We started Drive & Find a few years back because, frankly, we were damn intimidated by the vast Los Angeles culinary scene. It’s a simple concept: two Westside dudes are hungry… they pick an area of town… they take a drive … they find an alluring restaurant … they dine there. This concept has brought us all around LA – from seafood to Thai to total crap – nonetheless our affinity for the unknown remains.

DATE: Thursday, June 18, 2009

RESTAURANT: La Fiesta Brava
423 Rose Avenue
Venice, 90291
310.399.8005

THEIR SLOGAN: not the sort of restaurant with a slogan

OUR SLOGAN: Awesome – because not the sort of restaurant with a “slogan”

DRIVE TIME: 25 minutes

LIKES: The piping hot chips. Fresh salsa. BYOB and the convenient convenience market next door. Odd arrangement of bullfighting paraphernalia. The owner, Samuel (we think that was his name). The eclectic set of patrons. The south of the border feel. The flimsy screen door entrance. The price.

DISLIKES: Health Code “B” on the door. The old Tony Danza lookalike in a Lakers hat who wouldn’t shut up about the Lakers.

THE MENU: Mariscos plus standard Mexican (TexMex fajitas as well).

THE SCENE:

After the misstep that was Pacific Palisades and Café Vida we at Drive and Find sought to totally, totally redeem ourselves.

And luckily with La Fiesta Brava we totally, totally did.

It wasn’t easy though. After driving up and down Lincoln throughout the Venice region for upwards of twenty minutes we made the executive decision to give the side streets a gander. We eventually found ourselves on the tenebrous Rose just north of Main Street. Despite heavy auto and foot traffic, this area of Rose has a very Hitchcockian feel to it. Luckily, these areas, as we’ve learned over the years, are ripe for successful Drive and Finds.

La Fiesta Brava had us at “hola.” Adjacent to a convenience market, La Fiesta Brava doesn’t possess the location or flash of other area Mexican restaurants and, truthfully, that’s what made it so enticing. Very, very minimal in structure, you walk in through a very flimsy screen door and are immediately greeted with the smell of quality, fresh Mexican, bullfighting posters and an incredibly eclectic clientele. In one corner you have a family of six, the other you have a husband singing show tunes aloud much to his wife’s chagrin, next to him is a guy masterly popping a beer bottle cap with a knife and right down the middle you are greeted with half-smiles from some truly baked surfers.

THE SUPPER:

After a quick stop at the market next door for a sixer of Pacifico we sat down at a communal table in the middle of the restaurant with the high as kites surfer dudes. The first page of the menu is very heavy on the Mariscos. Which is great, but neither of us at D&F were feeling the seafood tonight, so our gaze found itself more on the second page of more traditional Mexican offerings.

While mulling our options we were presented with a piping hot bowl of tortilla chips along with accompanying fresh salsa. We’re talking like Fresh Prince fresh and the chips smelled like movie theatre popcorn they were so hot. Both the salsa and chips were very, very good.

We decided to go with the “El Trio” – a plate of cheese, chicken and carne asada enchiladas. Very tasty. Aesthetically pleasing as well – each of the enchiladas was topped with a different color salsa. Although not the greatest enchiladas we’ve ever had they were pretty damn good. Of note, actually, was the side rice which featured a plethora of chopped vegetables. The Mexican version of what is commonly seen as Asian fried rice was a nice, unexpected touch.

It’s a huge serving, too. In fact, upon completion we were quoted as saying, “That was f***ing filling.” Overall, for eight dollars “El Trio” was certainly worth the price.

The second entrée choice was a straight shot – the carne asada burrito. The owner/ host/waiter/dishwasher/utility cook that is Samuel stressed they’ll customize any order so we decided to put the Spanish rice inside the tortilla and keep the refried beans smothered in cheese, sour cream and green onions a la carte. The carne asada burrito meat was some of the best we’ve had in a long time. The carne asada – usually found chopped up to enhance each bite – in this burrito contained big strips of fresh marinated steak straight off the grill. Totally unexpected and unbelievable. To top it off, literally, roja sauce and cheese covered the burrito providing some extra taste and finger licking.

After we finished our meal Samuel came to our table again to talk with us about his La Fiesta Brava. He noted they’ve been open for 14 years and that he still doesn’t advertise solid hours since everything is made fresh daily and they’ll stay open as long as there’s food left and hungry mouths … the latter which will be ours again very soon.

We do Drive & Finds to hopefully stumble upon places like La Fiesta Brava. Side street. Boring building. Odd wall coverings. Kooky patrons. Genial owner. In almost bro code fashion they even slip you a chicle stick of Juicy Fruit gum on your way out. A nice compliment after a heavy Mexican meal, this little gesture metaphorically represents the overall experience at La Fiesta Brava: friggin refreshing.

TOTAL CHECK (with tip and beer purchased at convenience store): $36.00

THE D&F MARK: 4.0 / 5.0

DATE: Wednesday May 20th, 2009

RESTAURANT: CAFÉ VIDA
15317 Antioch Street
Pacific Palisades 90272
(310) 573-1335

THEIR SLOGANS: “Food for life” and “A great, fresh taste.”

OUR SLOGAN: “Food” and “A decent, not-everything-but-most-things-are-fresh taste”

DRIVE TIME: 15 minutes

LIKES: Being really the only open restaurant in the area. Complimentary lime in the iced water. Interesting, loud conversation amongst four basketball apparel adorned high schoolers regarding chicks. Quiet streets.

DISLIKES: Identity crisis. A tad overpriced. Boring menu. Peeping Tom waitresses. An ugly dog sitting tableside in a striped carry-on suitcase-like apparatus.

THE MENU: California, California, California (salads, burgers, burritos, wraps).

THE SCENE:

There’s just something creepy about Pacific Palisades at night. It seems like when the sun goes down, P Squared turns into a ghost town. Albeit, a very, very affluent ghost town – which we all know is beyond oxymoronic. Seriously, although you know there hasn’t been a random murder there in decades … there’s simply a waft in the air that someone may hack you from behind with a cleaver at any moment.

Creepiness aside, the Palisades is a wonderful, beautiful community. Not especially known for its culinary prowess, we at D&F ventured over to check out the scene. We mean, come on, the rich denizens of the area have to eat somewhere. Or at least have a spot to bitch about. This brought us to Café Vida, which at the late hour of 8:45 p.m. was just about the only restaurant entertaining guests in the area.

We walked into Café Vida full of excitement. Sadly, that quickly dissipated. The place is a snooze. No character. The only attempt to spruce up the joint falls flat: a bland and very bright lit interior is accentuated with Parisian photographs. This is despite the fact that there is absolutely nothing French about the restaurant/menu. French’s mustard is more French.

The restaurant, mainly known for weekend brunch, simply lacked the comfy feel of west side popular hangover cure haunts like Jinky’s, Lazy Daisy and Snug Harbor.

THE SUPPER:

With no true appetizers to order we decided to skip the first course and head straight for the entrees. The menu offered an array of sandwiches, salads and wraps, as well as the specials board offerings. We were provided chips and salsa. Unfortunately, although the salsa tasted fresh and potentially homemade, the chips were straight off the rack at Smart & Final.

Taking the waitress’ suggestion we ordered the steak fajita special. While most restaurants usually present the fajita contents separately, Café Vida made the odd choice of serving a cafeteria-esque helping of sliced steak, onions and peppers covered in shredded cheese with a side Caesar salad. Also, in czar fashion, the entree came with no tortillas, thus prompting us to request them. They responded by giving us one plate-size tortilla.

Despite the odd display and ginormous tortilla the “fajita” was actually quite tasty. And the inclusion of sunflower seeds in the Caesar salad was oddly enjoyable. However, for $14, the fajita serving should have been twice as big. Maybe bigger.

For our second entrée, we chose another recommendation, the Grilled Chicken Jalapeno Melt –a classic option from a classic California menu. The sandwich was all around decent and included the basics – lettuce, tomato, red onion, jack cheese. The inclusion of jalapeños and chipotle sauce were a nice touch. The ciabatta bread was fresh enough but the chicken was a bit dry as if it were taken from the refrigerator instead of fresh off the grill.

All sandwiches are “Served With A Choice Of Organic Baby Greens Or Caesar Salad, French Fries Or Sweet Potato Fries.” Of course we chose the sweet potato fries – how can you not order sweet potato fries when presented the opportunity? We did so reluctantly, however, half expecting to find an additional $1.49 surcharge on our bill or something. To our surprise you really do have a choice at no extra cost. That “bonus” aside, the $11.25 (or higher) price tag for the sandwiches was a tad steep.

Wrapping up this Drive & Find was a bit of a relief. What we know: the awkward atmosphere and just OK pricey food didn’t provide enough culinary enticement to venture back to Café Vida or, truthfully, the Palisades in general any time soon. We’re just saying … there’s way better options within 10 minutes on the Westside.

Will we be back for dinner? No.

For breakfast? Maybe.

With other options in mind? Yes.

THE D&F MARK: 2.0 / 5.0
[Please note: the mark represents the overall experience from the drive and find to the atmosphere, menu, taste, price… and beyond.]

DATE: Sunday, May 2, 2009

RESTAURANT: Cantalini’s Salerno Beach Restaurant
193 Culver Blvd; Playa del Rey, 90293
310.821.0018
www.salernobeach.com

Their slogan: “The Best in Traditional Italian Cuisine.”

Our Slogan: “The Best in Traditional Italian Cuisine … on that part of Culver Blvd.”

Drive Time: 20 minutes

LIKES: Saltwater smell outside. The house band straight out of an early ‘90s Steve Martin romantic comedy. Cozy date spot. The hand-painted walls. Leather booths outside for table waiting. Cute, oddly dressed hostess. A lot of cork popping all around. Locals in beach attire.

DISLIKES: Thirty minute wait at 7:45 p.m. on a Sunday. The enflamed MAC Tools Autoracing parka worn by a dude at an adjacent table. At times feeling like we were in coastal South Carolina. The bread. Their middle school class project website (www.salernobeach.com ).

THE MENU: Classic Italian fare. What else did you expect?

THE SCENE:

In the relative ghost town that is Playa del Rey, Cantalini’s stuck out for sure, but in a good way. Its bright neon lights and heavy sidewalk chatter drew us right in. Sure, the 30-minute wait was a bummer, but the fact there were even enough people in Playa del Rey to produce a half hour wait was a good sign. When we asked the Valet if they were always this busy, he exhaustingly replied, “Yes” and plopped down next to us.

This odd, yet charming sense continued into the restaurant. The house band took requests, but seemingly stuck to Randy Newman. Or something that sounded like Randy Newman. The walls are beautifully hand painted with some Italian stuff. Couldn’t tell you for sure what it is – but definitely Italian. The interior also featured numerous family photos alongside signed 8×10s of celebrities who obviously stumbled upon the restaurant when they got lost heading to the airport.

THE SUPPER:

Nonetheless, the food and overall dining experience were quite pleasing. We decided to kick things off with the Caprese Salad. The Caprese, although simple, was executed in the finest of fashion. Like Italian fashion. Which is the finest. Top notch mozzarella, tomatoes and basil are standard but Cantalini’s sly inclusion of pine nuts really pleased the palate.

The menu mentioned a house prowess in regards to their ravioli entrees, so we decided to take the chicken herb ravioli for a twirl. And thank the Dude above, we did. Definitely one of the best, if not the best, ravioli on the Westside. The combination of the diced white chicken, ricotta and herb filling complimented by a light tomato cream sauce made for a surprisingly enjoyable ravioli experience. And they certainly don’t shy away from the shredded parm.

The freshly prepared eggplant parmesan fell a bit short of the manager’s recommendation, which was the primary reason for ordering this classic dish. The Pisa-esque trifecta of layered fried eggplant, cheese, and marinara sauce were complimented by the fast preparation and crisp bite. Added plus: the eggplant’s texture prevented any possible purple veggie from drooping out the side of your mouth. On the other hand, anyone who has ever dated an Italian girl knows it’s all about the sauce, and unfortunately, this entree was lacking – both in quantity and flavor. Without the side of al dente rigatoni smothered in enough of it to cover the eggplant, the meal would have disappointed any parm patron. But seriously it wasn’t that bad…

Truth be told we enjoyed our overall experience at Cantalini’s quite a bit. We found this Drive & Find to be humorous (thanks Randy Newman house band), while simultaneously an enchantingly affordable meal for two dudes at candlelight. As for the locals? They seemed happy as Linguini Clams smothered in white wine, garlic and butter.

Will we be back? Probably.

With dates? Hopefully.

With reservations? Yes.

THE MARK: 4.0 / 5.0