Craftbar (Los Angeles)

Last night after a taping of "The Soup", Daryl, Selina and I hightailed it over to Century City to check out the newly opened Craftbar (attached to Craft). Perhaps our good spirits made us more inclined to enjoy, but we found the atmosphere, service and food to be top notch!

Admittedly I was excited to go because I love Top Chef but cannot afford Craft's exorbitant prices. Craftbar was a perfect solution since it is still associated with and attached to the main restaurant, but features drinks and food (snacks, salads, small plates, in a jar, pasta, pizzettes, cheese and sweets) for under $10 each. Very reasonable!

Unfortunately, since they close at 10pm and we got there at 9:35, a lot of the things we wanted to order were no longer available (bacon and lobster rolls, jidori chicken wings with maple dijon aioli, lamb sliders with bleu cheese and tomato marmalade). But because of this inconvenience, the chef (who we will pretend was Tom Colicchio) sent out a complimentary pizzette.

Some photos:

The bar.


Refreshing! The beers are only $5, which is amazing in LA. I think this was a Pilsner.

Falafel & Whipped Spicy Feta

Foie Gras Confit w/ Grapes, Apple & Macadamia Nuts

Steamed Short Rib Buns

Raw Albacore Tuna w/ Pickled Shallots & Kishu Tangerine (AMAZING)

Braised Veal Ravioli & Hazelnut Brown Butter

Sausage Raviolini & Manila Clams

Truffle Garlic Sausage & Lentils


Veal & Ricotta Meatballs

Pizzette #1

Pizzette #2 (gratis)- I think this one had jalapenos.

Craftbar
10100 Constellation Blvd.
Century City, CA 90067

Kings Road Cafe

Rarely do I go out to eat breakfast-- I'm very picky in this department (I like the waffles at Denny's, and I'm very particular about who makes my eggs and how they make it). So what happens when I set out to eat brunch at Kings Road Cafe? I eat lunch. But since (spoiler alert!) I enjoyed the meal, I'm happy with my choice.

Kings Road Cafe is a deceptively small restaurant-- half the building is actually devoted to a bakery that we never tried. There is plenty of outdoor seating (a fixture at most restaurants that line Beverly and 3rd), but you'll probably have to wait a while to get it; we opted to sit inside. The decor is nothing to brag about-- simple brown walls, wooden tables and chairs, etc. But the atmosphere was very chill, and for the most part, it is a very enjoyable place for a meal.

Jason and I ordered the Classic Caprese as an appetizer. It's a pretty simple dish: mozzerella, a slice of tomato, and some basil in the middle, with some olive oil drizzled on top.
This was a great start to the meal. Despite being an entire leaf, the flavor of the basil wasn't too overpowering, so you were able to really enjoy the mozzerella and the delicious tomatoes. Place it on top of the complimentary bread, and you have yourself a mighty fine appetizer.

For my entree, I was debating between the French Toast with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar, or the Ahi Tuna panini. I went with the ahi tuna, and wasn't disappointed.
The ahi tuna was grilled rare, which made me nervous at first (even moreso when I saw how pink the middle of the fish was). But once I took a bite out of that panini, which was sandwiched between two amazing slices of bread that were perfectly crisp and full of so much flavor themselves, I was a doubter no more. The tuna was well seasoned, moist, and worked well with the roma tomatoes, red onions, and the watercress. The side of red cabbage was a little too lemony for me (it was tossed with a lemon vinagrette), so I steered clear of that for the most part.

Aegean ordered the mozzerella, roma tomato, and basil omlette which she thoroughly enjoyed (I had a bite of it, and it was certainly pretty good; not too cheesy, which is a plus). Jason was pleased with his choice, the breakfast burrito, as was Angie, who ordered the garden vegetable omelette. {Sorry, but the pictures were too blurry to post.}

Like I said, we skipped out on dessert, which is supposed to be amazing, but I am not opposed to the concept of returning in the near future, to try the French Toast or any of the dessert options. Overall, I give Kings Road Cafe a solid B: it was pleasing to both the wallet (breakfast $7-11, paninis $8-10) and the palate.

Kings Road Cafe
8361 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, Ca. 90048