dinner @ lou

dinner @ lou
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

tucked away in a strip mall on vine, with little more signage than a reversed out white on black marquis squeezed among the other businesses in the same mall, lou teases us to find her. even though there's only an address on the door, you can't miss the dynamic, black and white on one side, and red dominating black and white on the other side graphic curtains that shield its diners from the rest of the city.

i have to first comment on the fun and fabulous decor because no dining experience is complete without the feeling generated by the environment or the ability it has to transform you to another place. when you enter, the left wall is papered with a vintage-looking edward goreyesqe illustration of trees; while the right wall has the menu hand-written complete with drawings of sheep on a blackboard, an indication of the changing menu that follows what's fresh & in-season locally. though there's plenty of pattern, it all works well together, and along with candle and soft overhead lighting sets a warm mood.

a small, intimate space where you may find yourself bumping elbows with fellow diners at a keith haring-esque patterened communal table, it's still as yet largely undiscovered as we went on a saturday night without reservations and only waited 15min. i fear though, that won't last for long, but they do take reservations.

the attention to the details is as everpresent in the food as in the space. what we ate:

tonight's bistro salad plate: this included pee wee potato & sweet corn, like a delicate, buttery potato salad with sweet corn; blue lake green beans, fresh & crunchy and mixed with red onion with a splash of vinegar, and some smokey charred eggplant & basil.

savory tart: chanterelle mushroom, goat cheese, ricotta - for the cheese lover, light, creamy and subtle with nutty flavors from the mushrooms.

pan-roasted pekin duck breast, summer squash shelling beans: nice smokey flavor from the duck. tender and not gamey or greasy at all.

albacore conserva, chitarra, white beans, ligurian olives: if you like fish, this is a great pasta dish, simply sauteed in olive oil & garlic with chunks of albacore, beans and salty olives. the combination of the fish and the olives is fantastic.

i love that they offer wines as a taste, glass or bottle, so you can get as little or as much as you want. the taste is actually a good amount in a small wine glass. both the wines my brother & i had, a sonoma zinfandel & a chablis chardonnay from france/burgundy were great. they offer naturally produced wines, many of which are organic. that means no chemicals and low interventionist practices in wine-making. service was good.