Stars align at Bar Etoile, Melrose Hill’s newest eatery
It appears one can’t blink without something new popping up on Melrose Hill. This time it’s a French-inflected, wine-centric restaurant — Bar Etoile. What had been an unexciting commercial building has been converted into a welcoming façade fronting a gracious dining room with high ceilings, an architectural feature typical of this corner of Los Angeles.
The casually elegant eatery puts its drink program front and center. The large U-shaped bar is smack in the middle of the room. On the right, white-topped tables rim a white wall scattered with an eccentric array of small pictures. Pale blue clamshell booths line the wood-paneled wall to the left of the bar. Although there are five pre-mixed $17 cocktails on offer (I highly recommend the tequila gimlet), well drinks and beer, Bar Etoile’s beverage program concentrates on wine, unsurprising given that Bar Etoile co-owner Jill Bernheimer also owns the Melrose Avenue natural wine shop Domaine LA.
Partner Julian Kurland, formerly the manager and buyer at Domaine LA, is a Certified Cicerone, a professional with proven skill in selecting and serving beer. The third partner in Bar Etoile is Executive Chef Tavis Hayden, a former music executive, who learned to cook at Rustic Canyon, then created the food program at wine bar Voodoo Vin.
Small dishes
Chef Hayden has crafted an appealing menu for the restaurant. In keeping with the eating etiquette of the times, plates are meant to be shared. Unusually, even the small plates are, in fact, shareable. There are seven small dishes on the menu, including $6 rosemary marcona almonds, $19 homemade mortadella with sprouting cauliflower and sardine tonnato (a sardine version of the more common tuna sauce), and an $18 cheese tart. The small tart slice has big flavor. A thin crust holds a filling made with creamy semi-firm briana cheese, an artisanal raw milk cheese from grass-fed cows in Indiana. It has a lovely texture and sweet, slightly funky taste. The tart is dusted with powdered chives and comes with a spoonful of a fruity dipping sauce. Very rich, very pretty, very good.
Medium plates
Medium plates include salads, vegetables and a $22 kampachi crudo in ajo blanco (an almond gazpacho). We tried an $18 endive salad because it comes with shards of savory meringue, which sounds irresistible, and they are. The endive leaves sit on a base of two dressings; caramelized yeast, which gives a toasted cheese flavor, and pear cremeux (pear and chocolate custard). Chef Hayden double sauces several of his dishes, which can add an exciting layering of flavor. Although the taste and textures were good, it was difficult to get a forkful of all the flavors at once. It also would have been nice to jazz up the salad’s monotonous color scheme of mainly white and palest yellow on a white plate. Some baby kale or arugula or even parsley would perk up the visual element of the dish. Another dish in the designated medium category, $22 yams, are deeply seasoned with a luscious, spicy Guajillo pepper sabayon (egg yolk and wine sauce, here spiced with peppers) and liberally sprinkled with black sesame seeds. This is a very satisfying dish, although the yam wedges would have been even better if they were less al dente.
Mains
There were four main courses available the night we were there — a $24 vegetarian leek and polenta dish, a $38 rotisserie chicken with persimmon béarnaise sauce, which sounds delightful, and the two dishes that we shared. We had the $34 rockfish and it was well-cooked and flaky, with almost sweet flesh, topped with salsa macha (made from dried chiles, garlic, nuts and seeds) and resting on a mound of braised fennel. Under it all was a silky sunchoke puree. The salsa added a textural counterpoint to the soft elements of the terrific dish. We also shared steak frites, a beloved and common dish in French gastronomy. Bar Etoile’s $44 dish presents delicious skinny fries and a perfectly medium rare pre-cut skirt steak with a dollop of Montpellier butter, a sweet butter mixed with minced fresh herbs (such as tarragon, chives, dill and parsley), chopped capers and garlic. The butter was superb and helped amp up the steak’s flavor, which on its own was lacking je ne sais quoi.
For dessert, we passed on the $10 strawberry sorbet and $11 buttermilk vanilla affogato and instead shared the $12 chocolate tart. The dense chocolatey tart had just the right level of sweetness and was delicious with the double dollop of Chantilly cream and passion fruit sauce.
I’ve been to eateries that feel more exciting or more like home, which I prefer. Next time I’ll sit at the bar, which truly is the heart of the room, sip a glass of red from Burgundy, dig into a Caesar beef tartare and feel très français.
Bar Etoile, 632 N. Western Ave., 323-380-5040.
Category: Entertainment