Barfly
One Appetizer, Two Entrees, Three Beverages: Four Daughters? Earlier this year Clint Clausen, former senior VP of restaurants/nightlife for Los Angeles based SBE hospitality, which represents Katsuya in Brentwood, Gladstone’s Malibu, Hyde Lounge Hollywood, The Ritz Plaza South Beach, The Sahara Las Vegas, among others, honored his four daughters by opening a neighborhood restaurant on Highland Ave., MB called “Four Daughters,” (honor with a side of anonymity). I stopped in for dinner recently with a friend of mine to give him a well-deserved break from planning the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair and had a great experience. Although we missed happy hour, (thanks Burstein!), we will definitely be back for it: $4 apps and $4 any two draught beers or house wines, (that’s $2 each), from 4-7 p.m. daily. The apps include sliders, chicken wings, nachos, sweet fries, hummus, bruschetta, “bang bang” shrimp or ceviche with chips and from first look at the HH menu, I expected the regular menu to be of the pub-ish ilk. Upon further inspection I found that although it is American comfort food, as it purports to be, it is of a higher quality than I expected – you can dress up and go for pan seared scallops or dress down and chow on the “4DK” burger with fries and feel comfortable either way. We noticed someone at the next table eating the burger, which prompted my reaction: “Damn! That is a man-sandwich!” It was huge. My friend decided to go lighter with the ahi tuna entrée and I ordered the chicken picatta over linguini. The chicken was plump and juicy which it should be but unfortunately is often not and at $15 there was enough for both of us plus a box to take home. We started with the spinach and quinoa salad which was tasty and refreshing with spinach leaves, red grapes, cucumbers and warm quinoa, (a grain similar in texture to tabouleh), in a balsamic vinaigrette. We were happy. Four Daughters serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily from 7am-10pm. Beer and wine only. Call 310.545.2444 or check out fourdaughterskitchen.com for more info…
A Good Deed: Last Friday night a few of us headed to the, Del Amo mall to chow down on some ribs at Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ, Hawthorne Boulevard, Torrance for a friend’s 50th birthday. Lucille’s is sprawling as well, with two wings, a big bar and tables everywhere so even with a reservation there was a bit of a wait. When we finally got seated even with the balloons flying high atop my friend’s chair, we were forgotten for quite awhile and finally had to get somebody’s attention. Once we ordered, the food came out so quickly I imagined a huge assembly line kitchen with rows and rows of ribs waiting to be plated and dolloped with garlic mashed potatoes from a vat and corn on the cob from a silo. But the kitchen image left my mind the second I tasted those ribs – poof! Heaven. Talking was minimal during the meal as mouths were kept full. At one point I sneaked off to the “bathroom” to tell our server there was a birthday in case the balloons didn’t give it away, and she said, “no problem,” which by the way really bugs me. I didn’t expect it to be a problem since it’s her job, but apparently it was a problem: She forgot and after another long wait came over and asked if anyone saved room for peach cobbler – are you kidding me? As she scampered off, I jumped up claiming I had forgotten my cell phone in the bathroom, to go catch her. A few minutes later she came back with a little sundae topped with a candle, but as we started singing she walked away! We awkwardly continued while rolling our eyes and shaking our heads feeling the epitome of neglect, but then something great happened: A guy at the table next to us took notice and ordered us a round of tequila shots. He didn’t include himself, he was happy to have us enjoy and make up for the mediocre cheer we just had – now that’s special. Lucille’s serves up some tasty food at good prices, (a full rack of baby back ribs served with two sides is enough to share at $24.95, add salad or a cup of soup for $1.75 more), and the buttermilk biscuits they put on the table when you sit down, or a half hour after you sit down if they forget about you, are so dense you can use the basket as a curling weight to warm up the bi-ceps before you get down to biz. For more info on Lucille’s story of rags to riches from Greenville, SC to Long Beach, CA, go to lucillesbbq.com…
Questions? Comments? Contact DebL at BarflyDebLG@aol.com