nook bistro

so dani and i had been planning this meal for WEEKS -- something, anything to get us motivated to work through our proposal drafts. (plus mark's apparently unwilling to dine out on the west side. as for why, we're not quite sure, but i'll simply have to get him all my amazing west side restaurant picks pretty darn soon!) after much agony (on both our parts) to meet our deadlines, we made it!! YAY!! and we were FINALLY able to treat ourselves to a lovely dinner at nook. WOOHOO!!

for those of you who don't know, nook prides itself as a neighborhood joint. and honestly, you most definitely need to be a local, a regular, or a serious foodie or you'd never EVER find this place. first, you'd need to know that nook is located in a strip mall. (right across from cafe 50's actually!) so you'd need to be able to find the orange sign among all the other signs in the big strip mall directory to even know it's there. second, you'd need to know that nook has no sign above its door. only a big blue sign with a white arrow. (i mean, seriously? seriously.) and as dani pointed out, an etching of "OOK" on the door. (which i don't even think was there the last time i went.) needless to say, dani was glad that i was there to point the way.

as soon as we stepped inside, the waiter was right there to check off my name (and apologize for it being horribly butchered by the reservationist -- thank god he didn't tell me how badly b/c i really didn't want to know) and seat us at a lovely table for two. FYI that nook's a personal fave and i've been here at least a half dozen times, so i gave dani free reign to order whatever she wanted to try, though i absolutely HAD to get the mushroom & butternut squash soup. mmm.... mushrooms.... mmm.... squash.... plus it was a puree, so no cream! (not that i don't love cream, but it *can* be quite heavy.) yay for immersion blenders!

given that we were starving, we ordered the nook dinner salad and the mushroom & squash soup to tide us over, while we made our way through the rest of the fabulous menu. after i gave my recommendations, we decided on the organic half roasted chicken and the roasted squash & chickpea stew for the main dishes. and of course, we HAD to order the shitake & gruyere bread pudding. simply b/c who FINDS that anywhere? mushrooms, cheese, and bread pudding -- what more could you ask for? the answer is: nothing. absolutely nothing.

first of all, the appetizers were delicious. the nook dinner salad was amazing as always. aside from the fabulous red-purple color of the dish, the flavors were spot on, with just enough acid from the rosemary beet vinaigrette, and the most interesting textures from the combination of greens, cranberries, pecans, and goat cheese. the soup was absolutely delectable and totally un-creamy (which is precisely what i like). plus it was just salty enough, so it didn't need any additional seasoning.

considering how wedded i am to supermarket rotisserie chicken, i've rarely ordered roasted chicken anywhere else. (what can i say? i like what i like.) but this chicken was suprisingly delicious. the skin was perfectly crispy and the thigh meat was full of flavor. dani made sure i got some of the sauce, which was very yummy indeed. to counter the heaviness of the chicken, i'd chosen the stew w/couscous, which seemed healthier, what w/all the veggies in the mix. and it was just that -- light, healthy, and mild on the palate. you just felt like you were getting your daily dose of veggies and doing good by your body. (oh, and FYI that i've never been a big fan of couscous, but i think it's growing on me!)

as for the shitake gruyere bread pudding, it was (again) to die for. there's just something about the combination of mushrooms, cheese, and bread pudding that unlocks the secrets of the universe. i mean, seriously. it was just perfectly crusty on the top, perfectly scrumptious in the middle, and perfectly devoured on the bottom. w/yummy chunks of mushrooms sticking out all over the place -- OMG. SO good.

i'd warned dani that every meal had to end w/dessert, so we ordered the key lime pie, since that was the lightest dessert and probably the best palate cleanser. and we were right! it was nice and light and creamy, and even came w/some fluffy whipped cream on top and some blueberries on the side. whenever there's fruit, it's healthy, right? right. (let's just go with that. keep moving, people, just keep moving.)

needless to say, we'll have to plan another adventure soon b/c eating out w/dani is always mucho fun. especially since she knows more about eating out than i do! (and i thought i was a pro!) YAY for more foodie adventures! next stop: grilled cheese month at clementine's! http://www.meltthevote.blogspot.com/ mmm....

nook
11628 santa monica blvd
los angeles, ca 90025
310.207.5160

http://www.nookbistro.com/index.htm