A La Carte: 3 new restaurants in Redondo Beach
Chef Anne Conness and wine importer Michael Newsome pose after the Croatian wine dinner at Tin Roof Bistro. Photo
New and Noteworthy…Three restaurants opened within a week of each other in Redondo Beach, all offering interesting and eclectic cuisines. From north to south: Mashawi Grill on Inglewood Avenue serves food similar to Lebanese cuisine, but with subtly different spicing of Southern Turkey. The mini-mall location looks like a fast-food place, but they’re using grass-fed beef and other quality ingredients, and you can taste the difference… Further south, Praha has opened in Riviera Village, serving Czech and international cuisine. They’re going for authenticity; they offer venison steaks, liver dumpling soup, and some other dishes that are aimed at the expatriate crowd. This is the only Czech restaurant in greater Los Angeles, so they have the market to themselves… Nearby, the former Grillish is now the Redondo Wine Bistro, with a promising menu of seafood, homemade pastas, and grill items. The interior makeover has made a huge difference – the previously dark and unwelcoming room is now a pleasant area to nibble small plate items while quaffing something tasty. I have stopped in for a glass of wine but haven’t dined there yet, and the interesting menu and atmosphere make me want to try the place…
A Much Anticipated Opening… Manhattan Beach is getting a new Indian restaurant – Back Home in Lahaina is moving to Torrance, and India’s Tandoori will move in. I have patronized their current restaurant at Inglewood and Rosecrans for years – they offer Punjabi standards and a good wine list, and are reliably enjoyable. Manhattan Beach hasn’t had an Indian restaurant since the 1970’s, so this is a real addition to the local scene…
And a Tasting Worth Noting… The Vintage Shoppe in Manhattan Beach will be hosting a tasting of Cuatro Dias wines, made by Redondo Beach firefighter Greg Allen. The date is March 16th at 3 PM, and Greg will be in attendance. I may need to get a bottle or two just to see how his wines pair with barbecue, figuring that he knows everything about the smell of smoke…
Wine Dinners Alert!… Lido di Manhattan Beach will be pairing with daring this Saturday night at a dinner featuring Estrella Creek wines – lobster quesadilla with mango salsa matched to a Viognier sounds like a great start. It’s a good investment at $79.00 – see the whole menu at their website, or call 310-536-0730.… On March 26th, FishBar will hold their first wine dinner in over a year, pairing with boutique winery Dragonette Cellars. If that name sounds familiar, it should – the Dragonette brothers lived in Hermosa Beach before moving to the Santa Ynez Valley to start the vineyard. The menu hasn’t been announced yet, but the dinner is already booking up as people get ready to celebrate the return of the local boys. It’s $90.00 per person – for reservations call FishBar at 310-796-0200…
Expanding the Wine Dinner Map… Tin Roof Bistro has been hosting wine dinners for some time, but a recent event was noteworthy: a dinner highlighting Croatian food and vintages. It was a fantastic and successful evening, particularly a plate of cevapcici sausages paired with a Plavac Mali red wine that perfectly complemented the peppery pork. It took courage to arrange an outside the mainstream event like this, and I hope to see more in our area…
And An Event Like No Other… Next Monday the Strand House will bring together an amazing assemblage of talent and raw materials – a dinner featuring Petrossian caviar and Champagnes from Perrier-Jouet. Chef Alain Giraud will be doing the cooking, artisan cheeses will be presented with commentary by the owner of The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, and a representative of Perrier-Jouet is flying in from France. I can confidently say that this is the most ambitious dinner that has ever been done in the South Bay. It comes at a price – $200 per person – but you will be able to say you were there… Call 310-545-7470 for reservations…
Meanwhile, in Hermosa… more changes happening downtown – look for a new eatery called Project Taco on the Pier Plaza. Down the street, the Spiaggia renovation is apparently underway again. Whenever they open, I’m going to have to visit just to see what has taken so long…
First Visit Report… Alfredo Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant opened in Lunada Bay, and it’s worth the drive from the beach cities. Though their specialty is Mexican-style seafood, there are many things here that are excellent – I highly recommend the cochinita pibil, Yucatán-style pork marinated in orange juice and spices, then cooked in a banana leaf. The hideaway location in a courtyard makes the place a bit difficult to find, but it’s worth the search. And yes, the restaurant is named after a hyper-violent movie from the 1970’s, but that’s irrelevant – it’s all about the food here. Menu and directions are at alfredogarciasrestaurant.com…
The Next Big Thing?… Is this a coincidence, the next fad, or a call to pay attention to our health? Three cold-pressed juice bars have opened in Manhattan Beach recently, plus two more places specializing in Acai bowls. I wonder if the same people are patronizing these places and the sybaritic wine dinners. I assume they are – it sounds like a good strategy for both health and happiness…
Do The Credits Count Toward My Diploma?… Shade Hotel is hosting a wine academy on the third Thursday of every month at 6:30 PM – winemakers will be stopping in to explain their wares, and hors d’oeuvres will be tray-passed. The price is $25.00 per person, which sounds like a fine price for the prelude to dinner out. The events take place on the roof deck, a beautiful location for a civilized evening…
Also at Shade, Bacchus Wine Made Simple will be hosting an “Around The World” wine tasting this Sunday, which as it happens is the first day of Daylight Savings Time. Having a wine tasting on one of the two days of the year that you can get jet lag without traveling anywhere verges on brilliant – you have a great excuse for missing an appointment the next day if you sleep in. The event is a mere fifty dollars to sample more than fifty wines, with hors d’oeuvres included. Call 310-372-2021 to reserve…
Confusion Reigns… Someone recently sent me an email asking about a cocktail class at a seafood restaurant called Salty’s in Redondo Beach. I checked and decided the commute was a bit excessive – Salty’s is in Redondo Beach, Washington, 1,129 miles away. Having looked at their website and a video about their cocktail classes, I intend to visit next time I’m in the neighborhood. Perhaps some local watering hole could have a bartender or chef exchange program with Salty’s to recognize what is apparently our separated-at-birth twin in the far north…
Anything new I should know about? Send me an email at Richard@richardfoss.com.