Tag Archive for culver city

Tender Greens Sprouting Everywhere

March 13, 2009 admin No comments

Tender Greens Sprouting EverywhereFans of Tender Greens, rejoice. New locations in San Diego (opening in June) and West Hollywood (slated for September) are just the beginning. Owners of the wildly popular, eco-friendly salad spot in Culver City have plans to expand across the city, state and nation. “I think we see ourselves growing sustainably, maybe three restaurants a year,” owner David Dressler told Grubtrotters. “We don’t see there being a cap to the number of stores. There are opportunities for 20 to 30 from Northern California to Southern California and one-offs in other parts of the country.”

The reason for such massive expansion? Long lines outside the Culver City location are a huge clue. While many restaurants are suffering during the recession, Tender Greens had its best month ever in April (boosted by Earth Day, perhaps) and sells $3 million worth of food a year. “We see a hole in the marketplace,” Dressler says. “There are not a lot of places for good, affordable, healthy food, where you can get a great organic plate for $10. The lion’s share of our business is within three to five miles. People are just so time-crunched, they don’t want to spend 15 minutes in the car to go to lunch.”

Dressler is looking for locations with lots of foot traffic from homes and businesses, as well as outdoor space for sidewalk cafes and plenty of parking. “We’re looking at Burbank and Tarzana, Hollywood and maybe Santa Monica…We’ll get to Santa Monica eventually, but it’s a slightly more difficult restaurant market.”

So could Tender Greens turn into the next Pinkberry or even Starbucks? Whatever you do, don’t use the vile C word. “We may have multiple locations, but we don’t see ourselves as a chain,” Dressler says. “Our goal is to build a company that believes wholeheartedly in sustainability. We’re not trying to build a behemoth.” – Jenny

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Father’s Office II

May 21, 2008 admin No comments
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Father’s Office IIIt was girls night out at the new Father’s Office at the Helms Bakery Building in Culver City earlier this week. The second incarnation of this insanely trendy Santa Monica-born gastropub opened a month ago to massive hype and lines worthy of holidays at Disneyland. We figured some of the initial frenzy had probably died down by now, and, fortunately, we were right. My friends Janine and Kerith showed up at 6 p.m., and even though the place was buzzing, we had no trouble getting a table. What a refreshing change from the inaugural experience Victor and I had at the phone-booth-sized Father’s Office in Santa Monica. There we had to shovel in our burgers and beer standing up on one foot while using the other to kick away competitors. The Culver City space is much larger, with indoor and sidewalk seating, although the same rules apply. You order everything at the bar and take a plastic number back to your table to wait for delivery. No substitutions. No whining.

dsc00976No reason to whine, really. The food is hearty and hand-licking delicious. All three of us ordered the burger. Of course. You have to get the burger. It’s legendary in size, spilling out of the bun, juicier than any Juicy Couture sweats and decadently dressed with sweet carmelized onions, bacon, Gruyere and Maytag blue cheese and arugula. My favorite part? No ketchup anywhere. I abhor ketchup. Always have. I had no trouble devouring the entire burger. And when Kerith filled up and sent the second half of hers away, I flagged down the server and snatched it back. I knew Victor would be pleased. He and I split the leftovers later.

FO’s side dishes get less attention, but man, oh man, were those Spanish mushrooms garlicky and good. Even the white anchovies were reminiscent of the ones we ate regularly on our honeymoon in Italy last September. After examining the impressive wall of beer, I washed all the pub grub down with a spicy, hoppy and fruity beer called the Russian River Brewing Damnation. Damn, was I happy. Sometimes you should believe the hype.

Father’s Office, 3229 Helms Ave., Los Angeles, 310-815-9820

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Akasha Speaks

April 29, 2008 admin No comments

I sat down with Chef Akasha for a piece on DineLA.com. The Q&A focuses on her efforts to make her Culver City restaurant eco-friendly. But we also wound up chatting about everything from vegetarians to gay men and feng shui. You can check out the interview here, and below are a few extras just for Grubtrotters readers:

Jenny: There are so many people that claim to be green for marketing purposes. How can consumers tell who’s for real?

Akasha: I think consumers have a sixth sense about things. All of a sudden the Cheesecake Factory went green? Look, they’re not a green restaurant. If they went green, it’s better for everyone because it means the products are going to be available. But I think the consumer likes to feel it’s authentic. The green consumer is usually someone that reads a lot, that does a lot of research. And we have to deliver on the food and service, or forget it. You can have a green restaurant, and if the food is bad, and the service is bad, nobody is coming back a second time. They’re just not. Our policy is to treat everybody like they’re the president of Sony.

Jenny: Are the prices higher than they would be if you were not mostly organic?

Akasha: Our prices aren’t any higher than anyone else that has the same kind of restaurant, the same kind of experience. Our preparation is very simple. It’s not fancy shmancy food. Most people tell us we’re reasonable. When you’re using quality ingredients and doing really nice food…And I mean, look at how cool the crowd is. The demographic of our customer is the Whole Foods shopper.

Jenny: Did you have any interesting experiences getting the restaurant open?

Akasha: We filmed eight months of construction and what we went through getting this place open on TLC’s “Flip That Restaurant.” I think that show is one of the reasons we’re so busy. I’ve had a lot of PR, and I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s funny, I never really understood why I liked restaurants so much until I opened my own. I know it sounds almost stupid to say, but I never really understood how the whole experience is why people come back again and again. I feel like the experience people have here is truly wonderful and unique.

Jenny: Have you had celebrities eating here?

Akasha: Celebrities come in here, especially at night. The lighting is much darker. People don’t even know they’re in the room. They’re not bothered. Ed Norton came in, Mario Van Peoples, Amy Smart was in, Rachael Leigh Cook, Rachel McAdams. It’s real low key. Billy Baldwin was in.

Jenny: What are your most popular dishes?

Akasha: The short ribs, the scallops, the onion rings, the pear salad with goji berries. The salmon, too. The turkey burger. You know how many people order this turkey burger at night? I almost didn’t put it on the menu at night, and my friend said, you should really put it on the menu. You’re a neighborhood restaurant.

Jenny: Do restaurants wind up wasting a lot of food?

Akasha: We sell a lot of food. We don’t waste any food. Every single vegetable peeling gets made into stock. We buy the whole chickens for the entrée at night. We cut it up and use all the bones in stock.

Jenny: Are your customers as green as you are?

Akasha: We’re not here to tell people you can’t do this, you can’t do that. You should only eat this, you should only use recycled paper goods. Don’t take a paper cup to go. Take five minutes to bring in a real mug. Because not everybody’s going to do that. I’ve been through that. I was real fanatical when I was younger. You can’t do it. You just have to give the options because this is a business. It’s actually a war on a daily basis. It’s a battlefield back there on a Saturday night.

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French Brunch at Cafe Laurent

April 13, 2008 admin No comments

French Brunch at Cafe LaurentWe live in Venice Beach, and our friends Rob and Ash are near the Grove so finding a casual brunch spot in between can be tough. After searching online, we settled on a place none of us had tried, Cafe Laurent in Culver City. We walked in through the back patio, shaded with large umbrellas, where a musician was playing the clarinet. Charming, yes, but it was far too hot to sit out there on Sunday. We took a table inside, which was decorated with yellow walls and flowery French tablecloths and, most importantly, felt like a perfect 68 degrees.

The menu was very French. Lots of quiche and croissants. But I ordered my usual breakfast favorite, a combination of Eggs Benedict and Florentine, with spinach and Canadian bacon, hollandaise on the side. Rob chose Le Croque Monsieur, while Victor and Ash picked omelettes.

Rob and Ash got the meals they ordered on time, but Victor had to sit and wait for his omelette of smoked salmon, onions and mushroom, while my plate came sans Canadian bacon. I sent it back, and when the dish returned, it was drowning in hollandaise, minus the silverware. Oh, well. I was really hungry and wasn’t going to send it back again. I could no longer stand to just sit there sipping orange juice that wasn’t freshly squeezed. I requested a fork and dug in.

At least the food was decent, and I’m pretty sure heavy cream was the secret. It was hard to find the bread underneath the tent of bechamel on Rob’s delicious Croque (pictured above), and the potatoes that came with his sandwich and my eggs were dripping with dairy. Rob and Ash gave their omelettes thumbs up, too. Although Vic was happier with his original concoction than Ash was with his veggie omelette, both were pleased to see the ingredients well-mixed with the eggs rather than plopped in the middle like a taco. The side salads were nice and fresh.

Overall, if you’re not watching your cholesterol, and you don’t mind spotty service, Cafe Laurent is worth a stop. Just be patient, and don’t order hollandaise on the side. Jenny

Cafe Laurent, 4243 Overland Ave., Culver City; 310-558-8622.

Brunch, Uncategorized ,

Bar Pintxo vs. Vinoteque

March 14, 2008 admin No comments

We checked out two new tapas and wine bars last week, Bar Pintxo in Santa Monica and Vinoteque in Culver City. Both were festive, yummy and fun, albeit with completely different menus and vibes. Bar Pinxto is a Spanish-style tapas bar from one of my favorite neighborhood chefs, Joe Miller, of Joe’s in Venice. We stopped in after work one night to have a drink and a bite with Kelly Liken, chef-owner of her eponymous Vail, Colo., restaurant, who was in town for a Bon Appetit photo shoot. (Look for her to be singled out as a young female chef of the moment in an upcoming issue.)

We ordered a whole slew of tapas and platos to share, including thejamon iberico, which was only recently allowed into the country and which we believe should be renamed jamon fantastico! Our other favorites were the paella with blood sausage and chicken, which managed to taste rich and yet feel light; the juicy gambas al ajillo (shrimp in garlic), and croquetas de pollo y jamon (chicken and ham).

In the solid but not spectacular category, we put the chorizo and fried quail eggs. Full disclosure, we may have let get too cold before trying it. Hey, we ordered a lot, and they delivered it all at once. The esparragos blancos con romesco (white asparagus with red pepper aoli) was cool and refreshing but lacked the zest I was expecting. I’m shocked to report that none of us cared for the dates wrapped in bacon with cabrales cheese. Grubtrotters readers know how much we love bacon, but as Liken pointed out, it tasted a bit too smoky. We also had a bland flatbread special that we didn’t order, even though the waitress insisted we did. As for the wines, we could have done without the 2004 Ostatu-Crianza Rioja Alavesa that our server suggested. It was too light for our taste, but we very much enjoyed the bolder 2005 Canopy Malpaso Mentrida. Bar Pintxo was pretty crowded, and the benches are hard and backless, but this is a great spot for a fast bite and a nice glass of wine after a day at the office.

Vinoteque was our Saturday night pick. The location was a bit surprising. We figured it would be in the heart of what’s happening downtown in Culver City. The owner helped found the Bottlerock wine bar there. Instead, Vinoteque was way off the beaten path, on Sepulveda near an ice rink and a Taco Bell. With live jazz music and low lighting, it feel like a small nightclub for the vino crowd. A very uniform vino crowd. In fact, five women at one table wore nearly identical black and white patterned dresses. Just about all the ethnic diversity in the joint was provided by the band.

Our friend Rob joined us, and initially we sat at a wobbly little table in the bar area. They fixed the wobble, but the tiny table just didn’t have room for the dishes we ordered and drinks for three. Luckily, a couch space in the lounge area opened up after somebody failed to show. (Be sure to make a reservation if you want to eat in comfort.) We enjoyed the charcuterie plate and the Mideast Burger enough to order seconds of each. The Mideast Burger is actually a juicy, sausage-shaped lamb kefta on top of homemade pita with a honey-harissa yogurt sauce. The Grilled Truffle Cheese on Breadbar bread was a bit dry, but the Grilled Spring Onions and Peas in a romesco sauce with Spanish Garroxta cheese was flavorful, with onions that were nicely charred. There’s also an extensive cheese menu, but we skipped it. Not in a cheese mood. Our first wine selection was a light Italian red, a 2003 Borgo di Colloredo Molise Rosso that just didn’t do it for us. But they give a small discount for pairing certain wines with dishes so why not try a glass? We asked for a taste and then switched to a bottle of 2005 Huntington Petit Syrah, which was affordable and solid.

Bottom line, if you’re hungry and looking for good food, Bar Pintxo has a much wider selection. If you want more of late-night bar experience, with wine specials projected onto screens and just enough grub to cure the munchies, bypass the Taco Bell and head over the Vinoteque. — Jenny

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