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We had a great DineLA Diner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Beverly Hills. The experience was what I had hoped DineLA would be - good value, excellent food, served without pretense at a restaurant where I probably wouldn’t go normally.

There are a few reasons that I haven’t been to Ruth’s Chris before.

1. It’s a chain and, according to every in-flight magazine I have read, I can eat there in any major (or not so major) city.
2. It’s a traditional steakhouse and generally I don’t eat at steakhouses, they are just not something I am drawn to
3. It’s expensive. Steaks, sides, extras… all charged a la carte and none of them are low priced.

For the same reasons I have shunned Ruth’s Chris made this a prime choice for DineLA restaurant week.

We didn’t have too much trouble getting a reservation for last Friday night, although when we arrive, the restaurant is full. The hostess greets us warmly and walks us to our table… which happens to be in the darkest corridor, seemingly pushed against the wall at the last minute, with one chair hanging out into a walkway where the wait staff is coming out of the kitchen. My wife and I look at each other, we don’t want to pains in the ass, but I ask “Is there another table available?” The hostess says that she will check and we go back to the waiting area.

A few minutes later, she comes back with a smile and offers us a nice, well lit booth. She is very nice about it and we are grateful. I guess someone will sit in that other cramped table, but I’m glad that it’s not us.

As she puts down the menus, the hostess is very clear about the DineLA menu, handing us a printed copy and explaining the price details. Our waitress follows up soon after we sit and she too tells us about the DineLA menu, as well as some information about the regular menu. On a night like this, I feel reassured that I wont feel like riffraff ordering off the reduced price menu. Looking around the room, it looks like many tables are ordering the three course meal.

We do order drinks, a sparkling water ($7.95) for my baby-momma and a glass of Mark West Pinot Noir ($12) for me. The wine comes in a large glass and is a generous pour, which it should be for $12, since Mark West touts itself as “Pinot for the People” and is normally under $30/bottle. Price aside, it really is a beautiful wine.

The warm sourdough bread is delivered and we order our meals. For a price comparison, here is what I had, along with the normal menu prices:

• Ahi Tuna Appetizer ($12.50)
• Petite Filet Mignon ($32.95) with a side of Mashed Potatoes ($7.50 ?)
• Raspberry Sorbet (~$10)

Approximate Normal Price: $63
DineLA Restaurant Week Price: $34
Approximate Discount: $29 (46%)!

Now, with reduced prices will we get reduced portions? The answer is no.

My Ahi Appetizer is full size, as well as my wife’s salad. The ahi is pretty good, however the cajun spices that the fish is coated with are a bit overpowering. My other small critique is that the slices could have been a bit thicker, the portion was fine, but I would have liked less slices of that same overall amount. But hey, you don’t go to a steakhouse for raw fish.

After we polish off our appetizers (as in, polish our plates clean), we have a little more bread during our very short wait for our steaks.

The steaks arrive, the friendly expediter explaining that the plates are hot, as in 500 degrees hot. The steaks are sizzling, the butter bubbling. And I do mean bubbling, because there is butter everywhere. On top of the filets, on the plates, pooling on the mashed potatoes, maybe even on top of the creamed spinach. It all smells of decadence.

Does it taste of decadence? Yes. The meat has a wonderful flavor and texture, it’s cooked perfectly — hot, pink and juicy. Although listed as a petite filet, this is the size of most regular filet orders I have had, maybe larger. In fact, neither one of us finish all of our steak and have a little to take home for tomorrow’s lunch.

Both side dishes are also a treat. Certainly calorie crammed and not listed on any trendy diet, but not overly heavy and thankfully not salty (which I hate in potatoes and creamed spinach). We can’t finish all of these either.

After we surrender to our meat and “vegetables”, our desserts soon follow. My wife’s bread pudding is an enormous plate of cinnamon baked nuggets bonded together with some sugar and sweet sauce. I am an inadequate judge of bread puddings, they are not high on my list of preferred desserts. The bread pudding is good, but not a huge stand out.

My sorbet is a good topper to a heavy meal. It’s a large wine glass with three or four scoops, more than enough for me.

With a glass of wine, Pelligrino and a cup of coffee, our bill comes to just under $100 before tip. We both agree that this is a great deal. I’m glad that we were able to try Ruth’s Chris at a discount.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House
Locations All Over

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.

[Photo from their website]

R23 Japanese Cuisine and Art Gallery is exactly what a downtown, cool and artistic space serving fantastic sushi and exceptional gastronomic delights ought to be. Tucked away on the outskirts of Little Tokyo, in L.A.’s Arts District, this fine restaurant first opened its doors in 1991. Now, seventeen years later, R 23 has expanded into the galleries next door, extending their ambiance of intimate dining rooms currently adorned with modernistic paintings by Japanese artist, Ichiro, which are available for sale. The expansion also features a lounge area with a small sake bar.

The main dining room remains lined with dramatic Gauguin-inspired paintings from acclaimed Japanese artist Shiho Amano. Tables are dressed with crisp white linen and are framed by R23’s signature, custom-made corrugated cardboard chairs created by L.A. architect Frank Gehry.

R23’s Executive Chef Tobi-San orchestrates an extensive menu from the kitchen that includes two dozen nightly specialties, while Head Sushi Chef Toshi-San leads the team of four chefs at the granite sushi bar.

A substantial heap of their signature Dungeness crab salad ($21) is drenched with a perfectly balanced rice vinegar and olive oil dressing that has the clarity of a consomme and the mild heat of a hint of ginger.

You truly haven’t lived until you’ve sampled their luscious Lobster tempura ($55), featuring lightly deep-fried claws and tails, as well as vegetables, which also arrives as a generous portion fit for sharing.

Grilled medallions of Duck ($14) are stuffed with Tokyo scallion and served with crisply steamed baby bok choy.

Lavish cuts of truly sublime sushi are draped over the lightly vinegared rice and are served on handcrafted ceramic platters with abstract black, grey and red hues. The toro was so rich and oily, it was practically falling apart. In my notes, I think we paid $29.50 for four orders of sushi, including yellowtail, salmon and the toro.

Their refreshed wine list is impressive as well, with selections specifically chosen to pair with the cuisine. A nice range of cold sake, from junmai to ginjo to the finest daiginjo varieties, arrive in cunning little glass carafes with their own internal ice reservoir to keep the rice wine chilled (small is $20, medium is $25).

Be advised, this place is seriously spendy and there are no prices on the long page of chef’s specials, so don’t be afraid to ask before you order, unless you have an unlimited amount of dosh at your disposal!

It may be a little tough (but not impossible) to find R23, hidden down a small street of warehouses off East Third, but that’s all part of the adventure.

R23
923 East 2nd Street, in downtown L.A.’s Arts District.
Open for lunch Monday through Friday – 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.,
dinner Monday through Saturday – 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 213 687 7178.
Valet parking is available, but we snagged a free spot on the street.

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 ten 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 is completing a family cookbook and has also written novels for 8-12 year olds. She is currently writing two screenplays.

Normally, a place like Grace would be a very special occasion dining choice for me, so restaurant week seemed like the perfect time to try it. I have walked by Grace often enough gazing longingly at the low light and neutral tones of the interior, and the trio of soups and homemade donuts on the menu. Come to think of it … I could afford to go there just for a trio of soups and some homemade donuts. I’ll have to remember that.

The first thing I have to say is to sneakypeteiii who asked me to inquire about the “Close to Home” menu. I asked my server whether they were still doing it, and he said that they were, but it has been suspended temporarily for restaurant week.

The second is that one thing we did not get even a hint of, was any attitude about being there for restaurant week. The service was as friendly and attentive as if we had been any other diner. Also, we were not made to ask for a separate menu, as the DineLA meal was included within the regular menu. I didn’t feel that we were treated differently than any other customer.

It may be because it’s almost impossible to get away with simply sticking to the $34 set menu, because the people at Grace are wicked, naughty seducers that supplement the menu with bonus choices that are enticingly delicious sounding. I think we went at the height of temptation, also, because one of our table members was accidentally given a menu from the night before and there weren’t nearly as many special supplements.

The first thing that you can’t help but add on is drinks. I suppose you could stick with the water, but that’s boring. We all ordered Grace Gimlets rather than choosing the $30 wine pairing option. The Grace Gimlet was $10 and consisted of gin, blood orange juice, and a rosemary simple syrup. The simple syrup really made this drink. The rosemary scent and flavor was strong and it took the drink from a standard cocktail to something really special. A poster on Chowhound described it as just okay and I am wondering if it is better in the form we ordered it. Our server told us they usually serve it on the rocks, but we all ordered ours up, and they were fantastic.

For starters, three of us ordered the vegan coconut scented winter squash Soup, and the other ordered the shrimp cavatelli with Peas and Chanterelle Mushrooms, both of which were part of the DineLA standard menu choices. The soup was really nice. It was thick, but not too hearty and suited the cold weather that night perfectly. I didn’t really get the “coconut scent,” it must have been very subtle, but I ate all of the soup in about two seconds so maybe I just missed it, I was going so fast! The shrimp cavatelli got good marks as well.

For our main courses, only one of our party ordered off of the DineLA menu, getting the king salmon with quinoa, artichokes, and lobster nage, although without the lobster nage (due to shellfish allergy). The kitchen happily left off the lobster nage and even replaced it with a red wine nage. I tried a bit of the salmon and I have to say it’s the best salmon I ever had. Maybe it was because many salmon I have had are heavily sauced, I am not sure, but this fish tasted so clean and fresh, like it just came out of some really nice seawater. I loved it.

I ordered one of the supplemental dishes that came with a supplemental price. I ordered a Morro Bay Petrale Sole in a lemon butter sauce with endive and potatoes. First, I had to support the fishermen of my homeland. Second, petrale sole is something you don’t see everywhere, but is a very good fish. It is actually a flounder, and it is lean with a mild, sweet flavor. Petrale sole is also classified as an environmentally sound choice of fish, if you care about that kind of thing. My sole came in several pieces, and was crispy, brown, and buttery on the outside, and tender, white, and flaky on the inside. I loved the soft potatoes as well, but the endive was difficult texturally for me. I left most of it on the plate, sadly. The sole was $10 extra.

The third entree was a sauteed John Dory with chervil gnocchi, salsify, wild mushrooms and red wine nage. The fish was good, but I think the best part about this was the gnocchi. The por guy who ordered didn’t get to eat to many of them because they kept getting stolen.

The final entree was another supplemental dish - bay scallops. I’m not much of a scallop fan, but I had a bite and they seemed nice, buttery and evenly cooked.

Dessert was the famous homemade donuts. I am a fan of cake-y donuts. I don’t really like Krispy Creme or donuts with lots of air. I like donuts that are all fried and crunchy on the outside and really soft and fluffy and caky on the inside. As such, these donuts weren’t my optimal, because they were too small to be really soft inside, so they were a little crispier than my ideal. I liked the cinnamon glaze on the top, though. That was yummy. The donuts came with a hot chocolate and “toasted orange marshmallow,” which was more like a gooey whipped cream. The chocolate itself was not very sweet, while the marshmallow part was, so I ended up mixing the two together to make sort of a thick warm pudding, but that was way to rich for me. I couldn’t finish.

All in all, our bill came out to much more than the $34 per person that sticking strictly to the restaurant week menu would have netted us, but at the same time, I would say that on a regular night, a dinner for two with all of the trappings might cost almost as much as our dinner for four last week, so I still feel that it was a bargain.

EDIT: People may like to know, for comparison’s sake. I can’t remember the exact total of our bill, but it was around $250 for four people not including tip. That included two cocktails apiece (we walked! don’t lecture me!), so drinks made up about 1/3 of the bill. So even with the supplements, the food bill came out to an average of around $42.50/person. Not a bad deal for a three course meal.

Grace
7360 Beverly Blvd.
323-934-4400

By KT (see more of her posts). You can find more of KT's writing at her own website Gastronomy 101.

I have some friends who are loyal to In-and-Out while a few others swear by Fatburger.

But on this occasion, I’m sure we can all agree to tip our hat to Fatburger Founder Lovie Yancey who died at age 96.

To read more about Lovie Yancey, please see this LA Times article.

Excerpt:

Yancey launched her foray into fast food by partnering with Charles Simpson, who worked for a construction company and reportedly used scrap materials to build a three-stool hamburger stand on Western Avenue near Jefferson Boulevard.

Opened in 1947, the business was called Mr. Fatburger.

“The name of the store was my idea,” Yancey said. “I wanted to get across the idea of a big burger with everything on it . . . a meal in itself.”

In 1952, Yancey shed both her business partner and the “Mr.” in the hamburger stand’s name, and Fatburger was officially born.

“I think of that stand as like a little postwar survivor that’s a tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit of an African American woman who really did usher in what became a very good model for a franchise business,” Adriene Biondo, chairman of the Los Angeles Conservancy’s Modern Committee, told The Times on Friday.
………….
Santa Monica-based Fatburger Corp., owned by Fog Cutter Capital Group, currently has 93 locations in the United States, Canada and Macao.

“We feel privileged to be part of the culture Lovie created,” Andy Wiederhorn, chairman of Fatburger, said in a news release.

Yancey, who was born in Texas on Jan. 3, 1912, established a $1.7-million endowment at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte in 1986 for research into sickle-cell anemia. This was in fulfillment of a promise to her 22-year-old grandson, Duran Farrell, who had died of the disease three years earlier.

In addition to her daughter, Yancey is survived by three grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

By Rene (see more of his posts). You can find more of Rene's writing at his own website Rene's Ramblings

DineLA will be taking the night off on Saturday, but fires up again on Sunday. A few more reviews have rolled in, with mixed moods.

• More controversy at Tiara, where Franklin Avenue tried to have lunch on Sunday. “We specified the Dine L.A. menu when we made reservations and the person on the other end took a note of it and acknowledged our request. The only waiter there took our order off the Dine L.A. menu, only to return twenty minutes later to say that they were not serving the Dine L.A. menu on weekends.” Previous Tiara switchup here.
• Gourmet Pigs is putting in time, with their third review, this time lunch at Asia de Cuba. “All in all the food was good, but service sucked.”
• Shihfan feels that Simon did not showcase their best menu.
• Food GPS may return to Patina for dinner, but points out that they have a regular business lunch for $25 that isn’t too different from the $22 DineLA menu.
• Chowhound schmamo tries Patina, however, and gives it a “Boo, boo, boo, boo, boo” sparking a debate of what DineLA menus should be
• Chowhound vinosnob finds Abode to be very busy, enjoys the food, but finds the portions on the small side.
• Chowhound MeAndroo enjoys some hearty steaks at Nick & Stef’s, with complaints only about the coat check.

Overall, reviews are trending towards disappointment. Is this because of diners’ unreasonable expectations, or restaurants skimping on their offerings?

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.

More reviews have rolled in after yesterday’s roundup of DineLA Restaurant Week meals. I interpret the general consensus to be “pleasantly surprised”. Sounds like diners go in with mixed expectations and the restaurants are stepping up and offering full featured meals at the discount price.

• Our own Sneakypeteiii finds fabulous food at Ford’s Filling Station for dinner.
• LAist has a happy dinner at Allegria in Malibu and a precious lunch at Patina.
• Chowhound is rather light on reviews, seems that all Chowhounds are heading to Grace, with some debate whether the supplemental dishes for $10-$15 are a nice offering, or a bait and switch (I tend to lean towards the former).
• Sounds like Simon has plenty of space available, however not too much enthusiasm for their dinner.
• Chowhound EliseT ventures to Vermont, “food was killer, and well worth $34″

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.

Ford’s Filling Station
9531 Culver Blvd., 90232
(310) 202-1470
$34 + tax, tip

Bottom line: Yum.

This is the food I love to eat. These are fresh, well-seasoned, unpretentious, and simple dishes borne of a deep hunger within, not of some intellectual curiosity or misinformed science project — I walked out of Ford’s Filling Station last night at 11 pm holding my stomach, half asleep, a blissfully contented cow in a curiously contented meadow.

The six of us, unaccustomed to the Iberian dining hour of 9 pm, were pretty spent and famished by the time we arrived after a long day at the lab. They were a little behind, they said, so we didn’t get seated until about 9:20, when we were placed smack-dab in the middle of the main room with a decent view of the hot plate and (glimpses) of Ben Ford. He looks a lot like his dad.

The jamon serrano flatbread (red bell peppers, cremini, mozzarella, parsley?) first course was, as I remember saying, “better than it should have been.” By that I mean it was obscenely good, because, you know, I’m a sucker for cured ham. It had that savory unctiousness, smokiness, and herbiness that tastes of a good hearth, or rather the warmth from a good hearth around which we huddle during the heart of winter. So what if it’s only in the low 60s outside — dare I say that this was home run?

Four of us ordered the roasted lamb loin as a second course (with green beans, quinoa-wheaty goodness, and caramelized leeks). I’d say that this was “just” a solid dish, losing out in the end only because of its temperature and relative fattiness. Given the sheer number of covers they probably had last night it’s a wonder they even got them out of the kitchen as fast as they did. It was a hair overdone for my taste (i.e. not bloody enough), but sufficiently lamby to satisfy my whetted palate from the earlier dish, an aptly-titled “appetizer.”

After polishing off some of my compatriot’s plates as well, I was pretty full at this point (did I mention that the portions are massively generous?). But it was time for dessert! They had run out of crème brulée, so we had a mixture of apple crumble and Toblerone ice cream orders that, it seemed, none of us could finish. You could tell that we all wanted to add to the already-brewing orgy of good flavors in our bellies but were simply unable to do it due to space limitations.

I guess that’ll have to wait for next time.

sneakypeteiii is a doctoral student in Chemistry at Caltech. He has been eating since he was a child, and reckons himself quite good at it. (see more of his posts).

Reviews are rolling in about the DineLA Restaurant Week. For the most part, the reviews are positive, but there have been a few SNAFUs.

• Commenter Stephen had the menu and price switched on him at Tiara. DineLA responds, somewhat explaining the mix up.
• A Chowhounder hits up Table8 and finds that the DineLA menu has changed, decides to order from the normal menu instead and is underwhelmed
• Dig Lounge tries Ruth’s Chris where you are essentially paying for the steak and getting the sides and, appetizer and dessert for free
• More Chowhounders weigh in. Simon LA good for lunch. Patina pleasant but forced to eat outside. Lunch at L’Opera in Long Beach is a satisfying treat. Dakota is “shockingly” good.
• Gourmet Pigs has to wait a bit for their reservation, but are comped a fondue at Luna Park. Dinner is nice, but they are out of tarts (my favorite dessert there).
• LAist has a $35 lunch for $22 at Ford’s Filling Station, says “Was the prix-fixe meal worth the price? Absolutely.”
• Added - Gourmet Pigs has an “excellent” meal at Grace. Complementary sparkling water, but $10 extra to have the wild boar.

I will post my reviews after I try a couple spots.

By Jonah (see more of his posts). Jonah is the founder of la.foodblogging and also created Digesty, a food blog aggregator and Cheww.com, a spam free foodblog search engine.