Huevos Polenta at Playa Rivera

When I first heard that Chef John Rivera Sedlar was opening Playa Rivera restaurant in the old Grace space on Beverly Boulevard, I jumped for joy. I love Sedlar’s food (and Julian Cox’s cocktails) at Rivera downtown, so having one of his eateries closer in proximity to where I live is really a treat.

Elegant, hearty and delicious, Playa Rivera’s brunch is a great choice for a casual-but-elevated meal. I had the pleasure of having brunch here with Fiona of Gourmet Pigs, Lindsay of LAist and Esther of estarLA, and we had a well-rounded meal complete with cocktails and a chat with Sedlar himself, who happened to walk in just as we were leaving.

We started with a pitcher (OK, we had two) of The Grail, a sangria made with apple brandy, malbec, pressed lady apple, Don’s mix, cane cola and apple espuma (thanks, Fiona, for the description). This was unlike any sangria I’ve had, as it was more flavorful and rich.

The Grail sangria

To whet our appetites, we ordered some Blue Corn Muffins served with almond-flavored butter. These were absolutely gorgeous and tasted just as good. They had just the right amount of sweetness and were perfectly moist, which is nice because sometimes corn bread gets dry.

Blue Corn Muffins

Inside of the Blue Corn Muffins

For my main dish, I ordered the Huevos Polenta (above), a spicy, smoky dish that I would order again. The polenta is covered in a pool of red chili sauce and topped with lardon (bacon!), veggies, a 63º poached egg and cotija cheese. I love different textures in my food, and this dish definitely had that. It was a home run.

Fiona ordered the pulled pork tamal topped with sunny side-up eggs. I love tamales, and this one didn’t disappoint, especially not with those pretty eggs on top! You’ll also notice that this was served on a plate with a scene from A Clockwork Orange on it; Sedlar’s Reflexiones presentation program features everything from art to political commentary to purposefully complement or contrast with select dishes.

Pulled-pork tamal

Lindsay chose the Duck Hash with 63º poached eggs, fingerling potatoes and peppers. This was also a hearty, tasty choice.

Duck Hash

I was less impressed with the Croque Señor, which is made with chorizo. This might be better as a señora with one of those sunny side-up eggs on top.

Croque Senor

Don’t neglect to order dessert because the ice cream sundae made with goat’s milk ice cream, hazelnuts and cocoa nibs served with hot chocolate sauce and a blue cornmeal chocolate chip cookie was amazing. At Lindsay’s suggestion, we broke up the cookie and threw it in our mason jar of goodness, then topped it off with the chocolate sauce. Once again, all the different textures made me really happy. Bravo!

Ice Cream Sundae

Inside of the cornmeal cookie

Perhaps the best part of this meal was the value. We were served beautiful food in well-sized portions with nothing priced more than $15. This is an amazing deal, and one I highly recommend.

Gin Gin Mule

The Tar Pit, the much-anticipated new bar and restaurant from chef Mark Peel and general manager Jay Perrin, both of Campanile fame, and noted mixologist Audrey Saunders of Pegu Club in New York, made its debut late last week, and what a debut it was. From the 1940s art moderne decor (the simpler version of art deco) to the era-appropriate food and drink, The Tar Pit is a nice respite from the dark, often cramped, speakeasy style that has been popular among bars lately.

I attended the preview party along with Caroline of Caroline on Crack, Josh of FoodGPS, Pat of Eating L.A., Daniel of Thirsty in L.A., H.C. of L.A. and O.C. Foodventures, Esther of e*starLA, Kat of EaterLA and many others from around the blogosphere and beyond. We enjoyed sample-size cocktails of nearly everything on the drink menu and food from the bar menu. Overall, I liked most everything — I mean, it’s Peel and Saunders — but I definitely had my favorites.

My favorite cocktail that I tried that night was the Lemon Thyme Daiquiri made with white rum, muddled lemon thyme, house-made lime syrup, lime juice and topped with a sprig of lemon thyme. It’s pretty and tasty. The preponderance of citrus gives this a fresh, though not overly tangy, flavor.

Lemon Thyme Daiquiri

I also liked the Gin Gin Mule (photo at top) made with gin, mint, lime simple syrup and house-made ginger beer; the Cucumber-Mint Creole made with gin, Aquavit, sherry, muddled cucumbers and mint, and lemon juice; and the Old Cuban made with aged rum, muddled mint, lime juice, Angostura bitters and champagne.

Cucumber-Mint Creole

Old Cuban

The only cocktail I would actually avoid is the Trident, made with Aquavit, Fino sherry, Cynar aperitif, peach and orange bitters, and lemon essence. This drink had the strangest flavor, probably due to the combination of artichoke from the Cynar and tons of bitters. No one at our table liked this one.

Trident

I’m a little disappointed that there aren’t any whiskey or bourbon drinks on the cocktail menu, though if you like gin, this is the place for you — nearly half the drinks are gin-based.

One of my favorites from the bar menu was the crab cake, which was plump and buttery, and topped with preserved lemon remoulade and celery root coleslaw. I also liked the duck rillette, which was served on multigrain toast and topped with Stilton blue cheese, pickled pearl onions, mustard and smoked salt. The fried oysters topped with crisp ginger remoulade were tasty, too.

Crab cake

Duck rillette

Fried oyster

Kudos to the management for providing a wealth of food and drink samples so we could get a good idea of the menu. I also heard that some people were able to convince the bartenders to make drinks that weren’t supposed to be served during the preview party. There are other dishes that weren’t being passed around that I’d like to try, including the duck slider on the bar menu, and braised pork cheeks and ears served with orecchiette pasta, salsa verde, braised beet greens and dandelion greens on the dining menu. With nothing priced more than $17 on the food menus, it’s surprisingly affordable. Cocktails start at $11 and go up $16 for the ones containing champagne (now that’s expensive).

[UPDATE: The starting price for cocktails is now $12.]