I Wanna Be a Foodie Review I - craft

I don't know what happened to Hubby and I recently- maybe it's the hours of watching Food Network, Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. Maybe it was the amazing gourmet meal we had in Hawaii. Maybe I'm just appreciating food more now that I'm "eating for two." Whatever it was, we've decided that we have a passion for simple, well cooked food. Food can be better than what you find at Friday's. And should be.

So, to celebrate our anniversary, Hubby and I took a drive down to Century City to visit craft , the newly opened Tom Colicchio restaurant. If you aren't familiar with this guy, he's a judge on Top Chef, and certainly not bad to look at. Bald-by-Choice is a brave look for a white dude. The location of this restaurant isn't ideal, at least not for those of us who don't work in the buildings immediately surrounding the restaurant. However, we were going on a busy Friday lunch hour, so I can't give it points off for that. The décor is simple and elegant, from what I could see. It was an ideal SoCal day, and we were seated out on the patio, so I didn't get a great view of the dining area. I can tell you, as a pregnant woman, that the restroom is lovely, and the stalls are spacious. A nice change from having to waddle in and straddle the bowl to get the door closed, as you have to in most public restrooms.

The menu looks to be changed often to incorporate fresh ingredients. Everything is ordered a la carte and is meant to be shared. I like that. A lot. Here's the rundown of our meal:

Hubby started with the Heirloom Tomato and Basil Seed salad, which he really enjoyed. We're both struggling a little to get over the "picky eater" syndrome of our childhood, and it did not escape our notice that the basil seeds were periwinkle blue and a little slimy, and that there was a small cube of clear jello-like something in the middle. Hubby said both were pretty tasteless, and that the flavor of the tomatoes was the real gem.

For the main course, Hubby had seared diver scallops that were like CANDY. Simply but perfectly, cooked in butter, they just peeled apart and were unbelievable. I had braised beef shortribs with root veggies. So tender, so flavorful. Probably would have tasted a little bit better had it been a cool, rainy day rather than 80 degrees and sunny, but that's not really important. We also shared a side of roasted assorted mushrooms. YUMM-AY. The dishes, served in individual sized cast iron pots, were just the right size to fill one person, and offer a taste to another. Two entrees and a side was more than enough for us, and I ended up taking home a little bit of the beef, and enjoyed it on a sandwich the next day. One small complaint- the food could have been a little warmer. We're assuming the heat level of our food was an anomaly.

Biggest downside for craft at lunch was the crowd. "Power players" from the surrounding offices peopled the joint, and we were unable to escape their inane chatter about how they just landed this huge deal. Coupled with the name dropping, it wore on our nerves, and perhaps caused us to rush, just ever so slightly through our Salty Chocolate Tart with Vanilla-something (nutty, coffee taste) Ice cream. Which was delish, by the way. Maybe the tart filling was a little too close to tasting like cake batter, but the juxtaposition with the salt was really interesting and yummy. Leave it to me to try the chocolate dessert. I couldn't bring myself to order the Olive Oil gelato. Yes. Olive Oil. I'm not that much of a foodie, yet. I would have ordered a glass of wine and two or three of the artisan cheeses on the menu if I weren't in such a delicate position. I've come this far, I can't cheat now….

All in all, I give craft high, but not ideal marks. I'm sure we'll be trying the food there again.

Going here is my next goal. Oh, and I want to try Sprinkles bakery. And go back to Enterprise Fish Co. for some amazing lobster bisque. And Lares for the best Mexican food in LA. Mmmm. Food.