There’s a well-established sales technique that involves lowering people’s expectations so that you can exceed them. In the restaurant business this can include having a “soft opening” that extends for months instead of the usual week or two. The soft opening is designed to allow the staff to learn to work together and tinker with the details of service and menu without a big crowd hammering on the doors, but sometimes the transition to full operation can be hard to detect.
Greenbelt in Hermosa is in an unlikely location for a soft opening, since on the high-traffic plaza everybody can see that meals are being served. They’ve been up and running since July but still don’t have a website, and in October servers were still referring to the menu as preliminary. This leads one to think that the owners are some of the most cautious perfectionists in the restaurant industry.
Expectations were also lowered by early reports that the restaurant would serve salads, sandwiches, and pizza. Those items are all here, and do make up the bulk of the menu, but they’re neither basic nor simple. The ideas are bold and contemporary, the ingredients top shelf.
I stopped in for lunch the first time with a friend and had a banh mi sandwich and a salad with black rice, grilled pineapple, cashews, coconut, chili, cilantro, and mint. The banh mi was generally faithful to Vietnamese tradition, roast pork with both fresh and pickled vegetables on a baguette. The pickles were a bit less spicy than you’d get in a Vietnamese neighborhood, but there was still some heat from deseeded jalapenos. The only other notable difference was that the bread here was better than the crumbly baguette that is often served in Vietnamese places, which was not something I’d complain about.
The rice salad had very good flavors but wasn’t as successful because the rice was slightly undercooked and gummy. The concept was there, but the execution wasn’t yet, so I waited a few weeks and came back with friends for dinner. We sat at the outdoor dining area, which was pleasant in the early evening but probably gets loud when nearby clubs start rolling.
We shared small plates of a sweet corn pancake with cheese and truffle honey, a crab and avocado roll with shrimp tempura, and a Tuscan kale Caesar salad with grilled chicken and a poached egg. These three items turned out to be ample starters for a party of four; we could have easily gotten by with any two of them.
The corn pancake was my favorite, a corn and wheat flour pancake topped with a slathering of Humboldt Fog cheese, corn, scallions, and a drizzle of honey. Since corn has plenty of sweetness I had questioned the use of honey, but the flavor balance was very fine. I might have liked more Humboldt Fog, but I can eat a block of that particular cheese so is perhaps unfair.
The crab and avocado roll was an interesting take on the sushi standard, a lot of crab wrapped in cool cucumber and avocado, laid on a bed of mildly sweet and sour sauce, and topped with a chunk of shrimp tempura. The tempura was described as spicy but nobody, including the avowed spice wimp at the table, found it to be peppery. We all liked it, but I might have liked a dash of hotter sauce on the side as a counterpoint to the cool flavors of the crab and vegetable.
Kale Caesars have gone from being a novelty to a standard item in the last few years, with good reason – kale is more nutritious and has better flavor & texture when paired with a robust dressing. This one hit the spot, and the salad with egg, housemade croutons, and grilled chicken could have made a nice entrée.
Our actual entrees were a lamb burger, A garlic confit, kale and caramelized onion pizza, grilled yellow fin tuna over coconut curry rice, and a short rib cheesesteak with spicy marinara, pickles, and peppers. The short rib sandwich looked small, but the dense, rich meat was filling – some fries would have made a nice contrast but if we had ordered the side we wouldn’t have finished it. The lamb burger was bigger both in size and flavor, sharp flavors of tzatziki sauce, piquillo chili, and mint enhancing the sandwich. The piquillo was ground in the meat and gave a sweet heat that was delightful; the tangy flavor was in every bite.
That sandwich had more assertive flavors than the entrée we expected to be overpowering, the garlic confit pizza. Garlic can become very sweet and mild when slow-cooked, and this was – the sweet onion and garlic flavors mingled very nicely, but were far from assertive. The thin crust was baked just to crispness, and if they’re still using the old Zeppy’s pizza oven they’ve figured out how to get a better product than the previous owners.
The tuna over coconut black rice with wild mushrooms and Thai curry is probably the most ambitious dish on the menu, and they aced it. The curry was milder than anything you’d find in a real Thai restaurant, but it left room for the flavors of fish, coconut, and mushrooms to interact. This time the black rice was properly cooked so it was aromatic with a slightly springy texture, and it was an inspired choice with the fish.
We paired our meals with beers from their well-selected list; some items are priced on the high side, but you can’t argue with the selection. They also have wines but not liquor, and corkage is modest so you can bring your own.
Two desserts were offered on the evening we were there, but both were on the heavy and sweet side. Those will wait for another day, as we were taking home leftovers already. We had had a thoroughly relaxing dinner at Greenbelt, a restaurant that may have taken some time to get up to speed, but is more than ready now.
Greenbelt is at 36 Pier Avenue in Hermosa. Open 11 am-10 pm Mo-Fr, 10 am-10 pm Sa/Su. Street or lot parking, not validated, wheelchair access OK inside (high tables outside), wine and beer served, corkage $12. Many vegetarian, some vegan choices. Phone 310-798-6585.
