Date: 6-28-09
Another hit from Suzanne Goin (AOC, Lucques) is Tavern in Brentwood. Tavern is divided into three rooms. To your left upon entry is a more casual gourmet take away side with tables and a deli counter featuring salads, baked goods, and other edibles. To the right is the bar area and then the more formal dining room. The decor is sort of an elegant shabby chic. Muted greenish blue with steel tables and a whitewashed brick wall.
The service was good- very attentive staff without being pushy.
The restaurant has a bar menu and a dinner menu. The bar items are available in the restaurant with the exception of the burgers from 7 to 10. We started with the fried oyster and bacon brochette with aioli from the bar menu. It's one stick with a few oysters on it lying on a bed of greens. Delicious and not overly fried.
We saw Suzanne Goin there. She is so pretty. She didn't look stressed at all, wearing jeans and a simple long sleeve shirt. We saw her sit and socialize with a table she seemed to know. She seemed very down to earth. We also saw Dustin Hoffman and Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prarie) eating dinner separately.
I decided to order two appetizers starting with the Green Goddess Salad with Avocado and Crab. The dressing was nice and light but the salad needed something- perhaps a crunchy item like toasted almond slivers or crisp haricot vert. Diana had the summer vegetable salad which was crisp and well seasoned. That salad came with burrata but Diana does not eat cheese so I got to have it all. Mmmm. Burrata. Mmmm.
Next I had the Diver Scallop with tangelo. Whatever it was on top of was amazing. I used multiple pieces of bread to sop it all up (the bread was great by the way- sourdough, french, and walnut). Diana had the wild mushroom ragout on farro with walnuts. The mushrooms were nicely cooked and had a very nutty roasted flavor. Some bites of mushroom were a bit salty on their own but the whole thing in combination worked. I spied our neighbors with the lamb and duck entrees and asked about the dishes. They said that the dishes were amazing. They looked darn good!
For dessert I was tempted to have the peach blackberry crumble (I saw it on the other side while I was waiting for Diana!!) but went with the cookies and milk instead. I could have used more milk but the cookies were great- the butter cookie (the best one), chocolate sable, chocolate chip with HUGE chocolate chips, and a white chocolate macadamia. I'm allergic to walnuts and Diana wasn't in the mood so I offered the walnut shortbread to our nice table neighbors and they obliged! Diana had the chocolate coupe which was a tall glass filled with scoops of chocolate ice cream and other stuff. I didn't taste it but Diana said it was very rich.
The only thing I didn't particularly like was the cocktail we ordered- champagne blossom. Usually I enjoy champagne and St. Germain, but this was kind of bitter.
Valet is a bit confusing to find- it's located behind the building as costs $3.50 for 2 hours.
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