The Bountiful Bistro: The rustic feel and finely executed meals at Tin Roof have made it a local treasure [RESTAURANT REVIEW]
A bevy of servers at Tin Roof Bistro await the restaurant’s always bustling happy hour. The restaurant is owned by the Simms family, owners of Simmzy’s, MB Post, The Arthur J, and The Kettle. “Our staff members are the lifeblood of the restaurant. They give it a heartbeat, a pulse. They bring it to life and make it live. Without them, we don’t exist,” reads a quote from Arthur J. Simms at the Tin Roof website. Photo
Thanks to friends who live in far-flung cities but travel through LA occasionally, I have much experience at arranging a flying visit. Six hour layover between flights for someone who wants to visit three ethnic groceries and still have time for a leisurely dinner? Can do. With eight hours I can squeeze in all that and a visit to any of several museums, finishing with a preflight walk by the beach.
Last week I hosted a food writer from San Francisco, and as we budgeted her time I decided that dinner at Tin Roof Bistro was in order. The nearby places at The Point have been getting a lot of attention lately, but after her hectic trip the pleasantly rustic atmosphere here seemed like a better idea. Since she was about to spend time in a tin can full of strangers, an outside table seemed like a great idea and we took a table on the front verandah. I had dined in other sections of the restaurant many times and until now preferred the side patio. The front area is just as pleasant and has an added advantage: the approach to the tables is through an area of pebbles that make a slight crunching noise with every footstep, so you don’t have to worry about ninjas sneaking up on you.
A more practical advantage of dining in this area is that the happy hour menu is served only here and at the bar, and there are price reductions to be had if you are dining between 4 and 7 p.m. We got our orders in just in time for the two dollar discount on beer, wine, cocktails, salads, and pizza, most of which we planned to order anyway.
The pizza we picked was topped with Greek lamb sausage, castelvetrano olives, roasted tomatoes, a pesto-like salsa, and tzatziki sauce. Castelvetranos are more flavorful than black olives and they were great with the lamb sausage, but there was one drawback to this combination. The feta cheese adds a complementary flavor but doesn’t melt, so we were served a bunch of tasty things balanced on flatbread and inclined to fall off. Using the pizza eating technique known as the New York Fold helps matters, but you may find it easier to deploy a knife and fork. The flavors were excellent together, but I might be inclined to have one with a more conventional cheese next time.
The other starters we ordered were “Indian-spiced” spinach dip and a brussels sprout mix that was the best use of that vegetable in recent memory. The sprouts were caramelized with butter, garlic, lemon, anchovies, capers, and what they called bruschetta but were croutons by another name. Sprouts are often prepared with bacon that lends a smoky richness, but the capers and anchovy were a much more interesting combination.
The flatbread with spinach and curry was another tasty mess, as the curry was delicious but soupy. The curry was very mild and contained lots of spinach and cheese that made it difficult to eat with the flatbread, but I’d order it again as a lunch or light dinner. My food writer friend was delighted with it and volunteered to take any leftovers with her, but the rest of the people at the table made sure none was left.
Our main courses were a “Manhattan Beach Cobb” salad, pappardelle with lamb Bolognese sauce, roast chicken with mushroom farro, and scallops over parmesan risotto. The addition of grapes and walnuts to the salad gave an American steakhouse favorite a Mediterranean twist and was a great idea, one I intend to steal next time I make salad at home.
The balance of flavors wasn’t quite as assured on the pasta, a pile of buttery fresh pasta with Parmesan on top of a modest portion of lamb with tomato sauce. Pastas in Italy are usually made with relatively little sauce compared to most American restaurants, but this one was in such short supply that we momentarily wondered if we had been served the wrong meal. The menu boasts that the sauce is simmered for twelve hours, and if I have this again I’d rather like to taste a bit more of it.
We had ordered the wood-roasted chicken as much for the side dish as anything else, because I am interested in seeing what people do with heritage grains like farro. That mushroom farro risotto had a complementary pairing of musky flavors with the natural grain nuttiness, and it complemented the chicken’s smoky char and richness. A few slices of roasted acorn squash were also on the plate, but if I ordered this again I’d ask for a green vegetable instead, because that would be a better flavor contrast.
The woodburning grill also flavored the scallops, which had a delicious combination of brininess and char. The three large scallops were served on a fine Parmesan risotto, which is against the Italian tradition objecting to combinations of seafood and cheese. Once again, if you order this, you might also get a side of broccolini, green beans, or edamame to round out the flavors.
The wine list at Tin Roof is impressively wide-ranging and includes both values and premium wines by the glass. The Gundlach-Bundshu Chardonnay was a brilliant companion to the fish and should be tried with any seafood. The bar has excellent ideas about cocktails too, and on our server’s recommendation we ordered a drink called It’s A Man’s World. The women at the table liked the combination of Rittenhouse rye with orange bitters and absinthe every much as the men, so the drink’s name should not be taken literally.
We were attracted to the freshly baked apple crisp for dessert, but my companion’s flight time was approaching so we ordered a blueberry ginger pie because it would be available faster. This showed up quickly and disappeared even faster, and we all marveled about how well the gentle hit of ginger made the fruit sparkle.
A lavish meal for four ran about fifty dollars per person including drinks and probably would have been much more if this restaurant was in the pricier downtown area. Whether you want to impress a visitor or just enjoy a fine meal yourself, Tin Roof merits a visit.
Tin Roof Bistro is at 3500 N. Sepulveda #100 in Manhattan Beach. Open daily at 11 a.m., close 10 p.m. Su-Thu, 11 p.m. Fr-Su. Parking lot, patio dining, wheelchair access good, many vegetarian/vegan items. Full bar, corkage $10. Menu at tinroofbistro.com, phone (310) 939-0900.