By Merv Hecht Re-View
IN THE 1950S, GOING OUT TO DINNER in Los Angeles meant going to La Cienega Boulevard to “Restaurant Row.” Lawry’s prime rib was a special treat, with the big silver cart and the showy twirling salad bowl as the waitress dribbled the Lawry’s bottled salad dressing from high up into the salad. There we no Japanese or Indian restaurants there. How times have changed!
Now there are, as everyone knows, restaurants in almost every block in Santa Monica. And coffee houses as well.
In a way it’s one big restaurant row! I heard a rumor that at the space center in Florida the scientists think that when man finally gets to Mars, he or she will find a Starbucks on one corner and an Italian restaurant across the canyon.
While you may not be able to see it from space, there is a special restaurant row in the Santa Monica canyon where the selection of food and wine — particularly the wine — surpasses anything that I recall from my childhood.
What a change since the only dinner restaurants in the canyon were the Golden Bull and Ted’s Grill. Amazingly, the Golden Bull is still there, and it looks to me like some of the waitresses are the same as in the ‘60s. Is that possible?
Ted’s Grill, of course, is closed. First it morphed into Gladstone’s, which then moved into Pacific Palisades, where Sunset meets the Pacific Coast Highway. Then the originator, Bob Morris, sold it and moved his operation to Paradise Cove, where it still knocks out great food and drink.
The Golden Bull still has the perfect ‘50s style wine list by the glass: two chardonnays, two merlots, two cabernet sauvignons, and one pinot grigio for the adventurous. I wish they hadn’t taken Lancer’s sparkling rose off the wine list. But by the bottle you can find wines from California, France, Italy, and Australia, priced from $13 to $33. I certainly don’t recall that kind of selection from my childhood.
Steak and chicken predominate here, nothing exotic. But where else can you get a good baked potato with butter, chives and sour cream, like in the old days before calorie counting?
Then walk across the street to Café Delfini, and you might as well be on vacation in Italy. There’s a full menu of Italian food, and a full page of champagnes on the wine list.
Then there’s a full page of wines by the glass, and an unusually good selection of both California and Italian wines, if you think of it as a neighborhood restaurant. One of the owners is almost always there to help you select the kind of wine you prefer.
While you’re still pretending to be in Italy walk back across the street to Giorgio’s. Don’t even think of eating there without a reservation: It’s jammed almost every night. I usually recognize a few of the patrons when I’m there, and then realize it’s because I’ve seen them on the movie screens. Congratulations to Georgio and his daughter for keeping an excellent selection of half-bottles, just what I like when I’m driving. But this is not a wine list to glance at lightly; this is a list for a special occasion. And the prices are commensurate with this, although with diligence there are some reasonable buys to find.
This is as good a selection of wines from the Piedmont region of any restaurant in town, second only (maybe) to Valentino. But please don’t buy the last bottle of the 1990 Barolo-conteisa Cerguie ($195), because that’s what I plan to drink as soon as I strike it rich by writing these columns.
Now pretend you’re southeast of Italy. You’re in Sam’s Bistro. Sam Elias, originally from Lebanon, means to please, and he’s there to make sure you get what you want. The prices on the menu, as well as the wine list, are very reasonable, as a neighborhood bistro should be.
Want something special? Ask Sam and he’ll bring out some of his vintage California wines saved for special customers. Sam’s working on a new wine list. You can bet that it will be worth the visit. I’ve had some of the freshest fish ever at Sam’s, and at least once I found the restaurant’s Japanese fish purveyor there having dinner.
Now back to California, to the brasserie “Brass Cap.” What memories this building has for me. When I first moved to the canyon it was a wonderful gay bar where the local musical casts would congregate and sing songs from the current musical hits.
Then it was Les Anges, specializing in marinade-injected lobsters and other French delicacies, compliments of local resident Ron Spire. Now it’s part of Bruce Marder’s restaurant group. My wife and I find it wonderful. I love the crab appetizer when they have it, and the filet steak is perfect. There’s a nice selection of food on the menu, and a particularly good wine list.
Unfortunately, rumor has it that business is not good there and both the restaurant and the building are for sale. The restaurant business is not for the faint of heart!
I staggered out after a few drinks, walked around the corner, and found myself in front of the famous Patrick’s Roadhouse, which was closed. Bill is no longer there, and his daughter Tracy seems to have sold out. But it’s still a great place for breakfast.
So I walked a few steps to the Marix Mexican Restaurant, in an incredibly unlikely Japanese style structure, and had a great bottle of Dos Equis while I watched the koi fish in the indoor pool. I ordered some chipotle sauce to add to the regular salsa that comes promptly to the table with a basket of fresh chips. Then I had brisket tacos, which are really special.
As I sat back and sipped my beer, all I could think of was what a wonderful place Santa Monica Canyon has become.
MERV HECHT, the food and wine critic for the Santa Monica Daily Press, is a wine buyer and consultant to a number of national and international food and wine companies. He
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 25, 2008. Read the original PDF.