Luxury Life & Style

delicious diversions grilled tiger shrimps with orzo pasta came entrée -sized, with plenty to share for all; many restaurateurs would stiff you on those two to three extra shrimps in order to “food cost” out a second serving, so it was nice to see generosity of ingredients. Generosity of portion and of spirit is what makes Darren’s such a welcome surprise. They’re still working out some kinks – the wines weren’t very exciting, that is, until Chef came by again with a taste of a cool new sample bottle of chardonnay he was considering for the list. Made from Durrell Vineyard fruit under the “Three Sticks” label, it was fantastic wine and was much more exciting than the humdrum offerings that were otherwise offered. Clearly, Chef also has a palate for wine so I hope that he’ll make time to revisit the wine list, too. We left feeling well fed and appreciated as guests, and with a now-snoozing baby in the stroller, enjoyed a crisp walk on the Pier in lieu of dessert. It’s my real pleasure to recommend this South Bay gem, and I look forward to dining there again some time soon. Darren’s Restaurant 1141 Manhattan Avenue Manhattan Beach 310-802-1973 darrensrestaurant.com Chef Darren Weiss Good times. Pastis’ opening marked a turning point in the neighborhood, though. While it does and always has offered earnest brasserie fare and good-value wines, it’s difficult to locate them amidst the cacophony of scenesters and limos and B+T traffic that pack in night after night after night. There are no drag queen hookers at Chef David Myers’ L.A. spin on the brasserie, though there was a similar air of fabulosity at play amidst the oh-so-Frenchie food. There was some mix-up at the hostess stand, where my husband and I were told that our table had been given to someone else. We were happy enough to observe and to linger by the very cool cheese bar, where it was fun to talk shop with the fromagier who impressed me with his perfectly ripened dairy wonders and all Comme Ça Dining Déjà Vu Great restaurants can be transportive in a very real application of the term. Dining at West Hollywood’s new hot spot Comme Ça on a recent evening took me somewhere else, just like that, which was handy as I couldn’t hear a word over the deafening din. Specifically, I was transported back to a very particular 2 a.m. in 1999 in New York when my chef ex and I ate at Pastis for the very first time. We lived in the Meatpacking District back when meat was still packed there, before it became so unredeemably hip. As we both then worked slave hours in restaurants, we’d grown accustomed to walking home from the subway in the early morning hours amidst piles of carcasses and friendly drag queen hookers on occasion. 82 Luxury Life & Style March/April 2008 darrensrestaurant.com

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