Ladies that Lunch Chronicles: Campanile

Chef Mark Peel gained some notoriety with his TV stint on Bravo's 2nd season of Top Chef: Masters. But around Los Angeles, this father of 5 is known for his longstanding seasonal cooking at Campanile. Amongst his many other accomplishments, which include being a protege of Wolfgang Puck, co-founder of La Brea Bakery, and a Santa Monica Greenmarket maven (see video below), we discovered on a random Thursday afternoon, that this chef is also in the restaurant at all hours.

As the morning crew wrapped up lunch service, chef Peel rapidly rushed into the dining room. He pulled the general manager aside, and immediately started talking business. For a guy who's seen more than his fair share of fame, it's nice to know that he still has his hands on the day-to-day happenings at his own restaurant. A great lesson for all entrepreneurs.   

Besides showing up, what Peel also learned these past 20 years, is that by using local ingredients and cooking comfortingly simple food, LA patrons will keep coming back. And, you know what – It works.

From studio execs talking shop to a real estate agent and his prospective clients to a small office party to a mother-daughter duo, it seems that there is no "type" of person that particularly dines at Campanile during the day. And, as the food starts rolling in, I can see why. The dishes are takes on classic comfort foods – Pasta carbonara, fried chicken, bread pudding. It's more like lunch in the South, than in the Southland. But, at what first seems schmaltzy is in fact brilliant. This is the place where you hang because it's been there for years and you know it won't let you down. The food is predictable and good. However, at times, it seems that just one aspect prevents each dish from achieving its true greatness.

For example, the duck confit salad with peppery arugula dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette is a delightful way to start the meal. However, the long carrot "ribbons" are way too long. Each strand sloppily makes its way into my mouth only after winding around my fork several times like spaghetti. The tender duck confit (cooked in its own fat) and crispy (dare I say, chicken?) skin made everything else on the plate forgivable. However, the undercooked, crunchy risotto with overcooked salmon scraps served to my table companion was not.
Posted below are a few snapshots of the meal. Enjoy!

 

Bacon lardons, cracked black pepper, creamy pasta sauce

The crispy fried chicken was moist on the inside. It was crunchy, well-seasoned, and spicy on the outside. The potato salad was a mix of fingerling potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, red onions, and corn.

The risotto looks good. But, it's a dud. More butter! More stock! Mix in some cheese. Risotto (and salmon, for that matter) shouldn't be this dry! Those poor mushrooms and artichokes – at least they were delightful. :) 

Bread pudding. Great in theory. Dry and tasteless in reality.

Chocolate pot au creme with pistachio shortbread. Dud! The chocolate pudding had way too much gelatin. The texture was rubbery and the flavor was disappointingly bland. Chocolate! Why can't I taste chocolate?!

View of the dining room interior from the more casual, lunch area in the front. The space itself was used as Charlie Chaplin's office. The upstairs private dining rooms, named after Chaplin, pay homage to the screen actor. Watch another Campanile "commercial" below. 

Tako Taco – Lunch @ Tres by Jose Andrés

The majority of the lunch menu at Tres by Jose Andrés is predictably underwhelming – burgers with brioche buns, grilled chicken, overly salted lentil soup garnished with a burnt Serrano ham chip (hated it), and a smattering of salads. (*yawn...) The octopus "tacos" on the appetizer menu, however, are something else entirely. They're the reason why you go to lunch at Tres.

Assembled with organic Bibb lettuce instead of tortillas, these wraps are quite satisfying. The greens and concassé (read: skins removed) baby heirloom tomatoes were light and refreshing. The lime wedges on the side allowed us to drizzle more acid on the perfectly cooked octopus tentacles.
While biting into the "tako" (as they say in Japanese), I instantly noticed that there were no tough parts. It was all perfectly cooked! No overly chewy bits that eventually wind up stuck between your teeth. Just pure octopus meat, far tastier than nature ever intended. I thought to myself, "They must sous vide the tentacles first, then finish them on the grill." Because yes, there it was, the faintest little grill marks and a hint of char. It was so good that that 5 days later, I'm still thinking of it. Although there is just one thing I'd change... the name. Instead of calling them octopus tacos, let's refer to them as "Tako Tacos." The rest is perfection on a sunny Southern California afternoon.

Posted below are a few snapshots of Tres by Jose Andrés and the Beverly Hills SLS Hotel. Enjoy!

Loving the Oasis-look: soothing cabana feel when you walk through the SLS Beverly Hills entrance

Decor is hunter-hipster chic. Read: tasteful taxidermy and odd knick-knacks.

At night Tres transforms into the hotel's lounge. 

The long communal tables are perfect for strangers to sidle up next to one another. 

During the afternoon, it's pretty dead though. Which might be more to your liking, especially if you're setting up an incognito meeting with that special someone.

Oh, the burger... It was big. The bun was fluffy. But, everything else was boring. 

Also, I didn't like that they already mustarded my bun.  

And the stray napkin beneath just seemed out of place. 

Table trend of the moment: Mini fryer baskets

As seen at Hubert Keller's Fleur in Las Vegas and now, here, at Tres by Jose Andres

Point to Tres: the Ketchup was good. I mean, really, good – either it was homemade or Sir Kensington's Gourmet Scooping Ketchup. Now, there's a nice touch!

The chocolate cake is not really cake at all, but a rich chocolate mousse. The print on the thin pieces of chocolate were a beautiful touch. It gave the plate movement and went nicely with the garnishes.

We loved the little stuff – the cookie crumble and rice crispy chocolate balls were the hits of the plate!

Forgettable flan. 

As Daniel (the flan/custard/creme brûlée expert) puts it, "Well, there's a lot of bad flan out there." 

I love this knife! The picture doesn't do justice to its cuteness. 

And as a parting note, a few words from Weezer: "It's Beverly Hills! And, that's where I want to be! Gimme! Gimme!" Tako Taco! Til we eat again.