What You're Eating - Best Wintertime Comfort Food
When the weather gets cold, all you want is a little something warm in your belly. It's all about those dishes that make you want to dig in. We've rounded up the best restaurants serving some of the best wintertime comfort dishes that will have you asking for seconds.
Oven Roasted Meatballs
Love & Salt
317 Manhattan Beach Blvd
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
(310) 545-5252
www.loveandsaltla.com
Manhattan Beach's Love & Salt has cranked up their wood-burning oven to bring you a great batch of meatballs that just might rival grandma's. Each tender hand-rolled meat ball in the dish is a blend of three meats - beef, pork and veal - roasted, and is then braised in a house tomato sauce. They'll come to you, piping hot, in a cast iron skillet with fresh burrata cheese and toasted slices of the Larder Baking Company's ciabatta.
Spicy "Kurobuta" Ramen
Estate Restaurant + Bar
1519 Wilshire Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 394-7722
www.estate1519.com
Estate's Japanese-style ramen is one of those dishes in a bowl that will satisfy your craving for a hot noodle-laced soup. Estate's version features braised pork, sweet corn kernels, onions, bean sprouts and a spicy, earthy kochijan miso broth. Grab your chopsticks, and dive deep into the mix. Don't worry about manners as you slurp up the broth.
Allagash Queso
The Rockefeller
418 Pier Avenue
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
(310) 372-8467
www.eatrockefeller.com
For all the cheese lovers out there, The Rockefeller takes your favorite queso dip and turns it on its head. Order a bubbling cast iron dish of melty cheese that's a blend of Allagash White beer, a special blend of cheese, chorizo and garlic. Dig your chips into the center to snag a few crunchy bites of fresh tomato, onion and cilantro as well.
Apple Gingerbread Pudding
The Wallace
3833 Main Street
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 202-6400
www.thewallacela.com
Culver City's The Wallace restaurant is one of the best restaurants in town. So, it should come as no surprise that their menu is chock full of savory dishes that will warm your heart and soul. For the season they're serving a seasonal apple gingerbread pudding that will definitely have you humming with joy as you eat. The moist bread pudding is a baked mass of tender apples and sweet, spiced gingerbread sitting on swirls of caramel. Sitting on top of the warm delicious gingerbread pudding is candied ginger as well as crumbles from a ginger and molasses cookie. This dessert will have you thinking about the holiday season in no time.
Casarecce Carbonara
Spaghettini & the Dave Koz Lounge
184 North Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90120
(310) 424-4600
www.spaghettinibh.com
Spaghettini's back kitchen, aka the "pasta lab", churns out an impressive selection of handmade pasta dishes on a daily basis. Throughout the winter, enjoy their casarecce carbonara, which is everything you want when it comes to a rich, creamy Italian classic. The restaurant's version is topped with crisp pancetta, cranks of fresh cracked black pepper, and a dusting of parmigiano-reggiano. Thanks to those rolled, twisted noodles, each bite is coated in the cheesey sauce.
Pead & Barnett's Grilled Heritage Pork Chop
Girasol Restaurant
11334 Moorpark Street
Studio City, CA 91602
(818) 924-2323
www.girasolrestaurant.com
The Valley's Girasol's play on a favorite - pork chops and apples - arrives on their menu as a much more sophisticated pairing for you to enjoy during the cold winter days. The Pead & Barnett's Grilled Heritage Pork Chop features a thick, grilled Pead & Barnett chop with an Italian-inspired apple mostarda and rich cider jus for you to enjoy. The sweet and savory collaboration will play with your taste buds, while reminding you of weeknight dinners lovingly made by your mom.
Drunken Mac 'n' Cheese
Bar 10
8933 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(323) 332-6445
www.bar10weho.com
Anyone looking to have some comfort food would find it hard denying the Drunken Mac 'n' Cheese dish at West Hollywood's Bar 10. With creamy cheddar cheese, mozzarella, cream cheese, and a bourbon reduction, it's a mouthwatering option you won't want to miss. You can even add bacon for a small additional fee.
Split Pea Soup
The Arthur J
903 Manhattan Avenue
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
(310) 878-9620
www.thearthurj.com
The Arthur J's split pea soup packs soothing warmth in a bowl, which is everything you need during any cold night. The soup is a velvety blend of softly simmered and partially puréed green field peas dotted with Virginia country ham, curls of crispy, smoked chicharrones and crunchy rye croutons. This split pea soup's inclusion of pig in two ways emphasizes that the pork essence always makes this dish shine.
Horseradish Potato Gratin
BOA Steakhouse
9200 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 278-2050
www.innovativedining.com
BOA Steakhouse's current menu includes a number of new dishes that are perfect for the chilly weather, including their Horseradish Potato Gratin. With Russet potatoes drenched in cream and baked with caramelized onions, the dish includes horseradish and a golden layer of browned provolone cheese to kick it up a notch. This is the kind of side dish you won't want to share, no matter what kind of steak you've ordered as the entrée. If too many forks find their way into your cast iron, feel free to order a second helping.
Beef & Goat Birria
Sausal
219 Main Street
El Segundo, CA 90245
(310) 322-2721
www.sausal.com
Sausal's Nuevo Rancho menu features great dishes for winter by cooking slow-roasted, smoked and wood-fired meats that speak to traditional Hispanic food preparations and complex flavors. The Beef & Goat Birria is a slow-simmered mix of tender meat floating in a smokey chili broth. Enjoy this birria with cilantro-onion relish, jicama slaw, and of course, warm tortillas. You don't have to wait for your next trip to Jalisco, Mexico. Just dip a spoon into this bowl for comfort with a kick.
