The Next Door is a fancy, trendy French restaurant in (what I guess is called) the Beverly Grove neighborhood of Los Angeles. Luckily for me and my didn't-pack-fancy-clothes self, I was meeting my friend JH for lunch at Little Next Door - literally, the next door's casual cafe "brasserie" extension. There is also a bakery section here if you are just interested in their baked treats.
It was a great day of LA December (sunny and 75 degrees) so we opted to sit out on the open terrace. Strangely, the heat lamps were still on, making it actually burning hot.
We got started with some nice french bread with a balsamic and oil dip.
I was looking for a lighter lunch, so on recommendation from our waitress, I had the leek and gruyere tart. I found it to be a little mushy in texture as opposed to rich and creamy, but the flavor was wonderful.
JH had the grilled organic salmon burger which had marinated onions on the side. She apparently liked it, and all I could get from her about the brioche bread in between her bites was that "it is yellow... and very good." (Getting one liners from others' about their meals is difficult - #foodbloggerproblems?) Fries were skinny cut, well seasoned, and quite good - I know, because I stole quite a few from her plate.
I had the tropical fruit ice tea as well and it was very refreshing! A yelp deal gave me a free cookie for dessert, and I was pleasantly surprised when our waitress appeared with a palmier.
JH splurged for their special Christmas cake, with pistachio and mango. Despite the looks, it was very rich (so eat slowly!) but amazingly delicious. The mango adds just the right amount of tartness to the rich pistachio cream.
Another view of the busy terrace - great people watching, by the way. Despite arriving at 1:30 on a weekday afternoon, the place was full and remained full even as we left. This place can't scream trendy harder if it had a megaphone, but the food is actually good, desserts even better, and most importantly, a nice locale for a good chat. As a temporary visitor it was a fun casual place to help get in the LA spirit, so to speak, and "do lunch." Their French breakfast items sounds delicious, so if given an opportunity on my next trip down I'll try to "do brunch" and report back again!
Los Angeles, CA
