My Kinda Place: Bite Bar and Bakery

A few weeks ago my mom and I went out for a quick Friday night dinner before I drove back to San Diego. She's an adventurous eater like me, so we're always looking for something new and interesting. She had heard about a new restaurant on Pico Blvd in Los Angeles, right off the 405 freeway. Their website is www.bitebar.com and you can see all their menus here. The restaurant is about three doors down from Valentino's one of the most famous Italian eateries in the city.

What can I say about Bite except that I will definitely be back. The restaurant is brand new and is working the kinks out, establishing menus, and already thinking of expanding to include Happy Hour and Late Night Dessert. Right now they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a Sunday Brunch.

Bite Bar and Bakery is the dream of Chef Elizabeth Goel, who has long desired to run her own local bakery and wine bar. She is a highly skilled baker who prides herself in running a restaurant that is chef-driven. That is, the chef changes the menu as he sees fit and with the seasons, using local ingredients from farmers markets, trying to include options for vegetarians and those on a gluten free diet. In other words, it wants to be all things to all people, a tall order, but from what I experienced they are on their way.

My mom and I both love grazing menus, and that's exactly what the dinner menu is, so far. I suspect they'll make some changes. The restaurant itself is very contemporary, with concrete floors and no wall coverings to absorb sound, so I imagine when the restaurant is full it can be very noisy. It was not full when we were there so noise was not a problem.

Our friendly waiter brought us a plate of delicious olives to munch on while we perused the menus. Artichoke beignets with remoulade, bacon wrapped dates stuffed with chorizo and manchego cheese and truffle fries with garlic butter, at $5 each were listed under "Just a Bite". We did not get any of these. Then come charcuterie plates (all kinds of salami and other cured meats) with a fresh baguette, or cheese plates, with many selections to choose from.

We went for items listed under "small plates". My mom had the grilled flatbread with market vegetables which was fantastic, I had a trio of crostini (toasted bread) topped with wonderful things like baby beets, greens and goat cheese, and whipped brie and mango chutney. Yum. Other possibilities were Creole crab cakes, edanmane and sugar snap salad, grilled asparagus and havarti cheese panini, fish tacos and steak tartare with a quail egg (at only $10).

Desserts are their speciality. How about a vanilla bean yogurt panna cotta, or pavlova, creme brulee or molten chocolate cake? All types of coffee drinks and a great wine menu round out the meal.

Lunch may be even better than dinner, and I will try lunch next time. Toasted crab sandwich, steak sandwich, market salad with every imaginable vegetable, and home made soup.

This is a great spot to go to with several people, as you can order a variety of little bites and taste everything. I can't wait to go there again. The prices are reasonable, even the wines are well priced, and I have a feeling when they get their Happy Hour up and running this will be a popular spot for an early lite dinner and a good glass of wine. Good luck to the owners. I hope they make it.