For those carnivores in town who are craving a juicy steak and miss The Palm - who moved over to Beverly Hills recently, there have been some international renditions of the old steak house popping up from French to Italian and even Indonesian.
Steakfrites from L’Assiette
Pistola steak
Hutchinson Cocktails & Grill
L’Assiette owner Jacques Fiorentino has taken over a former wine bar on Melrose and transformed the cozy space beautifully into a cafe for Parisian steak frites and plenty of rose wine. Utilizing the Coulotte Steak—a rarity in North American steakhouses, which maintains its tenderness and rich flavor during the 4-hour sous vide process, is quickly seared to form an outer crust. The main event is served with finger-long crispy pommes frites made with beef tallow in a 24-hour process, that you just can’t stop eating until they grow cold about half-way through the meal. Well, no longer thanks to their brilliant half and half method of service. You will be served what looks like an amazing amount of food, but that is only half of the meal. The other half will come just in time to freshen up the plate with piping hot frites and more slices of tender steak with a light and ‘secret’ jus meets a gravy sauce. It almost feels like all you can eat experience and it would be tempting to keep going if they didn’t have a great French fromage selection to follow. What is that saying? Do one thing and do it well. http://lassiettesteakfrites.com/
Chef Vic Casanova brings his handmade pasta genius from Gusto to the forefront at his latest West 3rd Street venture Pistola, but this time it’s paired with prime cuts of beef. You might actually recognize veteran front of house manger Seth Glassman last spotted at BOA steak house on Sunset. Here the dry-aged steaks include the 30 ounce tomahawk and the 18 ounce dry-aged Delmonico, which is sliced off the bone before serving and is one of their most popular choices on the menu. Of course, you will want to also order the squid ink agnolotti loaded with lobster, scallop, shrimp and sea urchin, along with a bottle of Dolan Estate chardonnay or pinot noir from Malibu. The moody-glam design was carried out by none other than Cliff Fong who also did an award-winning job at Michael Voltaggio’s nearby ink. http://www.pistola-la.com/
Restaurateurs Ian and Justin Hopper have combined forces with acclaimed Noah Ellis and Executive Chef James Trees to open Hutchinson Cocktails and Grill - the first Indonesian steakhouse of its kind on La Cienega’s Restaurant Row. Fans of the Asian cuisine will appreciate the authentic dishes drawing on the owner’s family experience spanning 65 years, including nasi goreng (fried rice), beef rendang short rib and spicy bami noodles, but do order one of the prize 16 ounce Creekstone Ribeyes paired with bone marrow bordelaise, béarnaise, Szechuan peppercorn, or a curry hollandaise. While you’re imbibing on the cocktails, check out the interior design includes a wall map of sorts that the owner’s geologist Grandfather used as his PhD thesis for Cal Tech. Somehow this adds to the exotic flare of the eatery. http://www.hutchinsonla.com/reservations
