Posted October 9th, 2008 by Meg
I finally got a chance to check out Rush Street with both my boyfriend and my roommate (they are not the same). Rush Street is named after the northbound one-way street in the Near North Side (1 of 77 well defined community areas) of Cook County, Chicago. It is approximately a mile long. It was named after the Declaration of Independence signator Benjamin Rush (who lived in Pennsylvania and went to Dickinson College). Rush Street is part of one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country. It is particularly known for it’s nightlife (supposedly especially on the northern side). But I digress.
The owners of the Rush Street restaurant in Culver City are Brian McKeaney, who grew up in the bar/restaurant business (his family owns thirteen establishments on and around Rush Street!), and partners Ken Kaufman, a successful television and film producer, and Tom Patchett, an Emmy winning writer (Carol Burnett Show) and producer and co-founder of Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station Art Complex. The Executive Chef is Dave Northrup. I have never been to Chicago, so I had no idea what to expect or how to judge. Fortunately, my roommate is a native. One thing I have learned about Chicago is that is raises the bar on everything, especially food. (Side note: How much did you love Top Chef in Chicago?)
Walking in, you immediately notice the high arched wooden ceiling, which I was told helped give it the Chicago feel. There is an upstairs bar/lounge/private area, but I did not go up there. We were told we would have to wait 45 minutes for a table, but could hang out at the bar. Even though I was ridiculously hungry, we agreed to the wait. While looming around the bar and taking pictures, within 5 minutes they seated us. Boo yah!
For the love of gin, I ordered their rendition of the Aviation (bombay sapphire, fresh lemon juice, maraschino liqueur, creme de violette) to drink from their Vintage Classic Cocktail menu. Let’s discuss this creme de violette. Wiki tells me that it is another name for liqueur de violette, which is a generic term for a usually French liqueur with natural and/or artificial violet flower flavoring and coloring with either a brandy base, a neutral spirit base, or a combination of the two. I have no idea what brand Rush was using, but it was not common in the States until mid-2007 when Haus Alpenz began importing Rothman & Winter Crème de Violette from Austria. The drink was delicious. I could have had 5 more, but at fourteen dollars a pop I kept it to one.
Although they have Pizza on their menu, it is not Chicago style. They only offer Chicago style on Monday nights as a special. However, our waitress (who lived in Chicago) explained that it is not great Chicago style pizza; they are still perfecting their recipe at Rush. This was a great warning. I still have never had Chicago style pizza. Tears. Our waitress did recommend the Macaroni and Cheese, which my boyfriend loves. So I ordered it for the table to share. It came looking almost too cute to scoop into, but the taste of it made the destruction of beauty worth it. Like my cocktail, I could have probably eaten several of these pots. Fortunately, we had more food coming.
As the main course I ordered the also recommended Mesquite Turkey Burger and Fries - applewood bacon, cheddar, shoestring onions, avocado, and confire sauce (confire is French for “to preserve”). I just started to eat turkey burgers recently and am becoming a big fan. It is a different taste and makes me feel a little bit healthier. Although there are a lot of toppings on it, the mesquite turkey dominates, but still plays nicely with others. I would order it again. However, they have a bunch of appetizers their that all sounded very… appetizing. Hah. (I really need to work on my burger photography)
I had no control or discipline at this dinner. Nobody else wanted dessert, but I ordered it anyways. It was a Chocolate Mousse cake. I don’t know much about cakes or mousse, but I do love chocolate. I usually can tell how good a dessert is by how quickly I can feel my blood sugar change. I felt warm and tingly about half way through, but it was so rich that by the end I had to reluctantly put my spoon down. A great dessert to share with people.
In the end, I would go back to Rush in a heartbeat. It’s a little pricey, but if you go in a group and share food it probably would lessen the blow. I would love to go to their Brunch that caters specifically to the hungover crowd. Sounds like it would be perfect for a lazy Sunday.
Rush Street
9546 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 837-9546
Posted October 8th, 2008 by Meg
Last week my roommate and I went to Father’s Office in Santa Monica. Surprisingly, it wasn’t crowded at all. We ordered our drinks and sat down at a table. My Father’s Office drink is usually the Grimbergen Blonde, but they were out of it. I ended up getting the always delicious Saison Dupont. My roommate got a Duvel.
We ordered some sweet potato fries and the olives. Their sweet potato french fries are the best in the city; crispy and seasoned perfectly. I am a sucker for Father’s Office olives because they mix various olives with Moroccan spices. I love them.
We split the Father’s Office burger. It’s not the best picture, but seriously this burger doesn’t need my praise to succeed in life. It’s the tops.
Just know this:
1. It’s usually always packed and there is limited seating.
2. No substitutions on the burger. I suggest the Counter if you can’t handle life without substitutions.
3. The Father’s Office 2 in Culver City is better because it is bigger and serves cocktails.
Father’s Office
1018 Montana Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 393-2337
Posted August 17th, 2008 by Meg
One of the perks of living on the west side of Los Angeles is that we have the best burgers in the city: Father’s Office and The Counter. Any foodie will agree that these establishments make some amazing burgers. Unfortunately, FO is not open for lunch during the weekdays. Fortunately, The Counter is! And this is where my boyfriend and I went for lunch on Friday. We arrived there at around 11:45am, a little earlier than the lunch rush (which is anywhere between 12-1:30 in Santa Monica, the worst time to arrive being at 1pm), because parking is not always ample, and it sucks to be there when it is crowded and you have to wait to be seated. As usual, it was a great and filling lunch (we had to take most of it home because there was so much food!
The way The Counter works is you can either sit at the counter and be
waited on by the bartender/person behind the counter or you can order at the register and sit down and be seated (they might have implemented table service, but I’m not sure). I prefer to sit at the counter. The menu encourages you to make your own burger, but they also have a set menu that includes signature burgers, of which I have never tried. It is not strictly red meat, you can also order turkey, chicken, or a veggie burger. Also, anything can be put on a salad. On the create-your-own, four toppings of your choice are included (if you want to add more you get charged a little extra). Also you can choose one cheese, one dressing/condiment and the type of bun you want for your burger: white, wheat, or English muffin. For side snacks they have french fries, sweet potato fries, onion rings, and fried dill pickles!
This is an ideal restaurant for my boyfriend and I because we have very different palates. He is very simple in his tastes and does not like to try anything new. His order is consistently a turkey burger on a white bun with barbecue sauce on the side. No lettuce, no tomato, no cheese, nothing! My order is constantly changing. On this specific day, I ordered the vegetable burger. These are not pathetic boca/soy-esque burgers, but instead made from scratch with rice, beans, vegetables, and even some cranberries for sweetness. I ordered mine with onion, roasted chilies, roasted peppers, tomatoes, and a Tillamook cheddar (Oregonian cheese, not the Dog Artist). I also chose the spicy sour cream as my side condiment. It is was
delightful.
For review purposes (heh, right) I had to order the fried dill pickle chips, and the fifty-fifty fries (regular and sweet potato). The fries are addictive and filling, so I advise moderation because they come out before the burgers and are easy to fill up on fast. The sweet potato fries come with an almost chipotle sour cream (different than the spicy sour cream that I ordered with my burger). It works well with both fries, but definitely pairs best with the sweet potato fries.
I find the fried dill pickle chips to be a clever idea. You can fry just about anything, and you can pickle just about anything, so combining fried and pickled just seems to make sense. At first bite, I was surprised to find that the integrity of the pickle’s crunch is not compromised during the frying process, making them delightfully special. I do not always enjoy or desire pickles, but I will admit that they are little buttons of happiness. They are paired with a sweet and sour sauce, which works well with the pickled taste of brine, vinegar, and dill.
Note: The only other veggie burger in Los Angeles that I’ve tried and compares to The Counter is the vegetable burger offered at Houston’s restaurant.
The Counter
2901 Ocean Park Blvd # 102
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 399-8383
Posted August 8th, 2008 by Meg
While running on errands with my roommate today in Hollywood, we decided to stop for lunch at the Farmer’s Market. We chose Monsieur Marcel to eat at because my roommate said that the food was tasty, relatively inexpensive in comparison to most French restaurants in Los Angeles, and other positive reasons that I can’t remember now. Monsieur Marcel’s is a french bistro, wine, and cheese bar found in the corner of the Farmer’s Market near the Sur La Table. Next door to the bistro is the Monsieur Marcel gourmet store, which is a fun little place to shop for a variety of gourmet foods.
I ordered the French Burger: lean ground beef, sautéed mushrooms and onions, and gruyere de come. Not the healthiest of choices, but it sounded wonderful. And it was, but I would not say that it was the best in Los Angeles (F.O. #1). The mushrooms were definitely the most dominant part of the taste, but combined well with the gruyere and beef. It was more dry than I normally enjoy, so I ended up trying different combinations with mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup. The frites were thinly sliced and were accompanied by an aesthetically pleasing trifecta display of condiments. We were promptly seated and waited on relatively well. My only complaint was that my water glass was ignored.
My roommate had the Croque Madame, which is not actually on the menu, but is just the Croque Monsieur (grilled ham, swiss cheese, and mornay sauce) with a fried egg on top. Apparently, the name change comes from the egg making the sandwich look like it is wearing an old fashioned women’s hat. How adorable! Mornay sauce is a Béchamel sauce, a white sauce, with shredded or grated cheese added (such as gruyere and parmesan). I am not a good judge of any type of food that involves ham because it was only until recently that I started to enjoy ham. When I was a child, I always said it tasted “too hammy” in a whiny tone. I did try the sandwich though and found it to have a pleasant ham and grilled cheese taste. I don’t know if I could eat a whole Croque Madame sandwich on my own anytime soon, but I did enjoy the taste enough that I could have had a second bite.
I would definitely eat there again, maybe even visit the one in Santa Monica (although it is located at one of my least favorite places, the Promenade). I would probably prefer eating there at night with a larger group of people so we could open some bottles of wine and get some cheese plates on the table, but I would still be willing to open some bottles and share some cheese with a friend at lunchtime.
Monsieur Marcel - Pain Vin et Fromage
6333 W Third St
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: (323) 939-7792
