Beach Dining – HT Grill
A change of courses
HT Grill unveils a new menu that challenges expectations.
Exec chef Nael Taki. Photos
I have been told by people who are experts in such things that the pattern of taste buds on your tongue is as individual as your fingerprints or retinal pattern. Along with the chemistry of your saliva, this affects how you experience all food. Add in the various acquired tastes from different cultures, for example Taiwanese stinky tofu, Korean kimchi, Oaxacan fried crickets, or French licorice, and it can seem amazing that any two people can agree on what flavors are attractive.
I dine out regularly and have a lot of experience with chefs who have recognizable signatures in flavor and presentation. One of the most distinctive is Nael Taki of HT Grill, who took over in 2013 and brought an ornate style to the restaurant’s previously mainstream cooking. Strange combinations of savory and sweet abounded – scallops with peanut butter and jelly, sea bass with beets, snow peas, and coconut curry. Sometimes these outlandish combinations were successful, sometimes not, but you had to give him credit for pushing the boundaries. What was consistent was a palate that was almost medieval, from an era when meats and fish were paired with vinegars and fruit, both fresh and preserved. Dishes then were complex, with piquancy provided by mustard, onions, and other sharp herbs rather than chili peppers. In an era when many contemporary restaurants lean heavily on Sriracha sauce, wasabi, and sweet/hot combinations, this was genuine innovation.
Taki’s approach stood out from the crowd and gained him a following, but predictably bewildered some people. My own reaction was mixed; I found some items overly sweet, while others were exquisitely subtle and thoughtfully created. The items marked as spicy generally were usually mild, but those that depended on flavors of nuts, herbs, and mild spices were first rate.
The menu at HT Grill recently changed in a more conventional direction, so I stopped in to investigate Taki’s twist on American flavors. The selection is different and does include more standard items, albeit with a twist. For instance, pizza Margherita isn’t usually topped with balsamic vinegar and caramelized garlic, and beet and sweet potato vinaigrette is an unusual complement to beet and burrata salad.
My companion and I decided to start with Spanish chorizo tots and hot caramelized onion dip. For me tater tots are an occasional guilty pleasure, a burst of salty fried crispness that is as tasty as it is unhealthy. What actually showed up at our table was different in almost every way. The fat potato balls laced with mild sausage were soft rather than crisp, and not at all salty. There was a dusting of parmesan on top and what was referred to on the menu as a spicy aioli on the side, and those added depth to the mild potato and sausage. Measured on their own they were okay but not outstanding, but expectations matter and these were not what I expected.
The hot onion dip, on the other hand, was properly described and hit the spot. It was a creamy mix of blue cheese and sweet caramelized onions with chopped dried figs, run under the broiler to create little crispy bits on top. My companion is not usually a fan of blue cheese but grudgingly admitted that he liked it in this context, where a less assertive cheese would have been lost in the shuffle.
For main courses my companion selected the meatloaf while I decided on a paprika-marinated skirt steak with potatoes, arugula, and a Fresno chile pico de gallo. The steak itself was very good, cooked to the medium rare I requested, with the paprika rub lending it a delicate smoky spiciness with balanced sweetness. I might order this again, but would request that it be served deconstructed rather than over the mix of smashed baby potatoes and raw arugula and topped with the pico de gallo. There were flavors here I would have liked to investigate separately and in combination, but that wasn’t an option.
I was less of a fan of the meatloaf because it went overboard on the sweetness, having been topped with a very liberal slathering of sweet bacon jam and served over a mashed potatoes on a bed of chipotle ketchup. My companion had ordered this because he really likes a good meatloaf, but the taste of the meat was almost completely obscured. We hadn’t known both items were served sauced, and we both wished we had so we could have requested them separate.
The desserts offered were a salted brownie with caramel and nutella, fried cheesecake, s’mores, and something referred to as a blueberry upside-down cake. Our server said the cake was least sugary, so we ordered that. It was still quite sweet and wasn’t an upside-down cake by any conventional measure. Rather than a cake made of batter poured over fruit so it caramelizes as it cooks, this appeared to be fried cake with a blueberry topping, with blueberry syrup beneath. We each had a bite or two and left the rest.
The wine list is good, as is the bar list, but our server recommended a carafe of blood orange sangria and we decided to try it. The orange juice and blood orange liqueur came through more clearly than the wine and brandy, and it was decent but not exceptional.
There were enough things that worked at that dinner that I came back a few days later for lunch and an item that had caught my eye: a grilled chicken burger with capers ground into the patty. This turned out very well, the capers adding a slight pickle flavor to every bite, the gently peppery arugula a nice contrast to the slightly sweet barbecue sauce. I liked it better after adding a bit more pepper, but it was very good even without it.
Whether it’s a matter of physiology, culture, or something else entirely the chef’s tastes here are different from mine, but I certainly respect his skill and innovation. If you enjoy combinations of sweet and savory and are not a big fan of spicy dishes this could be your new favorite restaurant, and if you’re not sure then you should ask for sauces on the side so you can add them to taste. Either way, you are in for a thought-provoking meal.
HT Grill is at 1701 South Catalina Avenue in Redondo. Open 11 a.m. – 2 a.m. Mo-Fri, 9 a.m.-2 a.m. Sa-Su. Parking lot, valet in evening, patio dining, wheelchair access good. Full bar, corkage $15. Menu at htgrill.com, phone (310) 791-4849.