My wife and I were up in L.A on Wednesday staying at the Marina del Rey Marriott close to Venice Beach. After checking in around 3pm we sat in our hotel room looking online for a special place to have dinner later on. I swear we compared 50 restaurants within a few miles and only one restaurant really stood out . . Barrique in Venice. My wife immediately booked a table online for 6.30pm. Being only vaguely familiar with the Venice area we took a Lyft ( just 2 miles ) to the restaurant and arrived around 6.15pm.
The cute 2 story YELLOW HOUSE looked very welcoming and so was Emily the lovely hostess. We were offered a choice of the charming outdoor courtyard downstairs or the top floor dining room in the YELLOW HOUSE . . we chose inside ! As soon as we entered we ran into Antonio . . the co-owner & Michelin Star Executive Chef ( of 3 restaurants ) who welcomed us with open arms. As usual we beat the rush and there was no one else in the top floor dining room when we sat at our table (we were offered seating anywhere including the cute outdoor deck upstairs ). Glasses of iced water plus an assortment of fresh Artisan Bread & Olive Oil appeared on our table courtesy of Luis the food runner & Jacob the busser.
Miguel our very talented server for the evening brought all the appropriate menus for our perusal. I saw they had an incredulous selection of fine wine ( we don’t drink wine ) but no beer on their drinks menu. I asked Miguel about what beer was available when he returned to take our dinner order and his reply was PERONI . . . better than nothing I thought so I grabbed one. A steady sprinkling of dinner patrons started to fill the dining room while we thought about our dinner order. In the end we ordered the Pan Seared Scallops Parmesan Fondue Shaved Black Truffle Appetizer to share and for her entree my wife chose the Home-Made Black Ink Linguine Lobster Wild Mushrooms.
After consulting with our helpful server Miguel I decided on the Tagliata di Manzo con Rucola Parmigiano e Balsamic Antico – Medium Rare Plus ( 12 oz Grilled Dry Aged Rib-Eye Arugula Shaved Parmesan Aged Balsamic Dressing ) for my entree. Our Pan Seared Scallops tasted exceptional. The dining room was filling up fast while I enjoyed my ice cold Peroni beer by an excellent bartender. And before we knew it our dinner orders arrived together and looked totally spectacular.
My wife enjoyed her delicate Home-Made Black Ink Linguine Lobster Wild Mushrooms while my 12 oz Rib-Eye with a nice side salad tasted very good. DESSERT and we both liked something different so we ordered one of each . . . 1 x Tronchetto ( Layered White and Dark Chocolate Mousse on a Hazelnut Cookie Crisp ) and 1 x Crema ( Vanilla Pot De Creme layers with Fito and Caramel ). Our delectable looking desserts arrived and tasted outstanding . . what a lovely sweet finale to an incredible evening !
