Local Kitchen and Wine Bar in Santa Monica opened late last year, and like its sister establishment Thyme Cafe and Market, is perpetually packed with locals, no pun intended. Owner Maire Byrne has struck gold twice on Ocean Park Boulevard. A few weeks ago, on a unusually rainy Sunday morning, my family and I tried their weekend brunch.
We began with two can’t-get-more-California starters: avocado toast and kale salad. The twist on each was that the toast was also topped with smoke salmon, and some gorgeous fresh herbs, while the salad was with some tender, peppery baby Tuscan kale. The avocado toast was so good that my older daughter ordered it as her main too.
When my family eats, it’s a team sport. We order strategically to get the widest variety of food, and then we share. Still, each dish ostensibly belongs to a particular family member. My wife’s main was the ricotta and squash pancakes. They were good, but I think not quite our cup of tea.
My younger daughter is a steak fiend, and so she had to get the steak and eggs, which I made sure she shared with me! Cooked perfectly medium rare, and with some over-easy eggs and tasty smashed potatoes, the thing the pushed this dish from good to great was the gremolata. I love chimichurri on steak, and the gremolata is very similar, so it went fantastically with the steak.
The unexpected star of the meal was the polenta with ‘nduja. I am so happy that this spreadable Italian cousin to French andouille is getting more use in restaurant kitchens. Everyone in my family loved it! What’s not to love? Of course, even though this was “my” dish, I probably ate the least of it because of how popular it was at the table. Oh well.
We wrapped up our brunch with a light dessert, some wonderful little doughnut holes, finished at the table with a drizzle of warm chocolate. Those disappeared quick!
We have had some great success with brunch lately, with Estrella and Cadet (R.I.P.), and Local ranks right up there, especially that polenta dish! Can’t wait to go back and try one of the wood oven pizzas and other options at lunch and dinner.
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Local Kitchen and Wine Bar
1736 Ocean Park Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 396-9007
http://localkitchenandwinebar.com/
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