Hatfield's

For our inaugural review, we figured we'd come out with a blockbuster. Hatfield's is without a doubt one of the best restaurants in LA. The food goes head to head with some of those restaurants with multi course tasting menus but without the attitude and stuffiness.

In the recent economic times, the restaurant is offering a special menu. For $49 you choose off the entire menu one app, one entree and one dessert (previous menu would have bought you an app and entree for that price). The meal starts with an amuse bouche of deviled quail eggs and a warm shot of apple fennel soup. For the apps we highly recommend the homemade corn agnolotti made with dungeness crab, cherry tomatoes, hon shimeji mushrooms and fava beans in a sherry butter fondue. It's rich but out of this world. The other must is the "Croque Madame." This is not your average Croque Madame and wouldn't consider it anything of the sort. It's made with a crispy brioche filled with hamachi sashimi, prosciutto and a fried quail egg on top. If anybody's been to AOC they have a similar dish but this crushes it.

For the main course, you must go with the double plate of the pan roasted hanger steak and the braised short ribs. The hanger is served with onion confit and the short ribs are slow cooked and dusted with horseradish and served over a smoked potato puree. All is topped off with a light brown glaze (see pic above). This dish makes you want to saver each bite. We also had the duck, which is also very good, but does not compare to this dish.

Though you may be full at this point, save room for dessert. If you are a fan of lemon, go with the baked lemon custard tartlet with huckleberry compote, shortbread sable and cream cheese ice cream. If you are looking for something refreshing try the cherry soup. It's served cold with fresh market cherries and an ice cream cookie sandwich. Delish!

While corkage is $25, they have a really affordable wine list. You won't find it difficult to find a solid wine under $40.

Lastly, if you're going on a date we recommend the outside corner table in the front.

Rating: 96 points

Hatfield's
7458 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles 90036
323-935-2977