Anisette Brasserie in Santa Monica

Just returned from lunch at Anisette Brasserie in Santa Monica and I have to say I enjoyed the experience and would go again.

The place has a very nice feel and that started right when we walked in. Beautifully tiled floors, long zinc bar, red lobsters chilling on ice next to oysters, and servers dressed like waiters in France with their long aprons. The front desk folks were friendly, and tons of diners were already there enjoying their lunch hour. It was as though the restaurant was recession-proof.

When we got to our food, we found it all to be very good, and creative as well. We had a couple of appetizers to share - pate maison and a smoked salmon terrine. Both were beautifully presented, with the terrine in a fashion that I have never seen before. But even tastier than the smoked salmon was the pate, which was very light and almost like a mousse.

We each ordered a soup for the main course - my companions had onion soup, which was served in a cute tall red crock, and mine was the Provencal fish soup, which was served in bowl, but they poured it tableside from a teapot. My soup was flavorful and everything I wanted from a fish soup - tasted very homemade.

We shared a dessert of lavendar ice cream which definitely tasted of lavendar and vanilla bean.

To conclude, Anisette is a cute and relatively casual but still upscale place that I enjoyed and made me want to live in L.A. again. It's definitely a great addition to the 3rd Street Promenade area that really doesn't have enough good places. I say Yay!!

Anisette Brasserie is located on Santa Monica Blvd between 2nd and 3rd Street, right off the 3rd Street Promenade.

Creme de la Crepe - Hermosa Beach

Hermosa Beach might be the most bland tasting region of the whole South Bay, so when I first heard of this French cafe on Hermosa's Pier Avenue, I was already convinced that it was terrible. How could it not be? But oddly enough, Hitomi stumbled on a buzz about the place in the local Japanese language paper - and who should know French food better than the ... Japanese? So we decided to give it a try. We went for brunch first. The place was packed, but we squeezed in on the sidewalk and ordered French press coffee and sweet crepes. Inside the place was pretty charming - simple and provincale looking - yellow walls, paintings of rural scenes and French flags. All the wait staff had strong French accents, so how could it be that bad? It wasn't bad. It was really good. Excellent crepes - fluffy and light - and the ingredients really tasted fresh and hand-picked. the coffee was clearly gound on the premises and tasted really French. Yeah, it was really good.

But we weren't convinced yet, so finally, last night, we returned to "La Creme" for dinner. Once again the wait staff all had French accents. So far so good. The dinner menu is French but not haute-cuisine. It features beef bourguignon, dijon chicken, chicken provencale, and the like - along with quiches and a number of savory crepes. All old school, Julia Child style French. They also feature fondue! (mmm fondue) I had Beef Bourguignon, on the recommendation of the waitress, and Hitomi had the Crepe Nordique. She asked about the tomatoes, because we are in the middle of the salmonella tomato scare, but the waitress said "Our tomatoes do not have salmonella." How could we not believe her?

The truth is the food was simple, but really good. The ingredients were exceptionally fresh and flavorful, the sauces were nice - even the salad dressing, and the noodles were homemade. The ratatouille was chock full of bay leaves and was nicely herbed. (Can I say that?) They comped us a plate of 6 escargot, which were prepared in olive oil and herbs and pretty tasty, as escargot go.

Finally, against my better judgement, I ordered the dessert crepe, "The Zindane". It's a nutella crepe with strawberries, bananas and ice cream. It was unbelievable. the crepe was light and fluffy, (in contrast to those delightful crispy crepes available at the Farmer's Market!) the whip cream was home whipped, and the nutella was... nutella.

The most amazing thing about "La Creme" are the prices ... Nothing on the menu is over $20, and most selections are under $15. The "Zidane " was $6.95 - 2 dollars cheaper than that "French Crepe" in the Farmer's Market. By the way, I asked the waitress about the "Salmon en Croute", and she seemed pretty luke-warm about it. You may want to stay away from the Salmon...

Suzy, you're the closest thing to French in our group. Check out this place and let us know what you think!

Creme De La Crepe
424 Pier Avenue
Hermosa Beach