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Shrimp n’ grits

The pop-up-turned-brick-and-mortar Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, helmed by Chef Kevin Kathman (Gramercy Tavern, French Laundry), is offering a special New Year’s Eve four-course prix fixe meal for $75. The Venice restaurant, which just opened in October, offers all kinds of Southern foods, and this holiday menu is no exception.

For the table:
Complimentary black eyed peas (a Southern good luck charm!)
Jalapeño cheddar cornbread with pear butter

First course, choice of:
Cauliflower soup, almond, gruyere and brown butter
Smoked trout salad, Meyer lemon, potato, fennel, horseradish and caviar
Kumamoto oysters, lime, cucumber and cilantro

Second course, choice of:
Braised pork belly, chicories, pickled watermelon and spicy mustard
Shrimp ‘n grits, garlic, bacon, shallot and cheddar grits (pictured above)
Caramelized salsify, and roasted, puréed and raw sun chokes

Third course, choice of:
Pan seared venison chop, huckleberries, turnip, onion and potato
Halibut, Maine lobster hash, pickled herbs and root vegetables
Dry aged New York strip steak, mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, shallot and bourbon béarnaise sauce

Dessert, choice of:
Sweet potato pie, cinnamon cream and candied pecans
Warm chocolate cake, vanilla bean ice cream and salty bourbon caramel
Passion fruit panna cotta, blueberry, grapefruit and basil
Plus ginger cookies for the table

Monday, Dec. 31, 2012
Reservations available from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
(310) 392-2425

Daniel Nelson, head mixologist at the Writer’s Room in Hollywood, designed the restaurant’s cocktail program, so you know the special New Year’s Eve drink, the Louisiana Purchase Champagne Cocktail ($12) with Peychaud’s bitters, brown sugar and praline liqueur, will hit the spot. The Car Car, with gin, jicama, ginger, apple, kaffir lime leaf and anise seed, is interestingly tasty, too.

Car Car

If you can’t make it to WiSC for New Year’s Eve, then weekend brunch is another good option. The shrimp n’ grits are available then, and don’t miss the pancakes topped with candied pecans, bourbon roasted bananas and maple cream.

Pancakes with candied pecans, bourbon roasted bananas and maple cream

Note: A brunch meal was complimentary.

Further reading:

Good Morning Eats: Brunch at Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing by LAist

Evolving flavored iced tea (left), Cava mimosa (right)

Yes, Jose Andres’ Bazaar at the SLS Hotel has been open for a year now, but I didn’t go right away. Why? Because I don’t like being caught up in a scene, and the SLS and everything in it is definitely a scene. So I waited a year to try it, and I went for brunch, not for dinner when I’ve passed by and seen it totally poppin’ off, as it were.

When we (Sam of LAist and Lucy of Edible LA) showed up, it was kind of dead — relatively speaking, of course. By the time we left, there were more people, though most chose to eat inside, which I thought was kind of strange given the beautiful sunny day. We ate on the patio.

I’m not going to dwell on the Bazaar’s food since by now the restaurant has been thoroughly discussed across the food blogosophere and in the mainstream media, so I’ll just give you my greatest hits of this meal.

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Yes, that's a tree in the middle of the dining room. It's kind of awkward but pretty.

I’ve had a hard time lately with eating out. Not because I don’t like to eat — obviously I do — but because it’s been a while since I’ve really been wowed by a meal. Sure, I’ve had great parts of meals, but an entire meal that’s knock-your-socks-off good is hard to come by.

So when a bunch of us foodies (Esther of e*starLA, Caroline of Caroline on Crack, Diana of Diana Takes a Bite, and Lindsay and Sam of LAist) got together for a leisurely Sunday brunch — on our own dime, thank you very much — at Tavern in Brentwood, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had high expectations because I had heard good things about this latest Goin-Styne collaboration, but I was also afraid it was going to be all hype.

Hype it’s not. Tavern, at least its brunch menu, is amazing. I truly enjoyed this meal.

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