Avocado Grill - Larchmont

217 N Larchmont Blvd, Los Angeles 90004 between 1st St & Beverly Blvd 323-962-3880

Just reading the word "avocado" makes me want to vomit. The combination of slimey, squishiness coupled with snotty shades of extraterrestrial intestines... uugh. In fact even typing it is less than fun, therefore throughout the remainder of this blog, I shall henceforth refer to the dreaded "A" word as "Kryptonite" and I urge all future contributors to follow suit, otherwise I may have to invent a puke-proof keyboard. So why am I even entering this establishment without an air-sickness bag? Because Lorenzo and I really wanted to try Larchmont Deli, but it was closed on Sunday. Being the hungry people that we were (and usually always are), I employed my beyond-superhero-strength to overcome the evil forces of Kryptonite. Actually, Lorenzo loves Kryptonite so I went in partly to make him happy too. The place was pretty quiet, as most probably are at 3:30pm on Sunday - no wonder we actually found a parking spot. He ordered the roasted vegetable burrito - $7.95 (caramelized onions, fire roasted corn, choice of cilantro or white rice, black or pinto beans, guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream) PLUS chicken (add $2.00). For a minute there you actually thought he would eat a meatless item? Ha! I had a bowl of tortilla soup $5.95 and a bottle (yes, an actual glass bottle) of Lime Soda. The evil forces were surely conspiring against me as my soup arrived with - yep, you guessed it - a slice of Kryptonite right smack in the center. I quickly removed it and gave it to Lorenzo before it had a chance to contaminate the rest of my meal. The soup itself was really more of a spicy tomato sauce with a few strands of crisp tortilla strips that didn't stay crisp for long. Lorenzo's burrito had some noticeably sweet roasted corn, and ironically no Kryptonite. Long story short - dunking his burrito into my soup - or, if you prefer, pouring my soup over his burrito - was a very tastey combination of two otherwise mediocre entrees.

Wilshire - on Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica

Our good friends Peter and Natasha invited us to have dinner with them at a restaurant they have frequented before and enjoyed called Wilshire. We were looking forward to this because we had heard such good things from them, and trusted their judgment as we have dined together on many an occasion.

It was Saturday evening, and we had a reservation for 7:15. First good sign! None of this "Would you like to come in at 5:30 or 9:30?" We walked in and I had a good first impression. A dark room with pleasant comfortable artwork and fixtures greeted us, and our table was a small booth tucked in the corner of a cozy room. The patio looked inviting also, with its more well-lit tables - perhaps next time we will check out the outdoor seating. For for this evening, we were happy with our booth.

Peter had brought a bottle of 2003 Sattler Zweigelt from Austria, and they had called ahead to determine their corkage policy, which was very fair: $25 a bottle, but this is waived if you purchase a bottle from their list. Our plan was to order a bottle of white, which we did.

The server changed our glasses to red wine glasses upon seeing our bottle. She gave us a list to choose our white from. All the service henceforth was very good, which was impressive for a busy Saturday evening in L.A.

My husband Johan choose for his dinner a steak tartare for the appetizer and a duck breast for the main. I choose the mussels cooked in a curry sauce broth for the appetizer and a short ribs with yukon gold potatoes for the main. Peter got a hamachi (yellowtail) appetizer and a nice salad for the main, while Natasha choose the miso marinated black cod. Everyone was very pleased with their meal! The food was spot on and I was impressed.

I would return to this lovely institution in a heartbeat. It is often I am a bit disappointed in restaurants in L.A. but not last evening! The service was friendly and gracious, the food was all that I hoped for (plump mussels, tender short ribs), the menu interesting, and the room comfy. Not too formal, but special enough, this is a pleasant place I would recommend to anyone contemplating dining in the Santa Monica area.