Holland's Old Fashioned with Bols Genever, sugar, Angostura, lemon twist.
****Wood & Vine is one of my favorite places to dine whenever I’m in Hollywood to catch a movie at the ArcLight or kill some time before Hemingway’s Lounge opens up. It’s a gorgeous venue with a beautiful bar that greets you at the front of the house, followed by a second level for dining tables and comfy armchairs. Outside offers more dining tables, a lounge area and a large table with a firepit in the middle. Perfect for enjoying bar bites and drinks during a cool spring evening.
And even though the restaurant feels and looks awfully stately, the staff is helpful and down-to-earth nice so you don’t feel embarrassed for showing up to dinner in your Casual Friday/tourist attire.
Unfortunately this wasn't my order of charcuterie.
The “farm-to-table” menu, created by Gavin Mills (formerly sous chef of Bastide), is not intimidatingly expensive, ranging in price from $8 carrot soup to $20 grilled flat iron steak. Everything is basically small plates, which my bf hates because he says it’s just never enough. But we found that when we order three plates and a dessert we leave satisfied.
I’m always tempted to get a selection of cheese and charcuterie but bf doesn’t really eat meat. A shame considering the chef breaks down a whole pig once a week to make that charcuterie, using every bit of it!
The cocktail menu has a classic simplicity, echoing the farmer’s market freshness of the dishes. This is showcased in the Rodia’s Garden cocktail with cucumber vodka, lavender syrup, celery and absinthe. It’s served up but very refreshing. I would enjoy this on a sunny day on the patio. Too bad the restaurant doesn’t open til 6pm. The Bumblebee with Rittenhouse Rye is like one of my favorite gin drinks, Bee’s Knees, but with rye. Yum! And I loved the genever version of the Old Fashioned, the Holland’s Old Fashioned. It was maltier and not as sweet as the traditional cocktail, which was fine with me since I’m usually put off by the sugariness of the classic.
By the way, they have a Black Manhattan cocktail with Averna Amaro but since I’m somewhat of a Manhattan purist I stayed away from it. The server said that it’s pretty sweet anyway. Meh.
Beer drinkers will be pleased by the selection of brew: Deschutes Black Butte Porter, Allagash White and Stone IPA, to name a few, priced $6 to $8. There’s also a bottle of Allagash Curieux for $35 and Stone Smoked Porter for $14. Only issue I had, though, is that they served the beer in a chilled glass. But at least the beer wasn’t chilled, too.
After the jump are a few of my favorite things at Wood & Vine, taken with my brand-new T3i, which I’m still trying to get the hang of. (Case in point: a green photo of the roasted beet salad I shot.)
Bumblebee with Rittenhouse rye, orange juice, lemon, honey, egg whites.
Potato gnocchi with spring garlic, confit onions, truffle, english peas. The risotto was our fave but this took the place of that on the menu.
Grilled scallops with truffled grits, fava bean & corn ragu. I usually have to split this with bf but could easily polish off this plate by myself. Wish the truffled grits was a soup. So creamy.
Butterscotch pot de creme with salted caramel ice cream. Can never say no to this. It's just mean they serve this in a small baby jar.
Baileys whiskey, maple-bacon, salted caramel ice cream. My favorite ice cream flavors EVERR! Together they are just magical.
By the way, on Monday nights, Wood & Vine does a special Farmer’s Market dinner option where you can get three courses made from offerings from the Hollywood Farmers’ Market for $20, as well as a $20 bottle of California wine and $3 craft beer.
Wood & Vine
6280 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood, California (map)
(323) 334-3360
Facebook: Wood and Vine
Twitter: @woodandvine