Openings

Eveleigh Brings Intelligent Design and Seasonality From Down Unda’ To The Land of Ketchup and Boa

Photo: Tatiana Arbogast

Tonight Eveleigh takes over the former Sunset Blvd. home of a Kenneth Cole store, putting the quaint cottage to a much better, Bastide-like use, with fresh-fruit cocktails and menus of California cuisine in a setting of candlelight, natural wood beams, and naked red brick. Diana Takes a Bite got a first look last week, skipping the fireplace to sit on a spacious patio overlooking the neighborhood, which is probably still busy picking up the bikini tops and Lady Gaga balloon/meat dresses that litter its floor post-Halloween. What’s on the menu here?

Eater reports this as a project from that mob of hipster dags from Down Unda’ who run Kingswood and Ruby’s in New York. No word on whether or not they’ll sing “happy birthday” here four times a night, but the food from chef Jordan Toft already sounds restrained and carefully considered on “fair dinkum” of a menu that changes regularly as local markets dictate.

Divided into four sections for small and big plates, sides and dessert, there’s cuts-of-the-moment like crisp pork belly with soft polenta and braised beef cheeks with sunchokes, along with wild white shrimp with peppered pecorino, grilled salmon from the sea, orechiette mac and cheese, pork rillete, and beef rib eye cap with beets, chanterelles, and a pinot noir sauce. Sounds like a meaty menu that’s not afraid to be delicate through artistic plating and generous sides of in-season vegetables, as Diana Takes a Bite’s photos display. Desserts like poached peach with brown sugar ice cream and a dark chocolate banana ice cream sandwich with rum caramel also sound intelligently engineered.

The best news is probably reflected in Eveleigh’s location. In a town where people frequent Ketchup and fall over themselves to hit Boa, the smart, seasonal selection of farm-and-ranch creativity bodes well for locavore cuisine and market cooking finally wiggling into mainstream climes.

Eveleigh, 8752 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood. 424-239-1630.

Eveleigh Restaurant: Already “that” place [Diana Takes a Bite]
Rustic Chic Within Eveleigh on Sunset [Eater]

Eveleigh Brings Intelligent Design and Seasonality From Down Unda’ To The Land