When we first heard that Chef David LeFevre left downtown’s Water Grill late last year, we freaked out a little. Where else could we enjoy LeFevre’s sublime cooking? And how long would we have to wait?

But almost immediately LeFevre announced that he would be opening his own restaurant, so our fears were allayed. That new place turned out to be MB Post in Manhattan Beach, and it hasn’t disappointed.

Housed in the beach town’s historic post office on Manhattan Avenue, MB Post is much more laid-back than Water Grill. With its rustic interior, bench seating and rockin’ soundtrack (think Elastica, Guns N’ Roses and the Beastie Boys), MB Post is much more LeFevre’s personal speed. But just because the white tablecloths are gone doesn’t mean the quality of the food has suffered; in fact, this menu is interesting, playful, and most of all, delicious.

Since opening in late April, the menu has changed daily, reflecting the seasonality of the food, the whims of the chef and the eclectic makeup of Los Angeles. On this particular night (a busy Tuesday, we might add), we sampled everything from Mexican albondigas to Vietnamese-style mussels, as well as every cocktail on the menu plus three more. Because that’s how we roll. Here were some of our favorites.

Cocktails

Many of the cocktails on MB Post’s list are twists on classics. The Sun Also Rises, a blood and sand variation made with Compass Box Oak Cross whisky, rhubarb and blood orange, was lighter than its muse would have been since the cherry brandy was eliminated. The Manhattan Avenue, a version of the manhattan made with Sazerac rye, vanilla, caramel and bacon dust on the rim, wasn’t as sweet as its ingredients made it sounds, which was a good thing. We could take or leave the bacon dust, though.

Sun Also Rises

Manhattan Avenue

We were surprised that we liked the Festering Borough, a New York sour variation made with Eagle Rare bourbon, lemon, cinnamon, Framboise and egg. Normally we wouldn’t go for a drink with the combination of cinnamon, raspberry and egg, but this one was something we couldn’t put down. It’s not a light drink, but it won’t weigh you down, either. Perhaps our absolute favorite of the night was the Southern Hospitality, a bourbon punch made with Eagle Rare bourbon, grilled peaches, vanilla bean and cinnamon that have soaked with a charred piece of white oak for three days. The flavors complemented each other perfectly for a smooth finish, and the peach makes it summery.

It is obvious that we like bourbon? Because we do. A lot.

Festering Borough

Southern Hospitality

Dinner

We’re still thinking about the bacon cheddar buttermilk biscuits served with maple butter. They were so flavorful and could easily have served as a hearty breakfast. The fleur de sel pretzel served with David’s Nuclear Horseradish Mustard was delightfully chewy and spicy.

There is a wide variety of accoutrements that you can order with your cheese and charcuterie, or on their own. The pickled rhubarb, truffle honey and pink peppercorn mustard are all standout choices.

Pretzel, biscuits, flatbread (left to right)

Honey selection

When it came to vegetables, the yellow cauliflower with sultanas, mint, pine nuts and caper berries was our pick of the night, as the roasted texture made the cauliflower soft on the inside and crisp on the outside.

Yellow cauliflower

We were surprised that we weren’t served more seafood, given LeFevre’s background. Then again, he probably wanted to show what else he could do. In any case, the steamed mussels with green curry, Vietnamese sausage and a ball of coriander sticky rice were a nice twist on traditional moules frites – flavorful and hearty without being overwhelming.

Mussels

We were served many meat dishes, and the special of the night, the albondigas meatballs with garnet yam puree, shishito peppers and maple miso glaze, were sweet and savory. The organic free-range chicken breast with panzanella (bread and tomato salad), eggplant puree and green olive pesto was perfectly cooked and seasoned. We’re always a sucker for a great roast chicken. The Vietnamese caramel pork jowl with green papaya salad and lime was a favorite at our table, but we found it a tad too sweet.

Albondigas

Organic free-range chicken

Vietnamese caramel pork jowl

Dessert

Last but not least, the strawberry-verbena shortcake topped with whipped vanilla cream was hands-down our favorite dessert. We adore lemon, so the addition of the verbena here, with the sweetness of the strawberries, lightness of the cream and crunchiness of the caramelized sugar crystals on the biscuit made this the perfect end to this meal. Our table really liked The Elvis, “a wonderful mess” of peanut butter mousse, caramelized banana, chocolate pudding and bacon brittle. It was tasty, but it was much too heavy after such a large meal.

Strawberry-verbena shortcake

The Elvis

All in all, this was a great meal. If you’re looking for a casual meal made with high-quality ingredients and expert cooking, then head over to MB Post. We would go back in a heartbeat.

Note: This post originally appeared on LAist. This meal was hosted.

2009 Cuvee Natalie (sauvignon blanc blend)
2009 Cuvee Nicolas (sauvignon blanc/semillon)
2007 Bouchet (bordeaux-style blend)
2008 Colson Canyon Syrah

Café Pierre’s Chef Remi Lauvand will also prepare some appetizers to go along with the wine. (Read about Lauvand’s food in a previous post.) All this for the price of $20. Reservations are recommended but not required.

And if you can’t make it to this event, the winemaker socials take place the first Thursday of each month, with La Fenetre Wines on July 1.

Café Pierre
317 Manhattan Beach Blvd.
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
June 3, 2010, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

We were served a bunch of potted meats to start. This is when I tried head cheese, trotters, rillete and beef tartare for the first time, and none were as scary as I thought they would be. I actually surprised myself by really liking the hand-cut beef tartare, which came with judion beans on the side. I also had escargot and bone marrow as starters, too, both for the first time as well. While neither were as that scary, I didn’t enjoy them as much as the beef tartare, which had a fresh taste to it, contrary to what I had imagined raw beef tasting like.

I think this is head cheese, but it could have been trotters or rillete

Beef tartare

The one appetizer that nearly the whole table went ga-ga for was the foie gras parfait with what seemed like whipped foie topped with quince confit. It was served with spiced bread, which I found to be too sweet a pairing with the quince; I opted to use some of the other more savory breads at our table to eat with this. The foie was very light and fluffy and just melted in your mouth. It seemed like the potted meats were a hit overall (read e*starLA‘s and LAist‘s takes).

Foie gras and quince parfait

My favorite main of the night turned out to be the sea bass served with orange-flavored vegetables. I normally don’t like sea bass, but this one was great. Other people loved the pork dish, which came with house-made sausage and what looked like pork belly but was really part of the short rib. Though I like pork, I don’t go crazy for it, though this was very good. I also tried a bite of veal sweetbreads, and while they weren’t my favorite, they weren’t bad, either!

Sea bass with orange flavored vegetables

Pork and sausage (at the far end)

Because I’m obsessed with brussels sprouts, I requested we have some to taste, so they showed up on the pork plate. They were cooked sous vide, as Chef Remi Lauvand informed us he did to make them tender. I’m not sure why he chose this method of cooking because the sous vide seemed to overcook the vegetables. Oh well, I guess I just prefer mine roasted.

My favorite desserts were the hazelnut cream puffs and the baba au rhum with slow poached pineapple. Once again, I’m not a big fan of desserts with cream, but both of these were wonderful, especially the baba with the pineapple. One of my fellow diners, Weezermonkey, also liked these two desserts best, and these two photos below are from her post.

Hazelnut cream puffs. From Weezermonkey.

Baba au rhum with pineapple

This meal was hosted.

Texas beef brisket at Zeke's Smokehouse

Let me just begin by saying that this isn’t a completely fair comparison. (How’s that for a lede?) Mr. Cecil’s California Ribs and Zeke’s Smokehouse offer totally different styles of barbecue. But I liked different menu items from each of these places, so I thought I would pit the two against each other — in a friendly BBQ cookoff in my mind, of course.

First up is Mr. Cecil’s. I ate at the mini chain’s newest location in Manhattan Beach (there are also West Los Angeles and Sherman Oaks locations). My favorites included the buffalo wings, which were tangy and spicy, and grilled shrimp. The beans with bacon and the cole slaw are good, too. The bacon gives the beans a nice flavor, and the cole slaw isn’t overly creamy.

Buffalo wings

Grilled shrimp

Baked beans and cole slaw

I also enjoyed Mr. Cecil’s ribs, which are marinated then grilled, not smoked. Grilling the ribs give it a nice crust, if you will.

Ribs

And one of the most important parts of barbecue — the hush puppies. Mr. Cecil’s is made with scallions, which was a pleasant surprise.

Hush Puppies

Now on to Zeke’s. I ate at the West Hollywood location (there’s also a Montrose one, too). We started off with some sweet potato fries, onion rings and hush puppies. All were good, but the hush puppies were my favorite out of the three. Zeke’s are made with onion and have the perfect fluffy texture. The deep fried okra is respectable, too.

Hush puppies (left), sweet potato fries (center), onion rings (right)

Hush puppies

Fried okra

We then moved on to Zeke’s Build Your Own BBQ $9.95 special, which gives you a choice of two meats and two sides. The plate is huge! Take a look at my meal with pulled pork, pulled chicken, collard greens and potato salad:

Pulled chicken (bottom left), potato salad (top left), pulled pork (bottom right), collard greens (top right)

Here’s the full list of options for the special, which is available Monday through Thursday from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.:

Meats: pulled pork, pulled chicken, a quarter of dark meat chicken, smoked ham or hot link.

Sides: baked beans, collard greens, mashed potatoes, green beans, potato salad, cole slaw, applesauce, kettle chips or fries.

I liked the pulled pork and potato salad, but my favorite meat was the Texas beef brisket, which unfortunately isn’t offered as part of the $9.95 special.

Texas beef brisket

Zeke’s also carries Sprecher root beer, a Wisconsin specialty, and on tap, no less. It’s not too sweet, which is welcomed considering root beer tends to be overly sweet for me. Speaking of sweet, I liked all of the restaurant’s desserts that we tasted: bread pudding, brownies and pecan pie. The bread pudding was more bread than pudding, which I preferred; the brownies were very chocolatey; and the pecan pie was more pecan than filling, another welcome trait.

Bread pudding

Brownies

Pecan pie

So who wins my imaginary barbecue showdown? Well, neither. I would rather pick and choose specific items from each: Mr. Cecil’s for ribs, appetizers and sides; Zeke’s for brisket, hush puppies and dessert. Maybe I’ll have to get take out and create my own meal.

Note: Both of these meals were media dinners.