I’ve had Sycamore Kitchen on my radar ever since it opened around the same time I tried chefs-owners Quinn and Karen Hatfield’s eponymous Hatfield’s restaurant in 2012. My meal at Hatfield’s was excellent, and I’m not sure what took me so long to try Sycamore Kitchen, but my wife, older daughter, and I finally tried it out for brunch on a recent Sunday morning, and we really enjoyed ourselves!
While waiting in the long, serpentine line to order our food, we spied that variety of pastries in their case. Ultimately we settled on two. Not being a huge sweets guy, I just had a taste of each and left the rest to my wife and daughter.
The first was a Pine Nut Tart (~$3) that reminded me of the rosemary pine nut cookies served with the butterscotch budino at Pizzeria Mozza.
The second was Salted Caramel Pecan Babka Roll ($4). It kind of reminded me of a less wet, more cake-y version of a sticky toffee pudding, plus pecans.
The first of the non-baked goods that we ordered was the Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs ($5). I like deviled eggs anyway, but these were extra good. The flavor and texture of the whipped yolks were just right, not too salty, not to mushy. The amount of salmon was good too, and did not overwhelm the rest of the dish. This was a really solid snack!
Next was the Roasted Brussels Sprouts ($5), with maple glaze and rosemary. Brussels sprouts are de rigueur these days, and it’s refreshing to actually have a preparation where the sprouts stood mostly on their own, with no meat or cheese or other strong ingredients paired with it. This dish was exemplary.
My wife ordered the Cinnamon Brioche French Toast ($10), with grated apple slaw, whipped crème fraiche as her entrée. This dish was the only disappointment of the meal, but it had the potential to be great. Since City Bakery left Brentwood Country Mart, my wife’s been looking for a french toast that could take its place. Sycamore Kitchen’s french toast’s exterior was close, with crispy, caramelized edges, but the main issue was the interior. The batter barely penetrated the thick slices of brioche, making the french toast quite dry. I’m hoping it’s just an anomaly.
I ordered the Pork Belly Hash ($11.50), with roasted peppers and onions, russet potatoes, two fried eggs, and spinach. I first tasted the ingredients individually, and each were great: spinach was bright and fresh, pork belly was fatty and moist, potatoes had great crispy edges, sunny side up eggs perfectly cooked. Together, the ingredients were greater than the sum of their parts. This was a pretty fantastic bowl of breakfast for me!
We were really impressed with Sycamore Kitchen. While the french toast was disappointing, everything else was just superb. We definitely want to go back, and we’d even try the french toast again (maybe ask for it to be double dipped, like a Philippe’s French dipped).
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Sycamore Kitchen
143 South La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 939-0151
http://thesycamorekitchen.com/
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