Giving LA a bad name
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
I have dear friends in from NYC who happen to be staying in Brentwood. They have friends all over- Los Feliz, Hancock Park, Hollywood - but few of them live on the west side. So when trying to pick a place that's "convenient" (a word which doesn't really apply in Los Angeles unless you truly live in the same neighborhood) for all parties, we've run into a few issues. Issues which highlight in the brightest, most obnoxious fluorescent yellow the problems I have with this town.
We settled on Amarone Kitchen and Wine Bar for dinner - a little hole in the wall with about eleven tables conveniently located on Sunset right near San Vicente. Since they'd been in Los Feliz earlier and then the Sofitel for cocktails, this was a perfect location for them to shoot directly west on Sunset to arrive home later that evening. Amarone feels like a little slice of Italy with the chefs greeting you with an authentic "Buona Sera" as you pass by the kitchen. I was beyond thrilled to find that they had my beloved Falanghina on the wine list- a white wine from the Campania region of Italy that I drank endlessly on the island of Capri last June. And the extensive menu made decisions difficult. We settled on sharing (as I love to do most) and started with grilled calamari and burrata on a bed of arugala. The calamari was delicious - tender and seasoned to perfection. And the burrata was quite nice although the arugala could have used a little splash of lemon and olive oil from the kitchen. For dinner we had a filet stuffed with drunken goat cheese with a balsamic reduction and a squid ink linguine with fruits de mer in a light tomato sauce. The clearly homemade pasta was light and tangy and the steak was tender and full of flavor. I would go back to Amarone to sample more from their menu in a heartbeat.
Clearly, this was not the annoying part of our evening. After Amarone, we wanted to go someplace close by for a drink with some other friends traveling from Los Feliz. Given that we were on Sunset, I suggested Sky Bar at the Mondrian. Sure it's a scene and can be mildly annoying but the views are killer and it was a gorgeous uncharacteristically warm LA evening. It's generally not busy in the earlier half of the evening and I've lounged on on of the beds with friends on several enjoyable occasions. So we walk up to Sky bar and the place is empty. I mean EMPTY. Literally not a soul in sight save the "host" at the podium who quickly informs us that we're at the entrance for hotel guests. This is the same entrance through which I've entered Sky Bar on no fewer than five occasions.But he was relentless and sent us to the entrance on Sunset where we were told that without reservations, we can't come in. It's a Monday night. It's 10:15. We already know that there's NO ONE IN THE FUCKING BAR. Honestly? I'm too old for this crap. I just wanted to go to a nice hotel and have another glass of wine.
We cross the street to Katana - a sushi spot with an entire deck of outdoor seating. I've eaten at Katana about 15 times since I moved to LA. I've literally walked in and eaten at the bar on a few occasions. But all of a sudden, there's a RED VELVET ROPE OUTSIDE KATANA! People, this place is not new. It's been around for 4 years. And on top of that, this place is NOT FULL! It's EMPTY. But we are again greeted with "Sorry - reservations only."
There was an article in the LA Times a while back about how restaurants in Los Angeles were telling people they couldn't accommodate for certain reservation times. The writer of the article would then proceed to go to these places only to find out that there was not a single soul in the entire restaurant. Further, when the writer arrived at the restaurant at the reservation time she was given, she was often made to wait despite the fact that there was an almost empty dining room before her. These places were trying to give the illusion that they were difficult to get into (and I suppose it wasn't an illusion at all given that they were actually turning people down for reservations). Are Angelinos SO VAPID that they would rather appear cool than actually MAKE MONEY??? Seriously people. I am baffled. Ed. note: I tried to find the article to link to it but it appears it's been removed from the LA Times. The original article was entitled "Table at 7? LA begs to differ"
Granted I haven't gone out on Sunset in close to two years so perhaps in an effort to make everything old new again, these places are attempting to up the exclusivity factor. And next time I'll make less of an effort to find a place that's convenient and more of an effort to find a place that's actually cool.
We ended up deciding to grab a table at the very chi-chi Saddle Ranch which was possibly the funniest experience I've had in a long time. We thought about riding the bull but decided that we'd rather not spend the remainder of the evening in the emergency room which is inevitably where I would have landed. Our favorite part of the experience was the smoldering and steaming carafe that was brought out posing as the premium margarita that my friend ordered. Literally smoking. 
At least we're in good company -- Carrie, Samantha, and Miranda ended up at the Saddle Ranch in one of the LA episodes:
Samantha: All the fabulous places in LA and we're at the saddle ranch chophouse?
Carrie: Hey - don't complain. It's the closest bar without a hill involved.
That pretty much sums it up.
Posted byMeesh-elle my Belle at 12:09 PM
Labels: driving, food and drink, LA rant
