Freddy Smalls Bar & Kitchen: Does Size Really Matter? It's What You Do With It, Right?

I'm learning to be a Westsider again, after years of living to be around work in the SFV.  Love my new co-workers who I've discovered to be fellow foodies and adventurous eaters.  They've introduced me to so many great places and we're discovering others together.

On a weeknight, Ms Fab and I decided to check out Freddy Smalls Bar & Kitchen for drinks and apps.  It was a tiny space, but cozy and familiar, like a modernized version of the Cheers bar.  It felt like everybody that walks in are regulars, and love it there.

We strolled past a smattering of tables, and sidled up to the bar, where you really do get to know the 'community' based on sheer proximity to your neighbor - you're almost literally elbow to elbow - order too many plates and you're going to spill over into someone's personal space.  Good for those who want to make new friends, not so fun for us who were trying to have a conversation without having to cater to our solitary neighbor who decided it was his duty to 'host' us that entire evening, commenting on our menu choices and plates as they arrived.

Anyways, that's the setting.  Let's get on to what they do with it.  The food is FANTASTIC.  We got excited just looking at the menu, not your run of the mill bar grub - and even more excited to hear that we had made it in time for Happy Hour pricing (on select items). We jumped at the Chicken Liver Mousse on Toasts ($4 regular price / $3 during Happy Hour) caper berry marmalade, frisee, radish.  Loved the beautiful balance of creamy, earthy chicken liver mousse with the clean crunch of radish slices, frisee and sweet/tart caper berry marmalade - on a slender slab of artisan toast.  We were going to share, so we can taste other food, but ended up ordering a second round immediately after the first bite.

Our friendly bartender asked what kinds of drinks we were into: when I said craft cocktails, layered - he recommended the 5-Star Sidecar ($11) Mexata Star, fresh orange, fresh lemon, Jerry Thomas bitters. I loved this light and refreshing drink, that almost felt healthy.  Bitters can sometimes be overpowering but this one was perfectly balanced.

Next up for grub: Pork Belly and Charred Squid ($18) cranberry beans, eggplant, new onion.  Big price jump on this one, but loved the offering of charred squid, at a bar!!!  It was a dream pairing of gourmet surf and turf.  I don't think I've ever seen eggplant used with squid either - kind of an ingenius combination, as evidenced by our rapid inhaling of the entire dish. If we weren't so close to our office (big risk of co-workers coming in, and in fact, one did as we were settling inwith our food) - we would have picked up the bowl and licked it clean.

Time for another drink. There are two things I particularly love in cocktails: cucumber, and some sort of element that brings heat into the mix.  So the bartender whipped up a Westside Eastside ($12) Fidencio Clasico mezcal, fresh lime, agave syrup, cucumber, jalapeno - probably my fav drink of the night.  I could drink these all day like they were Pressed Juicery concoctions. 

I was so occupied with my drink I didn't really take good notes on Ms. Fab's unfortunately.  So I think this pic is of Swedish Island ($9) Kanon Organic Vodka, lime, coconut water, orange blossom simple syrup.  Ms. Fab liked hers but if memory served correctly, wished she had ordered the Westside Eastside instead. 

Last but definitely not least - the dish that made us want to 'jump the bone': Reuben's Gluttony ($24) corned beef, bone marrow, yorkie pudding, carmelized kraut.  We didn't really expect this giant platter of insane deliciousness.  There was a gigantic bone with gorgeous, buttery marrow inside, topped by finely chopped carrot and I think celery bits for flavor and counterbalancing crunch.  There were 'yorkie puddings' that were like giant popovers.  Addictive *sweet* sauerkraut.  Amazing corned beef that was more like carvings of steak, perfectly cooked. With house made mustards on the side that we wanted to lick off the board. 

I know, I know, enough with the innuendos...we are still talking about food here.  But us two single ladies definitely left satisfied and ready to come back for more at a moments notice.  Freddy Smalls, you've won our hearts through our stomachs.

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 6 bites
Presentation - 6 bites
Originality - 6 bites
Ambience - 5.5 stars
Service - 6 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $ (1 bite mark)
Probability of return visit - 100% 
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Freddy Smalls Bar & Kitchen
11520 West Pico Blvd, Los Angeles,CA90064
Ph: 310.479.3000

Website: freddysmalls.com
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Towne: Upscale 'Neighborhood Hangout', Wood-burning Deliciousness

The minute I set foot in Towne, it literally took my breath away: with what I can only describe oxymoronically as casual grandeur, and the heady fragrance of wood-burning oven infusing the entire space.

Towne had been diligently promoting their fine dining offerings in a space that is sophisticated yet comfortable - positioned as a neighborhood hangout in an area of newly developed hi-rise condos (the restaurant is on the ground floor of the Watermarke tower). They had been holding several media dinners in past months to spread the word.  I had been drooling over pics other bloggers were posting on Instagram, and was excited to be invited to a media dinner recently to check it out for myself.

A meal at Towne starts with pretzel bread and mustard butter.

It was hard to choose from the list of delicious sounding craft cocktails, but I finally settled on the Eastern Mule ($13) Russian Standard vodka, lime, house 5-spice ginger beer.  The 5-spice was what intrigued fellow blogger LAOCFoodie and I.  The presentation was great in a lovely copper mug, which keeps the drink cool - but to be honest I couldn't really taste much of anything - there was a lot of ice...LAOCFoodie made much better choices, I actually loved the drinks he ordered, which were farm fresh and nuanced as I usually like 'em - you can read about his take on the food, drinks and whole experience here. 

The food was what intrigued me - many seemed like unique blends of different cultures' cuisines.  The first to arrive were the Kampachi "Tacos" ($12) avocado, hijiki, aji amarillo, creme fraiche.  Tortilla shells filled with chopped up sashimi, topped with aji amarillo (South American yellow chile pepper) infused creme fraiche and pickled radish. A tasty starter that uniquely blends Japanese, South American and Mexican cuisines.

Next up was a classic with a twist: Bone Marrow Matzo Ball Soup ($9) shiitakes, beef consommé. This is like a French chef's elevated take on the Jewish staple comfort food.The photo doesn't do it justice - it was pretty insanely delicious. First of all, why has no one else (that I'm aware of) ever switched up the good ole chicken broth for beef consommé? And the addition of fatty bone marrow and earthy shiitake mushrooms to the matzo ball soup makes it instantly addictive.  I also loved the balance of the rich flavors in the concentrated, yet clarified savory broth, with the spongey comfortingly mild flavors of the matzo ball, and sweet meatiness of the mushrooms. I've always been a matzo ball soup fan, but this takes it to a whole other level - loved it and would go back just for this dish (and some others, see below ;)).

 

Another favorite of the meal was the Wood Grilled Octopus ($16) roasted tomato puree, crips artichokes. The Spanish octopus had a perfect smokey char - and sometimes perhaps due to the texture of this seafood it doesn't really absorb flavors that well, but somehow this one seemed to be very evenly infused with amazing flavors from the tomato, artichokes, celery root, purple potato etc. I would have wanted the plate to be kept cleaner though, with less of a pile-up of veggies - and allowing the gorgeous octopus to take center stage, with veggies put back into their place as secondary accompaniment (ok maybe my own bias against veggies is at play here...but the octopus was so delicious it seemed a shame to bury it under all that...extra stuff...)

 

Another dish that arrived with an unexpected combination of ingredients: Seared Dayboat Scallops ($18) fig, pickled radish, coconut broth. Maybe it was the coconut broth, but to me this made me think of Thai food, though it wasn't at all spicy. The scallops were skillfully seared to be crisp on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. The fig was an unusal pairing with scallop that kind of helped bring out its sweetness - it was a little disorienting at first but grows on you. The bok choy was another uncommon touch. This one was like a French Thai Chinese Mediterrenean mashup.

With that wood-fired oven practically transforming me into the Froot Loops toucan ("just follow your nose!") - I was glad that we got to try the Whole Roasted Branzino (Market Price) from that spectacular smelling oven. Loved that it was served skin on, tail pretty much on, stuffed with herbs - deliciously smokey outside, sweet and super tender inside - laid on a bed of Sardinian cous cous.  We're not sure what makes the cous cous Sardinian, but it was smart to lay it out under the fish so that all the rich flavors from the fish are soaked up by the grains, making for an all-round delicious plate. 

Carrying over that same concept, but with a land animal: Glazed Beef Cheek Pot Roast ($18) sourdough gnocchi, roasted root vegetables, popover. The red-wine braised beef cheek could get you food-drunk with its incredible flavors, and make you cry with its tenderness - and the sourdough gnocchi sat below it to catch all those flavors. The only thing I didn't like about this was the popover - which wasn't as fluffy as I would have liked, and didn't have that fresh-baked bread flavor.

Another best of dish was the Spaghetti ($20) crab, sea urchin. The pasta was perfectly al dente, elevated with umami from added sea creatures.  And I think toasted parmesan.  Another dish I would go back for, though $20 is a bit steep - the portion is fairly generous.

An interesting veggie side was the Roasted Brussel Sprouts ($7) with tamarind, bacon, apple.  Crisped brussel sprouts seem to pretty much be on every restaurant's menu nowadays, usually with bacon, or pancetta, or some equivalent pork ingredient - Towne puts their own twist on it by adding tamarind and apple.  To me the sweetness and textures made the dish remind me of earthy, juicy shiitake mushrooms, cooked the chinese way in a starchy sauce.  Not that photogenic and kind of sticky, but very delicious.

 

And for the piece de resistance: Crispy Pork Shank for 2 ($18 per person) sweet & sour cabbage, whole grain mustard spatzle, mustard jus.  If Chris Harrison were here he would adapt his signature phrase to say: "In the most draamatic (pork) ceremony ever...".  Our server brought out a gigantic piece of pork (shank is I think the 'forearm' or 'calf' of a pig), with beautifully crisped skin...I'm talking caveman's dinner sized - the platter made me feel instantly primal.

Apparently they portion it for two people, but the shank we got could have easily fed four average sized Asians, I think.  When our server...um...knifed the shank...steam came out in its path and the meat fell away easily.  This one is definitely an experience, and given the generous size - just going by what we were served - I'd say it's a fairly good deal at $18 per person.  And again the spatzle underneath, to catch all the juicy goodness.  Yum.

 

Though I was about to burst out of my wrap dress at this point, there was still dessert to to come, and Towne boasts the pastry chef from Bottega Louie, so we were looking forward to tasting those pastries.  We got a S'mores Donut and three macarons (pistachio, chocolate peanut butter and jelly, and lychee).  The donut had a melty marshmallow center and was glazed with chocolate - I loved the concept but wasn't impressed with the taste or texture - it didn't taste fresh made to me.  Of the three macarons, lychee was my favorite, but I felt like none of them had the levity and crisp exterior with airy interior that the ones at Bottega Louie has.

We also tried the Peanut Butter Crunch Bar - made with choolate ganache and peanut butter cream - which I wanted to be less dense and sticky...

All in all, a great experience at Towne and I can see that it's a nice addition to the area - another beacon of light in the gentrification of downtown LA.

I was impressed with some of the creative risk-taking and overall most of the savory dishes we tried were delicious. Prices are not outrageous given the quality of the food and most of them are very generously portioned.  Definitely a nice place to go for dinner, especially for those in the area - and you can decide whether to dress up or not and still be comfortable either way.

*Disclosure: This meal was hosted.

On a 7 point scale:
Flavor - 6 bites
Presentation - 6 bites
Originality - 6 bites
Ambience - 6 stars
Overall experience - 6 bites
Price - $$$ (3 bite marks)
Probability of return visit - 100% 
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Towne
705 W 9th St., Los Angeles, CA 90015
Ph: 213.623.2366

Website: towne-la.com
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