HH @ Rockwell VT

It's always hard to get to a happy hour that ends at 7pm so I'm always glad to find one that runs on weekends as well. I decided to check out Los Feliz gastropub Rockwell, VT before the Band of Horses concert at the Greek Theatre.

Rockwell is located behind Vermont Restaurant, with entrance in the alley way. It looks a bit sketchy so just be sure to have mace in hand.

The place is trendy and loungey, with a cool bar area. Apparently it gets happening late night weekends with a DJ spinning.

We were seated in their patio with a gorgeous 30 foot tree planted in the center. It seems somewhat dark and enchanting. Good for the ambiance, bad for the photo taking.

Happy hour runs Monday to Saturday from 5-8pm with really good selections of small bites and flatbreads for $6. Their regular menu is served small plates style.

For happy hour drinks, you get to choose from a pretty good selection of tequila based cocktails, sangria, premium wine, beer and well drinks. I liked that you weren't limited to crappy beer or wine.

Gemini (Absolut Ruby red grapefruit vodka, St Germain, grilled grapefruit, jalapeno) wasn't on the happy hour menu but was a refreshing drink. The glass of Pinot Grigio was $5.

Crispy spiced calamari with jalapeno, cucumber, shallots with a ginger soy aioli
I really enjoyed the calamari because it had asian flavors to it. The calamari smelt really good and almost had a pho-like flavor to it. The breading was seasoned with five spice and reminded me of the salt and pepper squid that is served in Chinese restaurants. I also prefer the ginger soy aioli to the traditional dipping sauces. The cucumber salad was a nice light and spicy addition.

Portabello fries with basil aioli
I really liked the portabello which was meaty but didn't feel heavy and starchy. The fries were thick cut and were tender in the center with a nice crisp coating. As you bit into it, hot juices flowed out of each fry.

Wild mushroom pizza with sauteed leeks, cheese sauce, truffle oil, parmigiano reggiano
This was a decent sized pizza for $6 happy hour prices (normally $13). Thankfully the cheese sauce was Parmesan (I can do that) and I asked for it to be light on cheese. I really liked the flavors with the earthy mushrooms and fragrant truffle oil. However the pizza was very doughy and seemed almost undercooked.

Pancetta, caramelized onions, gorgonzola cheese, creme fraiche and fig jam
Apart from the cheese, I liked everything on this pizza. Pancetta and figs are such a perfect pair, with the sweetness of the onions. Once again, the pizza was very doughy. What a pity.

I put in an order for their white sangria before happy hour was over. Pretty good but not uber strong, and was missing chunks of fresh cut fruits.

Charcuterie with prosciutto, sopresetta and duck pate terrine, served with cornichons, pickled onions
This wasn't on happy hour but I'm glad we got it. I loved the soft, silky duck terrine, and I liked that they didn't skimp on the bread. I also appreciated the candied walnuts which added a crunch and sweetness to the plate.

I enjoyed happy hour at Rockwell. The prices were good, and there was a decent selection of both food and drinks. I also like the space and the vibe. This is the type of chill spot that I like to grab drinks at. The patio was a great spot to grab seats at.

Hits: prices, HH till 8pm
Misses: doughy pizzas
Rating: ***

After our drinks and bites, we walked over to the Greek, which took us about 25 minutes. Great exercise. Band of Horses is an Indie Rock band from Seattle but they sound more southern rock than Seattle rock. I've seen them a couple times before but never at the Greek, which is one of my favorite venues. The concert was packed, and I've never seen so many fans in plaid shirts before.

I thought their backdrop was interesting, with different scenery switching for each song.

My favorite, of course, was the snow backdrop. It was an awesome concert and they sound great live. If you don't know them, check out some of their songs such as "The Funeral", "Is there a Ghost" and one of my favorites, "Ode to LRC".

Eastside Scene: Bar Covell & local rock stars Silversun Pickups

I was going to catch the Silversun Pickups play at the Greek Theatre in Los Feliz, and as usual, was looking for a place to grab a quick drink before the show. Since I'm a westsider who rarely makes it out to the Eastside, I was excited to take the opportunity to check off some spots off my list.

Bar Covell is the new wine bar in Los Feliz. And it's exactly what the neighborhood ordered. A casual, chill, non pretentious bar, managed by knowledgeable and enthusiastic people. It's not a snobby, intimidating wine bar. When you sit at the counter, wine manager Matthew Kaner will pour you little tastes until you find the wine that's the one. It's a cool spot to hang out, and if you're a single guy, get your butt here because the place was packed with women. And eligible ones too.

The decor is pretty cool with antiques and a motorcycle mounted on the wall.

Even though they are known as a "Wine bar", Bar Covell offers a selection of good Californian craft beers.

I opted for the Dibon Brut cava, which was crisp and refreshing - just the perfect drink after a long day at work and a 15 minute walk from where I had parked.

After tasting a few wines, my friend opted for the Gruner Veltliner.

They have a limited food menu which included charcuterie, cheese plate and croque monsieur.

The charcuterie plate was a colorful display of cured meat which included chorizo, saucisson sec, bresola, chorizo and lardo. My favorite of course was the lardo, which is cured pig fat. You know, that same fatty strip that sometimes lines a block of store bought pate. It's extremely creamy and rich. The brescola was also very good, thinly sliced but with a concentrated beefy flavor.

A basket of fresh bread was served (when requested) with the charcuterie plate. The walnut bread was soft with a nice crunch from the nut.

I liked the ambiance at Bar Covell. It was casual yet more sophisticated than a frat bar. It was fully occupied, yet quiet enough to have a conversation. I liked that the staff was knowledgeable about their wine and beer selections, yet were approachable and helpful with recommendations. The only downfall perhaps, is the small food menu. Sometimes you want something more substantial when you're out drinking. Otherwise, it's an awesome neighborhood spot, and much welcomed in the neighborhood.

Hits: service, ambiance, charcuterie
Misses: lack of food
Rating: ***

Bar Covell
4628 Hollywood Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 660-4400
www.barcovell.com

After our quick bite and drink, we made the 30 minute walk to the Greek Theatre. The Silversun Pickups is a local alternative rock band, they are named after the Silverlake Liquor store a few miles away. The SSPU is my favorite existing band (i.e. not counting defunk bands) and I HAVE to catch them whenever they play in town. Was even going to be stalkerish and attend their San Diego show the next night but unfortunately I had plans. They are often compared to the Smashing Pumpkins. The Greek theatre is an awesome intimate outdoor venue, and SSPU really rocked it. Nothing better than supporting a local band, after supporting a local bar.

1739 Public House: pubbing before an English band

I had tickets to the Keane concert at The Greek Theatre in Los Feliz and was having a tough time trying to find the right spot to grab drinks before the concert. Not looking for a heavy meal at a sit down restaurant. I just wanted a casual bar that offered good drinks and a quick bite. Thankfully my friend mentioned a pub called 1739 Public House (located at 1739 Vermont). A casual neighborhood bar with over 80 beers on tap and decent pub grub. This is so my type of place. Coincidentally, soon after LA Times did a write up of the new bar scene in Los Feliz. Just in time for my next trip to The Greek for Silversun Pickups Yay!

The bar is attached to sister restaurant Cuba de Oro. 1739 has patio seating on the sidewalk (perfect brunching spot) and an inside bar area that was pretty packed but still low key. Apparently it was Trivia night which is a popular night. They have a big screen TV which would be great for watching sporting events.

We grabbed seats at the bar. You'll find just about any beer you desire on tap. If you are overwhelmed with the vast menu, ask for beer samples. They'll oblige.

I started with Flying Dog doggie style pale ale which was rather hoppy. I only wished they used to appropriate glassware. Mine came in a Newcastle glass.

Kwak is an Belgian Amber beer. Love the glassware but it took some effort to slip the glass out from the clamp each time you wanted to drink it. Because of the glass' curved base, you had to rest it back on its stand instead of placing it on the table. It was pretty strong (8.4% Abv) with a slight sweet finish.

Nothing on the food menu was priced over $10. And we're not talking about just fries or potato skins on the menu. They offered full-on entrees including fish and chips, shepherd's pie, pizzas, burgers and pastas.

Side of fries. Addictively good, not sure if it was because I was hungry but I polished this off in seconds.

Pizza with mushrooms and bell peppers
Nothing special here but it was still tasty and the portion was rather large for the price (around $8, I think).

Shepherd's pie
Boy, this really hit the spot. Sauteed ground meat with corn and other veggies were covered with a layer of creamy mashed potatoes, then topped with a thin layer of melted cheese. The meat and veggies were seasoned well. I thought this dish felt really homey, something that I would love to eat if I was feeling down.

PranQster which is an Belgian style ale from North Coast Brewing Company
This was a nice change after the heavier Kwak. Clean flavors with a bit of spiciness.

With such an extensive beer list, you could easily spend hours here without realizing.. we ended up getting to the concert a little later than we had hoped. Although the food wasn't mind blowing, it definitely did the trick. I loved the beer selection at the bar. Also really enjoyed the ambiance- no pretension, easy and casual. Just the right place you'd want to hit before a concert.

Hits: prices, beer, location, shepherd's pie
Misses: did not serve in proper glassware
Rating: ***

1739 Public House
1739 N. Vermont Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 663-1739
http://www.1739publichouse.com/

The Greek Theatre is an outdoor venue that's set in the midst of tree-filled Griffith Park. It seats almost 6,000 people (compared to 18,000 at the Hollywood Bowl) and feels very intimate. If you haven't been to The Greek Theatre, you gotta. If you haven't seen Keane live, you gotta. A lot of people think they are a sleepy, love song band based on one or two of their songs that were popular on the airwaves (and on Grey's Anatomy), but in fact, they are a rock'in, lively, jamm'in English band that really rocked the show. There was never a dull moment. And when they sang some of their more popular tunes (Somewhere Only We Know), the crowd belted along. That my friend, is a mark of a great alt/indie rock concert.

To squash or not to squash Mimi's Cafe

We decided to grab a casual bite after visiting my grandparents' and aunt's graves at Forrest Lawn Cemetery. We're not usually in the area so I didn't know where to grab some food. Someone knew that Mimi's Cafe was round the corner so we made our way over. This will probably be either a very short review or a super long one because on one hand, I am so NOT motivated to write this but on the other, I could probably rant nonstop. Why you might ask? Because the food and service sucked. But why would I bother writing about this place? Well, I like my food blog to focus not only on really nice fancy restaurants, but also on cheaper accessible good dining deals.

Mimi's Cafe is a chain restaurant that serves French comfort food at affordable prices. The restaurant building is a little cottage and the interior decor is colorful and kitschy. This particular outpost is located in a shopping plaza that includes a Costco and Best Buy. So you know right away that parking on a weekend will be manic and it took me 15 minute to get out of the parking lot. Anyway, that's the least of my problems.

I ordered my standard weekend beverage, a mimosa. My uncle asked if they had smoothies, perhaps wild berry, and the waitress said "yes! we have lots".. then she frantically flipped the menu trying to find the smoothie section. Oh wait.. never mind, there are only two options: Strawberry or Strawberry & Banana. Fine, he'll take the strawberry.

Mimosa, split of cava/sparkling wine arrived. I liked that it was a split and a nice large glass. But no smoothie yet. My uncle waited for another 10 minutes before our waitress came by to say "Oh sorry, we are washing our smoothie glasses. It's gonna take a while.. Did you still want it or cancel the order". Humph, really? Over 10 minutes to wash a glass? When I was walking in, barely anyone was drinking smoothies. I know because I was specifically looking at every one's beverage to see if anyone was drinking a mimosa. OK, minor setback.

Bread basket of french rolls and banana or carrot bread, with whipped butter
Liked the banana/carrot bread. I like that they served something different from regular bread. It kind of reminded me of the little bread pieces that they served at Artisan in Paso Robles and Ad Hoc in Yountville. I'll give Mimi's a gold star for this.

Pan seared scallops with butternut squash ravioli with tomatoes, garlic mushrooms and roasted tomato cream sauce
I was excited when I saw this on the menu- I mean, butternut squash ravioli and scallops? Yum! I know creamy sauces can be a bit too heavy so I asked how heavy it was. Not too heavy, she said. I asked if they could make it lighter. I didn't want a tummy ache all the way back to the westside. She said yes of course! I'm beginning to think, she's so accommodating. I like her.
When the dish came out, it was anything but light. The sauce was oily, see below. Honestly, it looked like the oil that you would sometimes see when you nuke your leftover Cheesecake Factory pasta the next day.

The scallops were cooked perfectly and absolutely scrumptious. But hmm... where's the butternut squash? The ravioli tasted like normal ricotta filling, see below of the ravioli and on the top center of the photo, the cheese that I scooped out because I can't eat cheese.

I asked the waitress about this and she said "Oh the butternut squash is in the sauce. I think...." then scuttled away. OK, that is my pet peeve- when waitstaff don't know the answer (which is OK) but try to wing it and don't even bother saying "You know what, I don't know, I'll check and come right back to you". The waitress seriously got me doubting myself.. Maybe it DID say regular ravioli and maybe it was just a butternut squash sauce, although I don't even taste the butternut squash in the sauce.

After lunch, I went to check the menu to get some resolution and stealthy took a photo.

I knew it! It WAS supposed to be butternut squash ravioli, not ricotta, And yes, there was no butternut squash in the sauce, it was tomato based. Grrr.... I should have had more faith in myself. Thank goodness there were scallops on my plate and my sister ordered a side of fries because I would have certainly starved. I am still a bit annoyed about the outcome of this dish because I was going to order the Belgian waffles but when the waitress reassured me that the tomato sauce could be lightened, I decided to go with it. Plus, the butternut squash ravioli sounded delicious. What a let down...

Bistro lamb shank
Tender lamb shank, slowly simmered in a red wine garlic sauce with pan veggies, broiled asparagus and homemade mash potatoes
At $10.99, it's a steal! The lamb was tender, but the asparagus was overcooked and the mash although served in a generous portion, had no seasoning.

Hand carved Turkey cobb wrap
With smoked bacon, avocado, sliced tomatoes, shaved lettuce, bleu cheese crumbles, green onion and zest herb spread, wrapped in a tomato tortilla and served with baby greens.

The components of the wrap were a bit too creamy and there was too much herb spread. The spread overwhelmed the wrap and what would had been a light refreshing meal became a heavy one.

OK, I know that some of you are shaking your head and thinking to yourself, she's crazy for expecting anymore more from a dish that costs $10. I know, you get what you pay for. But I can get oh-so-much-better-food if I went to get pho or a sandwich. I was seriously contemplating hitting a drive-through on my way home. Besides the heavy sauce and missing squash, service was an issue. If our waitress hadn't tried to pretend she knew exactly what was on the menu, I'd be more forgiving. Next time, stick with the safe items. They can't possible muck up Belgian waffles right? Well, I wouldn't hold my breath...

Hits: bread basket, scallops

Misses: service!!, parking lot is a zoo, oily pasta sauce, where's my butternut squash ravioli?
Rate: *

Mimi's Cafe
2925 Los Feliz Blvd.,
Los Angeles CA 90039
(323) 668-1715
http://www.mimiscafe.com/

Pre concert dinner @ San-Sui

It was the second day in a row that I was attending a concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Feliz. Wednesday was indie bands Phoenix and Metric. Thursday night's was another indie rock band, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Because the stack parking at the Greek can really stress you out, I always like the idea of parking at the bottom of the hill and trekking up to the theatre. It's about a 20 minute walk but it's a good way to burn off some calories from your dinner. We decided to grub at San-Sui. San-Sui is a tiny Japanese restaurant with a nice patio area, lit with Asian lanterns.

Started with complimentary edamame and a glass of wine.

Appetizer of burdock and lotus root. There was a lot of roughage on the plate, in a good way. The roots were earthy and had a nutty flavor from the sesame oil.

Deep fried eggplant in miso sauce. This was served hot and seemed to be sauteed instead of deep fried with breading. I really liked this dish: the eggplant had that rich and oily taste, and the miso sauce gave the eggplant a sweet flavor.

Albacore roll. I'm not a raw sashimi lover but I thought the fish was fresh and I enjoyed it. The crispy onions were delicious as well.

Spicy cod from the specials. The cod was buttery and tender, and there were a few sizable pieces. The sauce was spicy and creamy and when lathered all over the rice, made a really delicious bite.

After dinner, we made the walk over to the Greek to catch the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Frontwoman Karen O was her usual spectacle self, with her outrageous costumes and head gear. The concert was awesome: it was sold out and there was a lot of energy in the audience.

Hits: eggplant, albacore, proximity to the Greek
Misses: nothing really
Rate: ***

San-Sui Restaurant

2040 Hillhurst Ave.,

Los Angeles, CA 90027

(323) 660-3868

http://www.san-sui.com/