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Los Angeles on a Monday Night

Vervain

By Vervain
in California: Dining

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Vervain

Vervain

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I love birthdays--really :biggrin: !--and always insist on celebrating my own on my birth date. But this year, in the next couple of weeks, it falls on a Monday. Can anyone suggest some terrific restaurants in L.A. that:

1. Are open on Mondays?

2. Have fresh food delivered on Mondays?

3. Have wonderful food?

Emily
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Vervain

Vervain

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Yikes! I thought no one had replied. Didn't get an e-mail notification. Sorry ! Any price range (up to $200 for two people, although less would be much nicer :biggrin: ). We live in West L.A., but will drive just about anywhere. However, I guess we'd rather not drive more than an hour in any one direction.

Thanks!

Emily
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Vervain

Vervain

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the zagat, whatever else it might or might not be good for, is good at telling us which restaurants are open on mondays.

True, Mongo, but it doesn't say anything about whether the food is fresh, if the chef cooks on that night, etc. It's my birthday! I get to be picky.

And I forgot to respond to the type of food question: Anything that pairs well with good red wines (and maybe some Champagne).

Emily
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mongo_jones

mongo_jones

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the zagat, whatever else it might or might not be good for, is good at telling us which restaurants are open on mondays.

True, Mongo, but it doesn't say anything about whether the food is fresh, if the chef cooks on that night, etc. It's my birthday! I get to be picky.

And I forgot to respond to the type of food question: Anything that pairs well with good red wines (and maybe some Champagne).

oh, i wasn't trying to be prickly. just suggesting that if you gave us a list of monday night enabled restaurants from the zagat we might be able to better answer the qualifying questions.

i've eaten at a range of very good restaurants in l.a (lived there for 10 years till last summer) but suddenly can't remember which of them are open on mondays. as such my recommendations will be meaningless.

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Vervain

Vervain

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hollywood,

I was just looking at the menu on Josie's site! We were there once and enjoyed it. And then forgot about it. So now that's definitely in the running.

JFL,

Thanks for the suggestion. I know it's weird, but Campanile just has never seemed that appealing to us. The one time we went (not the best way to make a judgment, I know) the food was so so and the service was even less than so so.

Mongo,

I didn't think you were "trying to be prickly." I'm just concerned that being open on Mondays doesn't mean that the chef has gotten deliveries that day. I was hoping the folks here might know whether Mondays are a throw-away/use what's left-over night or not.

Carolyn,

Yeah, too bad about Joe's. I hear they've expanded and the tables are less jammed together.

Emily
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JFLinLA

JFLinLA

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Verve -- Sounds like you're leaning toward Josie's. However, for this or some other occassion why don't you give Campanile another try. Not that I get to eat out at fancy places all that often but, the last time we went to Campanile, we had a lovely time. It was this past summer and we went there with our daughter. The food and service were terrific and Mark Peel was very present -- both in the kitchen and the dining rooms. There were some other "eG"ers at a nearby table. Don't know about their deliveries that day but we enjoyed ourselves.

And, Happy Birthday by the way.

So long and thanks for all the fish.
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Music

Music

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I, too, am a fan of Campanile. I've never had less than an excellent meal there. Then there is Bastide -- for a really special restaurant (on the order of the French Laundry). I was there recently for my birthday and it was superb. But not cheap! But it's a special occasion, and definitely a special occasion restaurant. Happy Birthday!

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dfunghi

dfunghi

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Monday Nights.

Bastide will be more than $200 especially with wine. Of which you can't bring your own. Plus why pay those prices for mostly attitude and hype? Allain Giroud is far from LA's best chef. Just most expensive. As well, it is a disservice to compare to French Laundry.Not on his best day is Giroud the level of chef as Keller is. IMO

Not sure whats going on at Whist these days? They are open 7 days.

Campanille is open Monday and Mark is there. Check with them for the family menu on your particular monday. The regular menu is available as well. $200 is no problem there. Should be much less. Specially if you bring wine.

D

David West

A.K.A. The Mushroom Man

Founder of http://finepalatefoods.com/

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Music

Music

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Dfungi -- Re my recommendation of Bastide for dinner. I said that the food and presentation is "on the order of" the French Laundry, and did not compare Giraud to Keller, although I think Giraud is excellent. I had previously eaten his food at Lavande in Santa Monica and found it wonderful. The manner of service and presentation at Bastide are very similar to that at the French Laundry -- and we didn't find any "attitude" -- just excellent service. Irene Virbila, the food critic of the Los Angeles Times, gave it her highest rating -- only the second restaurant to receive that rating in the several years she has been writing for the Times. The restaurant is not cheap, but we thought we received good value for the money.

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dfunghi

dfunghi

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Music, I don't know another person or place here in US to find that soup. Or one even close. Glad he has it there. Too bad you cant sit at the bar an have just that with a glass of wine as you could at Lavande / Loews

So verve why on a monday anyway? You would probably have better luck on another night and just celebrate your birthday then. I enjoyed a great birthday truffle dinner in Piedmont Italy one year ( 40th) even though it was a week late. Sometimes its good to be flexible.

If you were to change nights; If you ( or your date) called well in advance and asked to leave a message for the chef on their VM and explain what you would like and when your resv. is you will probably get a great meal. Certainly at Sona, Bistro 21*, Melisse, to name just three. Most restaurants want to make their patrons happy.

D

* bistro21 probably only one of the three for <$200

David West

A.K.A. The Mushroom Man

Founder of http://finepalatefoods.com/

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Vervain

Vervain

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Sorry I haven't responded in a while! I'm still not regularly being notified by e-mail when people post, so I again had no idea there were more comments.

My birthday was Feb 9th and we went to Josie's. It was lovely, they were lovely, and the food was very good. But nothing really blew us away. Maybe we're getting jaded, but we cook at home a lot (and I'm big into growing my own produce as much as possible), so when we go out, we're either looking for simple relaxation (no long drives and strong Margaritas) or something really special. For "special" I think we've gotten seduced by the multi-course tasting menus of places like Alex and Melisse and Valentinos. The element of serial surprises alone is worth it. But the chance to taste several small dishes created by a chef for that particular night is just the best.

And celebrating ON my actual birthday rather than FOR my birthday is somehow important to me. Maybe it's some genetic throw-back to Druidic sun postitioning, but the calendar date of birthdays and anniversaries carries a power for me that celebrating in honor of something because it's convenient doesn't. :biggrin:

Il Grano sounds interesting. Is that across the street from the library?

And we promise to try Campanille again.

Emily
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