceptional. I liked the sweet richness of the rhubarb sauce. The best part of the dish was the foie gras risotto which was formed into a cake. The foie essence was obvious but not overpowering.

I thought dinner at Piccolo was decent. There were better parts of the meal (lamb shank, quail carbonara, wine) but there were also some fails (overly al dente and thick pasta). Also, I wished they had been more flexible on the BBE rules. I understand that they do not want diners coming in and split an entree or appetizer, but if you did the math, we spent just as much as anyone else that had ordered an entree each. I just don't think we should be penalized if we decided that the pasta dishes were more intriguing over the entrees. Despite that, I would have to say that I preferred the pasta here over Scarpetta. *gasp* I also liked that Piccolo had served our dishes in individual portions. That was a nice touch. I'm glad that I finally got to check out Piccolo, but next time, I think I'll save my Venice Beach excursions for the surf.

Hits: lamb, wine, quail pasta
Misses: cardboard pasta, not flexible on BBE discount
Rating: **1/2

Piccolo Venice
5 Dudley Ave.,
Los Angeles, CA 90291
(310) 314-3222
www.piccolovenice.com

Sonoma Wine Garden: Gone are the days of crappy mall food

I've been meaning to check out the new Santa Monica Place but got turned off by the crowds and hassle of parking when the mall first opened. Thankfully, the crowd has subsided. Somewhat. It's not dead by any means, but at least the streets aren't as congested as they were two months ago.

The old Santa Monica Place holds a lot of memories for me. My aunt used to own a salon nearby so I would spend many weekends roaming the area, often ending up at the Wet Seal store in the mall. Unfortunately as the years went by, the mall started to looked dumpier. Eventually, it became a ghost town with rarely any shoppers in sight. So it was with disbelief and genuine awe when I saw the new Santa Monica Place. I was impressed with its transformation. It was everything I had hoped for, even though I am not much of a shopper (except for hoodies, flip flops and sporting gear). It was clean, upscale with a touch of sophistication. And with the many food options ranging from restaurants to food court stands, this was my kind of place.

We opted for Sonoma Wine Garden which is located on the dining deck with a partial view overlooking the ocean. Apparently the view isn't going to last long as it will eventually be obstructed by a massive construction that is currently in the works.

If you walk along the dining deck, you'll also get a great view of the Promenade. It's a bit surreal actually, and seems like a shot from an architecture book.


When we arrived, we spoke to the hostess and mentioned that we wanted to grab a couple drinks and a bite. We weren't looking to be seated in the formal dining room. She escorted us to the outside bar area. I loved the open space and modern look. The ceiling of the bar was decorated with hanging wine crate parts. It was pretty crowded on a Friday night and it was definitely not your typical mall crowd. There were a lot of working professionals and some older couples.

Sonoma Wine Garden boasts an extensive wine list.

Aside from ordering wine by the glass or bottle, you can also do some wine tasting at their enomatic dispensers.

The menu focuses on California cuisine and includes many small plates and a couple larger entrees including pizzas, pastas and a dover sole that I absolutely have to try when I am next here. We weren't too hungry so we decided to order three small plates to share.

The Albarino Paco was fruity but dry.

Duck Rillette - confit duck, slow roasted garlic, whole grain mustard, crostini
The rillette was served in a mason jar and was confit-style instead of mousse-like. I usually prefer the mousse version but I appreciated the rustic and heartiness of the confit. With confit duck, you wouldn't really even need the crostini - you could eat the confit on its own. The shredded duck was tender but it was neither dry or oily.

Truffle fries with parmesan and parsley
The fries were perfectly crisp and aromatic. In fact, it was probably one of the most popular dishes at the restaurant because it seemed like everyone had ordered it.

Fig and burrata salad with hazelnuts, argula and pinot noir dressing
The figs were fresh and juicy. The peppery argula was well dressed with the sweet dressing. The burrata however didn't really hold its shape and was a bit mushy and runny.

Service was attentive and friendly. Oh.. and good looking too, check out the above photo of the fun loving hostess and waiter. I really enjoyed Sonoma Wine Garden. It think it's a great place to grab a drink and a light meal, at a classy and lovely establishment. It's upscale but still welcoming and friendly. The outdoor patio with fire pits and couches is definitely the place to lounge around. When we walked around, we noticed that other restaurants were also filled with diners. Even though I'm partly selfish and don't want non-Westsiders to venture into my neighborhood and increase traffic on the streets, it's really great to see the revival at the mall. As long as they can keep it classy.

Hits: fries, rillette, ambiance
Misses: burrata
Rating:***

Sonoma Wine Garden
395 Santa Monica Place # 300
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(424) 214-4560
www.sonomawinegarden.com

Gjelina: Worth the hype (and the pizzas)

Gjelina, Venice Beach's golden child, is still popular after two years. It's still on many Top Restaurant lists, you'll still need a reservation to score a table and it's still crowded on a regular weeknight. Even though its located on Abbot Kinney alongside a stretch of restaurants, Gjelina still shines. There's no famous Batali-like chef in the kitchen. The service isn't known to be impeccable (in fact, some claim the front of the house sometimes borders on rude). They're strict on their no-modifications-to-the menu policy. They don't serve up an exotic, sexy menu. They just serve really darn good food with local and seasonal ingredients. That's it. That's the secret to Gjelina's success. And they can actually get me to enjoy pizza.

The restaurant is easy to miss. There's no valet out front and no signage.

The main dining room is lively and dark, almost like a cool, trendy bar. Communal tables are set up in the center so you can be seated beside the Venice hipsters or the wealthy couple with the house on the canals. That's how Venice Beach is. It's a very eclectic neighborhood. If you're loving the casual industrial room, wait till you see the back patio with it's funky chandeliers, couches, fire pit and views of the open kitchen.

They have a respectable wine list, a couple craft beers and two cocktails.

The Visionary (Champagne, Sherry, Bitters) smelt stronger than it tasted, The Long Walk Home (Bordeaux, Bitters, Citrus) reminded me of a bubbly sangria, and the Maredsous 10 Tripel Belgian Ale (Belgium) at 10% ABV was strong.

We later ordered a couple glasses of wine throughout dinner. Antico Borgo Di Sugame, Sangiovese (Chianti Classico, Italy ‘08), Antoine Sanzay, Cabernet Franc (Saumur Champigny, France ‘08) and Chateau Guibot, Merlot/Cab Franc (Puisseguin Saint-Emilion, France ‘05). Surprisingly, the Chianti was the clear winner at our table.

Grilled Mission Figs with Prosciutto, Burrata, Radicchio & Arugula
This was the perfect marriage of sweet, caramelized figs with a soft chewy center, salty fresh prosciutto, bitter greens, creamy burrata and a nice drizzle of balsamic and a sprinkle of sea salt. You could taste the freshness of the ingredients in this dish.

Crispy Monterey Bay Sardines with peperonata
The sardines were fried with a crispy skin and flaky meat. Although it did have its signature fish flavor, it wasn't as intense flavored as some might fear. I liked the roasted stewed sweet peppers which was necessary to cut through the flavors of the fish.

Gjelina is known for their pizzas, but I was nervous to try it. It's no secret that I don't eat pizzas because I don't like cheese (especially gooey, melted, greasy cheese). In addition, I knew that they wouldn't let me modify it to a cheeseless or very-light-on cheese pizza. But I was ready to take a gamble. Maybe I'll only have one slice. Much to my dining companions' chagrin, I ended up eating every slice of my apportioned amount. It's that good.

Confit Tomato, Fresno Chilie, Garlic, White Anchovy & Arugula
I loved the cracker thin crust, you don't see that around much. I much prefer it to the thicker crusts that end up filling you up with starch. The confit tomatoes were sweet and worked well with the salty anchovies. The pizza also had a spicy kick from the fresno chile. I liked that the pizza has very little cheese, so the focus was really on the quality of the toppings.

Housemade Chorizo, Tomato, Cream, Fennel, Chili & Basil
This pizza had a bit more cheese but still wasn't overwhelming. I liked that the toppings were distributed judiciously. You really don't need a pizza littered with chorizo because it's very heavy and salty. The fennel was also scattered sparingly so you didn't get an offensive licorice flavor. Sausage and fennel work so well together.

Pizzas were served with oregano, fresh pepper flakes and parmesan. You gotta get down and dirty and use your fingers to grab some to sprinkle on the pizza. It's not for the OCD of diners. They had very intense flavors so even one tiny speck of pepper flake provided a fiery heat.

Hen of the Woods Mushroom Toast with Creme Fraiche & Truffle Oil
Best dish of the night. There was a generous amount of earthy mushroom that topped the toast. I liked the slightly crunchy texture of the mushrooms which were cooked in a creamy luxurious sauce that was infused with the slight restraint of truffle oil. The creaminess reminded me of an indulgent carbonara. I also loved as the toast absorbed the rich sauce.

Crispy Niman Ranch Pork Belly with Soft Polenta, Bitter Greens & Apple Cider
The pork belly was fatty but it could have been a bit more tender inside. With pork belly dishes being popularized on menus all around town, this didn't particularly stand out. The polenta on the other hand was buttery and rich.

Seared Jidori Chicken Livers with Concord Grapes, Sherry and Polenta
The livers were cooked perfectly, and not dry or rubbery. This was definitely a very heavy dish with the meaty livers, rich polenta and hearty sauce.

Dessert yogurt panna cotta with coffee macerated dates
The panna cotta looked plain but it was anything but. It seemed to resemble a few desserts. It was soft like burrata yet creamy like a very good creme brulee. It also resembled a flan with the syrup all around. I liked that the dessert wasn't overly sweet. In fact, I enjoyed the tartness of the yogurt and the slight bitterness of the coffee sauce. I also liked the crunch and the strong nuttiness of the pistachio.

I can see why this place was packed to the brim on a weeknight. The food's good! From the simple burrata and fig dish to the delectable hen of woods toast, every plate was delicious and done just right. They got me to eat and enjoy more than my customary one slice of pizza. I don't care if they have no menu modification policy. I wouldn't change a single thing. Except maybe next time, I'll order the mushroom toast all for myself.

Hits: food, patio
Misses: no valet, can get crowded

Rating: ***1/2

Gjelina
1429 Abbot Kinney Blvd.,
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 450-1429
http://www.gjelina.com/