Restaurant preview: The Mercantile

New York entrepreneur George Abou-Daoud has a spanking new place for Hollywood hipsters to hang. That would be the gourmet market and wine bar called the Mercantile just a few blocks west of his popular Bowery and Delancey venues. And this time, he's nabbed a name chef to do the food -- Kris Morningstar, who comes fully credentialed from stints at A.O.C. and Blue Velvet, not counting a short tenure at Casa downtown as opening chef. Morningstar will be handling both the Mercantile and the restaurant District next door (slated to open soon). Read more here:

Photo caption: Chef Kris Morningstar chats with a customer at the Mercantile, a new wine bar and restaurant, off Sunset Boulevard. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Picking the perfect wine

Click through Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila's recommendations.

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The Review: Blue Plate Oysterette reels in one star and a good bit of praise

OK, so L.A. has its Issan Thai restaurants, Sichuan and Shanghai style places, Tuscan trattorie and Provençal bistros, Yucatan and Oaxacan joints. Why not an East Coast clam shack? Well, now we have one, fetchingly called Blue Plate Oysterette.

I'm surprised no one has tried it before. There was the short-lived Menemsha, but it was a much more ambitious East Coast seafood place. That this one is small and cozy with a studied casual air and a great front of the house -- not to mention it's just across from Palisades Park and the Pacific -- gives this place a fighting chance.

Owner Jenny Morton, who also owns Blue Plate on Montana Avenue, went for a neighborhood kind of place rather than something glitzy. The menu is smart too. Pretty much everything that people love about East Coast seafood -- oysters, clams, mussels, lobster rolls, fish 'n' chips, steamers -- is listed on the one-page menu. But if you're looking for grilled or steamed Maine lobster, you're out of luck. No clam bakes either.

But then you can't have everything, can you? What's best here is the raw seafood -- oysters, clams, ceviche and some, but not all, of the cooked dishes. New York's Pearl Oyster Bar, this is not. But the service from waiters in blue-and-white gingham or striped shirts is eager and willing and the front of the house bends over backward to accommodate everyone.

To read the rest of S. Irene Virbila's review, click here.

Photo: A dozen oysters on the half shell are served with homemade cocktail sauce and Moscatel and tarragon mignonette. Credit: Christina House / For The Times

The Review: Former 'Top Chef' contestant Stefan Richter earns two stars

For a "Top Chef" finalist, 36-year-old Stefan Richter comes out like a lamb at his new restaurant, Stefan's at L.A. Farm. He's not out to shock or provoke. He's out to cook food that's squarely within most people's comfort zones.

Good for him. Richter, after all, doesn't have a lot to prove. He's been there, done that as executive sous chef at the Bellagio in Vegas, chef at Enoteca Drago in Beverly Hills and executive chef at Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara. He's no wannabe. He's been around and is more of a pragmatist in his cooking than a showoff. I'm sure he knows how to make a foam, but you won't find one here.

He's going for smart, contemporary cooking that everyone can relate to and flirting only occasionally with the cutting edge. It makes for pleasant but not necessarily exciting dining at this latest reincarnation of L.A. Farm (around since 1989). In this Santa Monica neighborhood, though, and particularly at this price point, that's already an achievement.

To read the rest of S. Irene Virbila's review, click here.

Photo: Sliced pig's head with Champagne-chive vinaigrette, radishes and frisee. Credit: Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times

Wine of the Week | What to drink with your braised short ribs or pasta with meat ragu

The Wine of the Week: 2007 Produttorio del Barbaresco Nebbiolo delle Langhe.

A classic expression of Nebbiolo from one of the best wine cooperatives in the world, Barbaresco's baby bro carries a taste of black cherries and earth from the Langhe region around Alba. Elegant and chiseled, it's a bit softer than a Barbaresco, just delicious and ready for drinking now. A steal at this price.

Click here to find out where to buy.

Photo credit: Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times

The Review | Pinot Provence in the O.C. has a new chef

Pinot Provence in Orange County once had high ambitions and served truly Provençal food, but more recently restaurateur Joachim Splichal has seemed content to position his sixth restaurant as a standard bistro with a standard menu.

Now, though, Pinot Provence has a new chef. She's Laurent "Lulu" De Rouen, who grew up in Manhattan Beach, the daughter of a New Orleans-raised Frenchman.

Click here to read more of Los Angeles Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila's review from today's Food section.

Photo credit: Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times

The Review: The Tasting Kitchen in Venice scores two stars for imagination and spunk

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That's why Hidden became Caché, Charcoal switched to BoHo, and Max morphed into Marché.

Now the former AK in Venice has become the Tasting Kitchen. This summer,  AK founding chef Conny Anderson and partners agreed to disagree and the investors promptly sought a new chef for their Abbot Kinney restaurant. After closing briefly, the restaurant reopened with a temporary concept: a one-page "bill of fare" that changes every day.

That was supposed to be only a provisional measure, but it's been such a hit that it's here to stay.

The name isn't. Once the restaurant closes toward the end of the year for a couple of weeks for a minimal remodel to reflect the philosophy of the food -- handcrafted and personal -- it will reopen with a new name. Confusing? Yes. But here's the main thing: The food is lusty and delicious. And the place is fun. And the menu is definitely not the same generic California menu seen all over town. Not in general. And not specifically, either.

The rabbit that the hard-pressed restaurateurs pulled out of the hat is Casey Lane, a 26-year-old chef who's worked at Oliveto in Oakland under Paul Bertolli (now owner of the salumeria Fra' Mani) earlier in his career and in Portland, Ore., most recently at Clarklewis. The Texas native moved down to L.A. a year ago to head up the kitchen at a Silver Lake project that never happened. When he got this job, he imported some other Clarklewis alums to help him, which makes the Tasting Kitchen a Portland-slash-California restaurant.

To read the rest of S. Irene Virbila's review and see a tasty photo gallery, click here.

Photo: Crostone with chicken pate, frisee salad, warm vinaigrette and poached farm egg at the Tasting Kitchen in Venice.Credit: Ann Johansson / For The Times

Our wine of the week is perfect for pairing with salads, seafoods

What a beauty!

Scented with lime and white peaches, it has a bracing minerality that balances the lush ripe fruit: The 2008 Bodegas La Cana, named for the canes that grow along the rivers, exhibits finesse and grace in a beautiful package.

That's why it's our wine of the week. Click here for details -- and where to buy it.

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Relaxation, by the glassful, at Noir Food & Wine

Wine bars come and go in Pasadena, but Noir Food & Wine is notable not only for the quality of the wines on offer but because Claud Beltran, late of Madeleines Restaurant on Green Street, is cooking. Read more here.

Photo credit: Christine Cotter / For The Times

The Review: Chef Craig Strong takes three stars with Studio at Montage Laguna Beach

As friends and I approach Studio, the restaurant at Montage Laguna Beach set on the edge of a bluff, I can see chef Craig Strong silhouetted against a silvery mauve sky as he talks to a table of guests on the outdoor terrace. Palm trees in front are ablaze with the setting sun, and in the grass behind him, a trio of bunny rabbits plays and nibbles. We're seated outside too, the better to enjoy the sea air and the unobstructed view of the coastline. What a spot!

After eight years as chef at the Dining Room at the former Ritz-Carlton Huntington in Pasadena (now the Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa), Strong is in an enviable position as the new executive chef at Studio, replacing opening chef James Boyce. He's entirely comfortable cooking in a hotel system, having worked for Ritz-Carlton for much of his career in Atlanta and Barcelona before Pasadena. And this is a plum assignment.

No other restaurant in Southern California has this mesmerizing view, and this happy combination of setting, great food, polished service and deep wine list makes Studio at Montage one of the region's true destination restaurants.

For the rest of S. Irene Virbila's review, click here.

Photo: Sauteed Hudson Valley Farms Duck Breast at Studio restaurant at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. Credit: Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times