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DineLA dates are : Jan 24 – 29 and Jan 31 – Feb 5, 2010

BLT Steak on Sunset is not some sandwich joint (ha!) — BLT stands for “Bistro Laurent Tourondel” and this maestro has his eponymous restaurants all over the place (New York, Washington DC, Hong Kong, Honolulu etc).

This one on Sunset Plaza is a sister resto of the chef’s acclaimed New York flagship.

Tourondel took up residence in the former “Le Dome” space about two years ago, where I was taken for my birthday (April 2008) by a friend who was reviewing it for a flashy magazine. Needless to say, she ordered up almost the entire menu and I got to take most of it home. It was a rich, superb and sensational meal.

Flash-forward to DineLA week one — 2010.

What do you need to know? This space is chic, comfortable, plush and gorgeous — perfect for people watching. Ideal in summer, with all the doors thrown open.

The cuisine is superb! Yeah, it’s $44 pp for a three-course meal for DineLA week, but be advised, add tax, tip and a couple of drinks each and you’re looking at an approximately $200 bill, easy.

Pricey? Yes. BUT — we took ALL our leftovers home and dined like royalty the very next night. So, crunch those numbers — it was totally worth it.

The thing I love about swanky restos is all the extras. Okay, you are paying for it, but it feels free!!

First this delicious pate comes out, swimming in some alcohol (cognac? I dunno…) — so its consistency is a bit loose, but who cares?

Then you each get one of their signature cheese popovers — giant, so we shared it and took the other one home. It heated up nicely the next night.

The three course meal has fantastic options. Being a lightweight, I opted for the salad to start and it was one of the best salads I have ever had! Creamy, light, fabulously fragrant with roquefort all through the creamy dressing, butter lettuce leaves piled on top of thin slices of soft, ripe persimmon, all dusted with finely grated cheese. Wow.

My SO’s starter was quail. A whole quail!

Meat followed — his was good, mine was the lamb served rare — really REALLY rare! Almost too rare for me (and I love it rare - but this was more, uh, raw…), but I ate one of the two chops anyway, and cooked the other one a bit more the next night — much better. The angolotti (you know, like plumper, fatter tortellini) were filled with braised lamb.

Best of all was the rich and decadent red wine sauce that came with both meals.

We boxed our chocolate gateaux to go (haha!) and I’m still trying to finish it… THREE decadent sauces accompany it; choc sauce; vanilla cream sauce and bourbon caramel sauce (all in their own little containers) — as if this rich layered choc ganache cake needed any gilding!

TOTALLY worth it.

Dinner MENU:

Choice of Appetizers

* Butter Lettuce / Persimmon / Candied Pecan / Roquefort
o Curried Cauliflower Bisque / Rock Shrimp / Piquillo Pepper
+ Grilled Quail / Black Lentils / Blood Orange / Celery Heart

Choice of Entrees
# Sonoma Lamb “Well and Rare” / Grilled Loin / Angolottis / Smoked Pear
* Prime Culotte Steak / Charred Oyster Mushrooms / Violet Mustard Jus
o Crab Encrusted Scottish Salmon / Escarole / White Bean / Preserved Lemon

Choice of Desserts
+ Dark Chocolate Layer Cake / Bourbon Caramel / Pecan Praline
# Tangerine Panna Cotta / Citrus Compote / Pomegranate
* Banana Cream Pie / Warm Rum Sauce / Chantilly Cream

BLT Restaurant.

DineLA dates are : Jan 24 – 29 and Jan 31 – Feb 5, 2010

If you have the dough, this place is worth trying during DineLA week.

By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past thirteen years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She completed a family cookbook and has also written novels for 8-12 year olds. She is the creator and host of ArtsBeatLA.