Birthday Party at The Park. Happy, Happy Day, A!

The Park
1400 Sunset Blvd
at the corner of Douglas
in Echo Park.
Tel: 213/482.920

We met friends for dinner to celebrate A's birthday Saturday night at The Park. Shame on us for not eating there sooner. It is literally 2 blocks from our front door, damn delicious and inexpensive. Shame. The good news is, now we can rectify our misdeeds often.



I like the interior. There is not glitz, no glam, just some paint and a few candles. And their lovely mascot, this gas lamp standing in the corner by the booster seats and highchairs.



The simplicity of the decor perfectly reminds you of the trees in the park down the street. Echo Park.



There are a lot of great choices on the menu. There are vegetarian options, vegan options, and plenty of everything else. The price is excellent for the quality. Appetizers are $8-9, pastas are about $12, and entrees between $12 and $16. Huzzah!



I am loving the tap water trend. Los Angeles has very decent tap water. But I am fancy enough to enjoy restaurants that dress it up a little. Thoughtfully, simply, elegant.



We started by sharing the Szechuan fried calamari salad, served atop butter lettuce. This is delicious. The sauce is light, the calamari are cooked to the prefect degree of tenderness. We ate this up fast.



We all passed around our appetizers, and everyone got a taste. Below are the mini-cornmeal pancakes topped with fresh corn, seared shrimps and chipotle butter, and some Mexican crema. Wow. These are a definite must-do next time we stop by. The pancakes themselves are wonderful, light and fluffy but with substance. And the shrimp/crema mixture on top added a little luxury...very very good.



The birthday girl ordered the heirloom tomato galette. Inside is fontina and mozzerella cheeses, atop are heirloom tomatoes with a red wine vinaigrette and some chili oil for kick. This had nice flavors, but I thought the filling was thicker and stodgier than I would have liked to taste. I'd prefer the inside of the galette a little lighter. Good though, still very good.



Onto the entrees...D ordered the linguine and clams in white wine sauce. I like something this hearty and simple in a neighborhood restaurant. Everything does not have to be revinvented to be worthy. I sampled liberally from this plate.



J ordered a burger. I was kinda dying for a bite, but a burger is so personal. You know, you get your hands and face really in there, if it is a worthy burger. J was enjoying this immensely. I did sneak more than a couple of fries from his plate. Good fries. Great aoili. Very garlicky, but you could also clearly taste some lemon, too.



Below is something that was from the specials menu. I have no recollection what it was, well it was fish. But it sounded great when it was described. I see some spinach or kale, some rice and carrots...healthy.



A different J's pulled pork. A chipotle Kurubota pulled pork with sweet corn pudding and Napa cabbage slaw. She was enjoying this..she ate every bite so it must have been good. I might try this next time.



They have a classic Ceasar on the menu. Fluffy, looked good. Didn't taste.



I ate the grilled polenta and portobella mushroom, with romesco sauce and creamed kale. This dish is a winner. I am assuming it slipped being vegan by the cream in the kale, but they kept the kale pretty light. This was hearty and generous in size, Italian comfort food.



The other L ordered the salmon from the menu. I have read raves about this from the innerwebs. It is crusted in sesame seeds, served with a soy-mirin butter, gingered asian green and radish avocado sushi. Festive!



The Park is the quintessential little neighborhood restaurant. They take limited reservations because they always try to leave room for walk ins from the 'hood. It was packed from the time we got there til the time we left. There were several large parties, and everything and everyone was well cared for the entire time. Our service was perfect, no food went back to the kitchen, and they tirelessly opened bottle after bottle of our BYOB with no corkage. I am impressed.

Wowed at Boulevard in San Francisco

Thanks to the friendly posters at Chowhound, I made my way to Boulevard in San Francisco Friday night for a special and wonderful meal. Their web page says this about Boulevard:

"Chef Nancy Oakes is San Francisco's most beloved chef. Since its opening in 1993,
Boulevard has been hailed as one of the best restaurants in San Francisco.
Created in partnership with designer Pat Kuleto, the elegant, yet warm and welcoming
interior of Boulevard is the essence of the Belle Epoque style. It is a glorious setting for Chef Oakes hearty, flavorful, beautiful cuisine. American regional flavors, French influenced style, enthralling design, form the entire experience at Boulevard. Located in the heart of the San Francisco's revived waterfront area, the historic Audiffred Building is the ideal home for Boulevard."



I apologize for the sub-par photos in this review, I couldn't find the charger for my camera's batteries, and took all these pics on my iPhone. The interior of Boulevard is so stunning, I took loads of photos. Unfortunately, due to the soft lighting and lack of contrast in the decor, most of these were worthless. And they don't really do justice to the beautiful food either. In most cases without photos, I might not bother with a review. But this meal was so delicious, so satisfying, so artful, I couldn't let it pass by without thorough commentary.



We arrived early and started with a martini at the bar. If this was as fabulous as reputed, I wanted an opportunity to soak in the feel of the restaurant before eating. I cannot say enough about the beauty of the interior. From the brick vaulted ceilings, to the sparkling peacock in the mosaic tiles in the floor, the atmosphere is celebratory yet comfortable. There are several places to dine. In the front which has a brasserie feel, the rear which is a more formal dining room, and at the counter in front of the kitchen watching the food assemblage. I adored the look of these cozy love seats nestled against the windows facing the restaurant. Ideal for people watching.



We chose these cute dime store ice-cream counter stools in front of the kitchen and watched the cooks' every move.



The person who was the most fun to watch was the expediter. He got his paws on nearly every dish that came through the kitchen. It was wonderful to see the beautiful array of dishes passing through on their way toward patrons' tastebuds.



We tried to share out appetizers. We really did. But it turns out we ordered correctly because we were both most enamored with our own choices. I chose the roasted stuffed calamari. The tubes were stuffed with ingredients classic to a Manhattan clam chowder, clams, potatoes, onions and bacon. Upon serving, a broth resembling that from a Manhattan chowder was poured on top. Not enough to cover the squid, just enough for it to take a shallow dip. I wish the picture did the russet red broth justice. Le sigh. I loved this. LOVED.



D ordered the highly recommended golden beet and fresh goat cheese ravioli. These were huge and looked more like dumplings. They were covered generously in shaved summer truffle and roast hazelnut. I didn't think the flavors stood out strongly enough from one another in this dish. But apparently it is highly popular, and D thought it was awesome.




We both ordered fish for mains. Here, the kitchen puts the final touches on OUR plates. How cool is that?



I had a halibut served over summer squash risotto with roast chanterelle mushrooms. On the side were two beautiful squash blossoms stuffed with brandade, battered and lightly fried. Nom.



D ordered the black cod with lobster mushrooms and shrimp served over a yellow corn nage. On the plate was the much dreaded and feared foam, but this time it was used to good effect. It tasted like it was made from the broth of a thick chicken noodle soup, and added some lovely flavor to the dish.



I had read somewhere on the internet that desserts here are a force to be reckoned with, so D ordered a beautiful individual chocolate ganache cake with bourbon ice cream. He said it was good.



I busied myself with one slice of a firm goat cheese. I love seeing what restaurants pair with cheese courses. This was a winner. On my plate was a small square of honeycomb (my favorite paring), apricot jam (so lush), whole wheat bread slices and a little bunch of baby grapes. They look and tasted like baby concords, but I am not sure.



I will definitely want to be eating here next time I am in town.