Tavern

[yasuofenix]

Hey all,

I just went to Tavern in Brentwood tonight. I haven't seen a thread on this place yet so I'd like to share what I experienced.

Before eating there for dinner I had a snack at the larder. It was nice. They had some breads, prepared foods, and sweets. The macarons & thin mind cookies weren't bad. The counter employees were nice as well. The whole building itself is very nice and friendly.

The dining room was bigger than I thought, it goes out further in to an area with glass ceilings allowing the light to enter. Its very relaxing.

I just moved over to SoCal from NYC so my food senses are a bit off from switching blizzard to sunshine. I went to a local farmer's market to acquaint myself.

The menu had disappointed me a bit since a lot of things seemed very heavy, well at least the entrees. The appetizers seemed in tune with what I saw at the market. My companion had the citrus salad and I had the duck sausage. They were both good, its just weird because they seem so regular. Maybe I'm use to April Bloomfield's minature but explosive salads? The duck sausage was very flavorful though. Actually mixing the two salads made it excellent!

My companion had the rib-eye and I had the baked chicken. Thinking back to the appetizers these dishes made the previous look like amuse. Massive! That rib-eye was huge, but unfortunately covered in sauce. It was cooked properly (rare) I must add, because even in NYC it can be hard to get right. My chicken tasted like shake & bake with mustard. I don't mean to demean the food but thats what it tasted like. It was baked very well. The rib-eye came with a baked potato and all the fixins. But all that stuff killed the potato This point I will comment somewhat critically since my grandparents were potato farmers. The bacon tasted chewy & old. Some potatoes came with the baked chicken as well. They tasted so watery.

Our desserts were just ok. My cheesecake was alright, but the grapes alongside kind of confused me. I didn't get it, but thats alright it was a decent cake. My companion's ice cream coupe was pretty bad. The pumpkin ice cream was gritty and the chocolate was just old (i use to make ice cream for a living please trust me). And it came in a beer glass as far as I could tell.

The service was alright. Coming from NYC I expected to see this "California-style" service especially at a place like this. But I didn't but perhaps they are still working on it.

I fairly enjoyed my time at this restaurant despite any concerns posted above. Maybe because its new, but I'd be up to seeing how they develop and gladly try it again.

I'd recommend it to others after perhaps another month or two.

[millions]

I fairly enjoyed my time at this restaurant despite any concerns posted above. Maybe because its new, but I'd be up to seeing how they develop and gladly try it again.

I'd recommend it to others after perhaps another month or two.

It's been open for almost a year now. I went the first week it opened and was impressed by the space, but not really anything else.

[yasuofenix]

Well that sucks, it seems like it could be a nice restaurant.

We actually didn't finish the rib-eye so we packed it to go.

The next day we scraped off the sauce and made it into a sort of vietnamese beef salad with raw beets. I don't want to say it tasted better.... but you could definitely sit down and enjoy the beef flavor.

[JFLinLA]

Yet LA Magazine just named it #6 of the top ten best new restaurants in LA.

Edited March 14, 2010 by JFLinLA (log)