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Sausage, sauerkraut and mustards at the W Los Angeles’ The Backyard

After all that Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping, consider kicking back with some brews and bites at W Los Angeles‘ new happy hour at The Backyard, or cocktails and afternoon tea at BLVD 16 at Hotel Palomar.

Featuring beers from L.A.’s own Angel City Brewery and Bavarian-inspired comfort food from Executive Chef Dakota Weiss, The Backyard’s happy hour — offered Monday through Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. — is set poolside in a cozy, heated tent at the W hotel in Westwood, creating a winter beer garden for us Angelenos.

Waffle with short rib

Here’s the menu:

*Beer nuts ($3)

*Potato pancakes with sour cream, chives and sweet mustard ($5)

–With Kobe hot dogs ($8)

*Waffle bites ‘n stout herbed gravy ($6)

–With duck confit ($7)

–With short rib ($8)

*Daily sausage with trio of mustards ($6)

*Housemade pickles ($3)

Everything is made in-house, including the mustards. Make sure to try the sausage special (the house made mustards are great), waffle with one of the tender meats, and potato pancakes with the Kobe beef hot dogs.

Potato pancakes with Kobe beef hot dogs

At BLVD 16, also in Westwood, take an afternoon break with some tea, mini sandwiches and sweets, available from 3 to 5 p.m. with 24 hour notice ($27 per person).

Afternoon tea at BLVD 16

*Sweet & savory sandwiches

–Cucumber: cream cheese dill aioli, watercress salad, lemon vinaigrette

–Prosciutto: sliced red onion, avocado, fig aioli

–Peanut butter: house marmalade, banana

*Pastries and sweets

–House seasonal scones with clotted cream, fruit preserves

–Butter tea cookies with house marmalade

–Chocolate covered strawberries

*Selection of Mighty Leaf teas

*Choice of bubbly ($10)

The scones are nice with clotted cream, and the prosciutto sandwich offers a nice savory balance to the sweetness of the cookies and marmalade.

Afternoon tea snacks

If you’re here on a Tuesday, check out the Trees on Tuesdays cocktail menu ($9 each) featuring Greenbar distillery spirits. For every drink sold off this menu, Greenbar will plant a tree.

*Sittin’ Pretty: Tru vodka, Fair goji berry liqueur, Marie Brizard triple sec, fresh lime juice

*Barbados Winter: Crusoe spiced rum, Velvet Falernum, Aperol, fresh lemon juice, pineapple juice, clove syrup

*Herbal Remedy: Tru gin, green Chartreuse, Bar Keep lavender bitters, lavender flowers, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup

Barbados Winter

Note: These tastings were hosted.

Beer sausage

There’s one more week left for Dine L.A. Restaurant Week, and if you’re going to go to one place, I suggest you try GORGE, a cozy house-made charcuterie and wine bar from Top Chef alumna Elia Aboumrad and pastry chef Uyen Nguyen (Le Cirque, Craftsteak, Restaurant Guy Savoy). GORGE is located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood just steps away from old-school rock hangouts the Roxy and Rainbow Room. Not exactly where one might expect to find such fine food, so all the more reason to patronize the place!

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BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich at J. Nichols Kitchen

Since Executive Chef Roger Hayot, formerly of Authentic Café on Beverly Boulevard, joined Marina del Rey’s J. Nichols Kitchen this summer, he has turned up the sophistication factor at the neighborhood diner, incorporating more seasonal, locally sourced ingredients to create a new contemporary comfort food menu.

I had never been to the previous incarnation, so I didn’t have anything to compare it to. But no matter — the new version stands on its own. There’s a little bit of everything on the menu, so if you can’t decide what to have for dinner, then J. Nichols might be the place for you.

Start with the Black Pepper Wings with ginger soy glaze, garlic and black pepper, or get The Del Rey salad, a hearty mix of chicken, kale, mixed greens, pink lady apples, applewood bacon, aged white cheddar, nuts, dried cranberries, egg and a sweet mustard vinaigrette.

Black Pepper Wings

The Del Rey salad

The BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich (pictured above), which comes topped with slaw and crispy onions on a pretzel bun, is one of the best I’ve ever had (I’m such a sucker for pretzel buns). The Creamy Chipotle Rigatoni with chicken, mushrooms, corn, cherry tomatoes and a chipotle cream sauce sounds strange but ultimately works. And for dessert, try the bread pudding and the key lime pie — both are made for sharing.

Creamy Chipotle Rigatoni

The restaurant also recently introduced Sausage Sundays. From 5 p.m. to close every Sunday night, Chef Hayot will be offering a variety of sausage specialties made in-house – all for under $10 each. The menu will rotate, but expect to see items such as a chicken sausage sandwich with apples, caramelized onions and fried sage; pork and Mexican chorizo posole with corn tortillas; and Asian duck sausage with fried jasmine rice. Pair one of those with a $4 glass of beer, a selection of three rotating brews that might include Scrimshaw Pilsner, Dead Guy Ale or West Coast IPA. Or go on a Tuesday for Pizza & Beer Night, when you’ll get any pizza, salad and two draft beers for $32.

See more photos from J. Nichols Kitchen:

Note: This meal was hosted.

Further reading:

The BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich & More at J. Nichols by estarLA

New Orleans

Last week I visited New Orleans for the first time. How an Honorable Kentucky Colonel like me hadn’t been to a city exuding so much Southern charm boggles the mind. Fortunately, I was able to redeem myself when the Tulane University Environmental Law Summit invited my documentary “Toxic Soup” to screen at its conference and flew me in to do a Q+A after the movie.

The first food I scarfed down was in Metairie at Radosta’s. Metairie is a 10- to 15- minute drive from New Orleans proper. Now, Radosta’s might seem like a random first stop, but I should explain that I was staying around the corner at my friend’s house, so it made plenty of sense, especially after I woke up with an empty belly following a red-eye flight.

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Lamb sausage for Blue Cow menu

Mario Del Pero and Ellen Chen, the folks who brought you the uber-delish sandwich spot Mendocino Farms (now open in West Hollywood by Target), have plans to open Blue Cow, a more upscale restaurant, early next year. Blue Cow, to be housed in the space occupied by Casa in California Plaza in downtown Los Angeles, will also feature sandwiches at the heart of its menu and serve as a test kitchen for Mendocino Farms. Joshua Smith (Church & State, Anisette) will be executive chef, and Steve Livigni (La Descarga, Harvard & Stone) will design the seasonal cocktail menu. And there will be sandwiches of the ice cream kind from pastry chef Miho Travi. Sounds kind of amazing, right?

At a recent tasting at the new MF West Hollywood location, collaborating (yes, partnerships of this type are slated to be common at Blue Cow) chef Jason Travi of Fraiche restaurant fame debuted a couple of his creations for the Blue Cow menu: a turkey sausage sandwich made with Wild Turkey whiskey, apple compote and pickled mushrooms, and a lamb sausage topped with harissa, red onion, cucumbers, tomatoes and red bell peppers. While I really enjoyed the Mediterranean-inspired lamb sausage (and I’m not a big fan of lamb in general), the turkey sausage sandwich was too sweet for my taste. But, these recipes could very well change, as they’re still in the testing phase.

Also, I think I may have found my new favorite sandwich at Mendocino Farms: the “Not So Fried” Chicken made with roasted chicken breast rolled in soy-based “Krispies,” herb aioli, whole grain mustard slaw, tomatoes and pickled red onions on toasted ciabatta bread. Very satisfying.

"Not So Fried" Chicken sandwich from Mendocino Farms

Further reading:

Mario Del Pero of Mendocino Farms to Open Blue Cow Feb. 1 with Stellar BOH Lineup by Eater LA

Note: This tasting was hosted.