los angeles - venice: barnyard

tommy moseys on over to barnyard in venice...

grilled bread with jam, butter, and mustard

hand rolled gnocci in brown butter with english peas, hedgehog mushrooms, bacon, and pecorino

pilota: italian fried rice with wild mushrooms, balsamic, sage, and parmesan

daily catch: halibut with asparagus

bread pudding

tommy says: the bread was quite good, but they do charge; the jam that came with it was tasty, but not sure what the mustard was for.  gnocchi were nice little pillows and tasty.  pilota was unusual, but enjoyable; the balsamic flavor was great, and it was a nice twist on fried rice.  halibut was nicely cooked, and had a lovely olive oil flavor. bread pudding was more reminiscent of french toast than bread pudding, and was just ok.  the menu is not as extensive as other restaurants of this style/price range, but what they did offer was done pretty well.

barnyard
1715 pacific ave
venice, ca 90291
(310) 581-1015
http://www.barnyardvenice.com

los angeles - venice: piccolo

tommy goes to piccolo in venice...

conchigille: marinanted sea scallops, sea urchin, lemon-thyme pesto

 fontina filled ravioli, parmesan-butter sauce ,fresh winter truffle shaving 

garganelli, braised duck ragu

ox tail filled agnolotti, slow-roaste ox tail sugo

australian wagyu ny steak, lemon-thyme pesto maldon sea salt

branzino baked with topinambour, leeks-lemongrass sauce

bignole: chocolate cream, pastry puffs

cannoli

tommy says:  the pastas and main courses were absolutely fantastic!  the appetizer was ok - the sea urchin flavor got lost. the desserts were just eh - didn't really care for their interpretation of a cannoli, the shell was too hard and filling wasn't so great either; bignole was just fine.  but back to the pasta - handmade, and paired with amazing sauces.  branzino was incredible and perfectly cooked, as was the steak. a really enjoyable meal! 

piccolo
5 dudley ave
venice, ca 90291
(310) 314-3222
http://piccolovenice.com/

venice: agra indian kitchen

tommy finds some decent indian food at agra indian kitchen in venice...


complimentary soup


vegetable samosas


chicken tikka masala
bhendi masala: okra sautéed with onion, tomatoes and herbs


naan
volcano lamb

tommy says: finally found good chicken tikka masala in los angeles!! samos and naan were good too. bhendi masala wasn't so great, and the volcano lamb was crazy spicy (spicier than vindaloo) and couldn't really tell what it tasted like except hot. will be back for samosas, naan and chicken tikka masala... the search for other yummy indian dishes continues...

agra indian kitchen
2553 lincoln blvd
venice, ca 90291
(310) 827-0050
http://www.agraindiankitchen.com/