Petrossian is Revived. More than just Caviar

It occasionally happens that even a foodie can't figure out where to go for a nice Sunday brunch. The old places seem boring, but can't think of a new place to try. So when Petrossian came up as a suggestion, I suddenly remembered a recent article about its renovation in one of those daily newsletters like Daily Candy or Tasting Table. Perfect idea!

Petrossian is famous for its caviar, but its West Hollywood outpost has had a cafe attached to it for many years. This has recently been renovated to a spacious modern space.

The menu selection was surprisingly varied (including a foie gras salad! Hey, salad is healthy, right?), although I wasn't sure what to expect before coming there.

Besides the a la carte menu, they also offer a 3-course champagne brunch for $35. I opted for this and got a glass of Louis Roederer Brut Rose.

The first course was a choice of soup selection and I opted for the White Asparagus Veloute.
The veloute was smooth and creamy while maintaining the foaminess of veloute. It was outstanding, with a nice little onion kick. Highly recommended.

For the main course, I went with the Paris Croque Madame (Ham, gruyere on brioche with Bechamel sauce, sunny side up eggs)
Croque madame is the perfect breakfast for me. Eggs, cheese, ham, toast ... Not to mention Brioche toast here. Perfect. Runny sunny side up, nicely toasted brioche, lots of gruyere. Even a bit of salad to cut all that richness so you can go for another bite, since the first bite was immensely satisfying.

As I was deeply impressed with the panna cotta with caviar at Ludobites, and since Petrossian is known for their caviar, for dessert I went with:
Classic Panna Cotta, white peach espuma, with an extra addition of caviar ($6 extra)
Beautiful layering here: panna cotta, white peaches, topped with the espuma.
The second time I had panna cotta with caviar in a week. The one at Ludobites, though, had caviar as the main focus while here the caviar is just an extra. That bit of saltiness does give it a nice touch, but it isn't the point here.

The panna cotta was very dense and rich, more so than the usual. The white peaches were sweet and crisp, and everything was complimented by the light peach foam on top. An excellent and very memorable dessert, I would recommend this to anyone and would definitely get it on future visits.

My first visit to Petrossian was such a pleasant surprise. The newly renovated space had a clean and spacious look, and the food was excellent. I hope they'll keep up the performance.

Petrossian Boutique & Cafe
321 N Robertson Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90048
(310) 271-0576

Red Meat Heaven at Palate

Yes, the bandwagon had come and gone and it's too late to even jump on it. Palate was one of the big food hypes in LA in the past year, yet this was my first visit. Why? Well, besides a couple of mixed reviews, it's really because it's in Glendale!
But since I recently won a couple of tix to Macbeth in Burbank, thanks to Goldstar, I figured it's close enough for me to check out Palate.

Thanks to early pre-theatre dinner and recent daylight savings time, the natural light was great for food-porning, at least up to dessert :P

The bread was served with butter sprinkled with seasalt and presented quite beautifully.
Palate's menu is not particularly big but I think there's still something for everyone. You know, if you all eat meat.

To start off, we got the young beet salad.
The young beets, although the color doesn't look it, were all very good and fresh. Some of the lettuce, on the other hand, were kind of bruised ...

Next up, some veal ravioli.
Tender veal in al dente pasta and delicious creamy broth. A pretty light and delicious starter here.

Next I got me some pork trotters!
Loved the crispy skin. The meat was very flavorful. The meat (really the muscles/tendons) on pork trotters tend to be stringy but this one has been tenderized quite well.

I also got the Prawn & Veal Tongue.
Giant, fresh, crisp prawn. Delicious! And the veal tongue was very tender, and oh-so-good!!! Tongue was one of my ultimate fave while growing up, but besides my recent venture at FIG, I have yet found one in the state worthy of my love. But this one, yes, this one is worthy indeed!

My companion got the smoked Jidori chicken breast.
This dish is the weakest of the night IMO as the chicken meat is a bit overcooked and thus too dry and tough. I did enjoy the addition of apricots in this dish and thought that the skin was nice and crispy.

As a side dish we got some beautiful colorful cauliflowers.
This was the perfect side dish and was actually one of the highlights of the meal. Fresh and flavorful, sweet and juicy cauliflowers. I could eat this all day.

The dessert selection here was a bit limited. We went with the panna cotta.
This was pretty good, nothing to write home about though.

The chocolate mousse was better and more memorable.
It was pretty rich and dark. Both of the desserts here are solid and satisfying albeit nothing mind-blowing.

Palate was definitely good overall, and I can see where the hype comes from, although the pork and veal seems to be focused on more and done better here. Not that I'm complaining. In my opinion this restaurant is comparable to other great restaurants in LA. From what I've seen so far, it doesn't necessarily stand out on its own, but hey, each side of town needs its own great spot! That veal tongue, though ... Mmmm. That I'll come back for.

Palate Food+Wine
933 S Brand Blvd
Glendale, CA 91204
(818) 662-9463
www.palatefoodwine.com