3 on 4th

so this is one of those places that i've passed by a million times and always wanted to try. it's dimly lit and it looks deceivingly small from the outside. but that's just what you want sometimes -- a place that has an intimate feel but gives you the necessary elbow/leg room once you're settled in.

seeing that restaurant week was ending in a mere 3 days, i was really excited about this reservation. i'd had a long week and a long day, and i'd just submitted work to my advisor the night before, so it was time to celebrate!

idiotically, i'd worn heels (which i rarely ever do), and even though i was sitting on a bus for 45 minutes (which was surprisingly nice), my toesies were still majorly chafing (like my mom says, do you really need to suffer for beauty?).

so i decided to make two pit stops before heading straight to the restaurant. first, lululemon. ummm, LOVE them, wish i could afford them. thankfully (!!) i remembered to ask the saleswoman about the discount they have for local fitness professionals (yes, c'est moi -- is that gramatically correct, btw?). all i have to do now is fill out a form, submit a fitness schedule w/my name on it, and commit to being part of their R&D team for a year -- and i get 15% off! how great is that? yes, it's a bit of work and paperwork, but nothing lil ole me can't handle. as i was telling eri a few months ago, I'M AWESOME!! (yeah, no ego here, right?)

btw, as i was chatting w/the lovely saleswoman, i found out that she was a dance major at UCLA and is now teaching dance classes! how cool is that? i swear, you find the most random people doing the most random things in the most random places. i love that! totally makes my day. so as a supporter of this new lululemon acquaintance, i'm providing a link to the dance studio for all you dance lovers out there: http://shaktiselements.com/. check it out! FYI that she teaches beginning roots modern dance. it sounds totally fun. who's in?

next, leonidas. i forget who, but someone was just recently raving about the fact that leonidas now has sugar-free chocolate. i think they expected me to think it was a wonderful thing, but my reaction is: HELL NO!! i mean, when i'm at a fine chocolate shop, i don't want to see chocolate where sugar's been subbed by some sugar substitute. i mean, GROSS! chocolate is chocolate, and if you didn't want to indulge, then why bother coming into the store at all? go get yourself some cheap-ass russell stover or whitman's (ewwwwwwwww!!!!). furthermore, if you want less sugar, go towards GOD and buy DARK chocolate. (milk chocolate's nasty anyways. and only edible when you have no other chocolate product in sight.) any true chocolate connoisseur knows that dark is the way to go, with milk coming in second, and white coming in WAY third. (talk about cloyingly sweet. ick.) personally, i enjoy the REALLY bitter (like 90% cacao if possible), but you're pretty good to go w/65%.

before i move onto dinner, let's just say i couldn't even pay attention to what leonidas had to offer on its shelves b/c i was so distracted by this couple in the store. the reason? i was blinded by the GINORMOUS diamonds on her ring finger. as a number of my friends have gotten engaged over recent months, i've been trained to watch for the bling as soon as someone's left hand passes through my field of vision. but there is NOOOOOO way anyone could've missed these babies. they were HUGE! the engagement ring was a ginormous pear in the center with humongous side stones. and i think the wedding band was rocks all around. btw, have i mentioned they were HUGE?! i swear this woman's hand must've been glued onto her wrist. at any rate, i had to break the mesmerizing hold of all that ice and leave the store. all i could do was wonder what that man did for a living. i mean, seriously. is he trafficking drugs?!

as i limped over to the restaurant, i was oh-so-thrilled when the hostess offered to seat me first. however, i should've known that dinner would go downhill when she broke my cardinal rule of restaurant week eating -- she didn't offer the regular menu! (i had to ask the server for it later b/c i really wanted to see it.) i mean, how are you going to get me back into the restaurant if i don't know what else is available? tsk tsk. bad move.

at any rate, my friend (who shall remain nameless for reasons that will become clear shortly) wasn't going to be there until the actual reservation time, so i had some lovely minutes to myself to scour both menus. while i was impressed with the appetizer options on the regular menu, i was unimpressed with the entree options (and prices). i mean, who wouldn't want to try scrambled eggs w/sea urchin, black truffle, and creme fraiche? (ok, maybe lots of people, but they're not the adventurous eaters i like to hang with.) but who wants to look at yet another boring menu with salmon, chicken breast, and steak frites? talk about dullsville. bleh. furthermore, who wants to pay excessively high prices for little to no creativity? i could just as easily get dorm food. (and some of that dorm food is pretty darn yummy!) in any case, i'm thankful that we were doing the prix fixe menu. it wasn't anything too mindblowing, but the pricing was significantly better than dining a la carte.

let's see... for the appetizer, i ordered the grilled apple salad w/buffalo mozarella, crispy prosciutto, and honey roasted walnuts. (considering that i was going to try and be vegetarian for the month, i haven't been doing too well. why vegetarian? for the resolution revolution of course! http://12-resolutions.blogspot.com/) for the entree, i chose the wild atlantic striped bass. and for the dessert, i went with the mascarpone cheesecake. a lighter version than the typical cheesecake, but it's cheesecake, so how light could it possibly be? let's not lie to ourselves.

but first things first, i have to admit that i was slightly distracted from the food last night by some very negative dinner conversation. and i've decided that bad dinner conversation is WAY worse than completely dead air. and as everyone knows, eating out is as much about the company and the conversation as it is about the food. and if the conversation kills the mood, you can't even resort to focusing on the food b/c you've totally lost your appetite. at least with dead air, you can direct your atention to what's on your plate. plus negative chatter really messes up your first impression of a restaurant. so if there's a place you really want to check out, pick your dinner date accordingly. with that, i premise this abbreviated review with the apology that my taste buds weren't quite as sharp as usual last night.

so before we even ordered, one of the servers came out with an amuse bouche. this is usually a sign of chi-chi fare. unfortunately, the amuse was a combo of tuna and potato. this was yet another sign of a downward spiral, as i don't like tuna and i hate potato. eek. the flavors weren't heinous, but needless to say, i was more impressed by the thought of the amuse than the amuse itself. as for the salad, it was a yummy combo of flavors and textures. i'm not the biggest fan of apples, but i think i prefer them slightly grilled over completely raw. and who can't get enough of candied walnuts? it was a pretty basic dish, but a light way to start what ended up being a pretty heavy meal.

the fish. well, the skin was WAY crispy (the way i like it) and the meat was flaky (though a little dry). unfortunately, the presentation was seriously bland. there was some green celery puree and some orange carrot puree on the plate, neither of which looked very appealing. there was no sauce at all, which would've been better w/the fish than the slightly grainy vegetable purees. and to kill the dish, the chef set the fish on top of a white mess of POTATO PUREE. as i reiterate yet again, I HATE POTATO. needless to say, that was just gross. i had to try and flake off the fish w/o getting too much potato on my fork. talk about ruining taste AND texure. ick.

the dessert. mascarpone cheesecake. not a bad concept, but not a light one either. and when you've had a heavy meal, a light dessert option should at least be offered. what did i have to choose from? a chocolate tart. been there, done that. blueberry pie. ummm, how does that even belong on the menu? so random. and probably saturated with sugar. so i pretty much didn't have too much room to maneuver. granted, i ate it all. but it's dessert, it's restaurant week, and it's me w/no self-control once i've started in on something. needless to say, i felt seriously weighted down when i left. emotionally AND physically. talk about ending the night on a crappy note! i so did NOT deserve that. boo!

this just means the week's going to get better, right? lol. staying positive. (thanks, derek!)

3 on fourth
1432A 4th st
santa monica, ca 90401
310.395.6765

http://www.3onfourth.com/