Tag Archives: David Tanis

Epicurean Gem – Dining with David Tanis at Lulu Restaurant

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My recent foray to Beverly Hills included a delightful, delicious lunch at Lulu at the Hammer Museum in Westwood. The museum exhibition was ho-hum, our leisurely déjeuner in the open-air courtyard was superb! A new exhibition based on Joan Didion opens October 11, scurry to LA for the perfect recipe of delectable dining and museum afternoon! I may have to make a return trip. Or ignore the museum altogether and just enjoy dining in a very special location.

Not far from downtown Beverly Hills, the newish Lulu’s is a collaboration between famed chef, New York Times writer and prolific cookbook author David Tanis and the Bay Area’s Alice Waters of Chez Panisse. David, who is well-known for his New York Times cooking column, worked at Chez Panisse, on and off for nearly 25 years. They are old chums, enjoying decades of friendship and a mutual love of cooking and sustainability. When approached by UCLA to open the restaurant, David was Alices’ only choice as a partner.

Lulu is committed to prioritizing sustainability through local, regenerative food and design. If you follow David on Instagram, his Farmers Market selections provide inspiration for the daily menu. Lulu’s mission focuses on procuring food directly from small, nearby farms practicing regenerative organic agriculture, which results in wholesome, delicious food grown using methods that combat the climate crisis. The Lulu website lists numerous small farms who supply chef and kitchen team with seasonal fruit and vegetables. And of course, there is a lovely wine and cocktail menu.

The restaurant is named after a wise Provencal cook, Lulu Peyraud, whose cooking and hospitality at Domaine Tempier in Bandol, France has always inspired David and Alice.

At lunch, Lulu offers a popular three-course $45 prix fixe menu as well as an à la carte selection of salads, soups, sandwiches, light lunch fare, coffee, tea, and desserts. For supper, Lulu offers an à la carte selection of small bites, appetizers, entrées, and desserts curated around the produce in season. Staying true to their ethos of “market cooking,” the menus change daily depending on what is the very best available from local farms.

The outdoor setting under a canopy of umbrellas and dangling paper lanterns is perfect. Massive raw salvaged wood planks are stacked with bowls of gorgeous fresh apples and persimmons, whatever is seasonal. Simple and clean, the message is abundantly clear in the design and decor. Dating the menu is symbolic of the narrative, it’s fresh from the market or farm.

The menu will change constantly. The a la carte menu may offer a combination of soups and salads and sandwiches; three-course prix fixe allows David to shape meals with a gastronomic narrative. Like all the recipes from David’s cookbooks, the dishes are designed to be straightforward and uncomplicated. One year, David personally signed his cookbooks as a gift to our clients.

Our meal choices were based on David’s recommendation and for me, trying an option from one of his cookbooks. I adored a starter of Jumbo Medjool Dates, his roasted rosemary almonds served with a jagged chunk of Parmesan cheese.. the perfect bite to peruse the menu. David transforms simple to glorious! My Chicken a la Milanese was scrumptious, as was a shared plate of farm ripened Caprese salad with black olive toast. We also shared a satisfying plate of Ricotta gnocchi with zucchini and squash blossoms. All yummy! Sticking with the seasonal menu for dessert, we scooped up every bite of the gooey Nectarine blackberry crumble.

Lulu serves lunch and supper Tuesday through Sunday – check website for hours and directions.

Highly Recommend Lulu and we can reserve the perfect Beverly Hills hotel, tell David you are dining – and perhaps you will enjoy a hello with Alice and a tour of the kitchen with David, as I did!

Thank you, dear David, for the special attention. Your follower and friend, Gwen

Hammer Museum upcoming Exhibit –  Joan Didion: What She Means

The Monkey Bar – Local Food Dining New York

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Hopped across the globe to Europe, and enjoyed a quick overnight in New York, it does cut down the air time and I never say no to a visit to the Big Apple.

Monkey Bar New York

Happily, this stop also included dinner at the iconic Monkey Bar restaurant, where my friend, David Tanis, has been brought in to revamp and refine. One NY restaurant that’s endured decades of the city’s ups and down, is the Monkey Bar. Few surviving restaurants have as celebrated history—even fewer in the ever changing midtown Manhattan dining scene. You may remember I followed David to Sicily a few summers ago to indulge in his cooking class.

Several months ago, the New York Times announced that David Tanis, a longtime contributor to the newspaper’s weekly food section with his “Hungry City” column, had been brought in as the new chef. Co-owner Jeff Klein expects “refinement and subtle changes,” under Tanis, who says his food “will be straightforward and simply presented.” Keeping up with the times, the chef will swap steakhouse staples for more salads, seafood and seasonal dishes made with sustainable ingredients—or, how people want to eat these days.

Monkey Bar has long been on my little NY walking map of historic stops to quench a thirst as a girl never knows when one may be in need of a glass of bubbly and a little bite – parched and peckish is never an acceptable condition anywhere! One must always know where to stop and linger.

History
With the repeal of Prohibition close at hand, a humble new establishment opened its doors on the ground floor of the still-new, luxurious Hotel Elysée in the Midtown: The Monkey Bar. Known as a comfortable locale to while away an afternoon with an impromptu companion, the new bar at the Elysee – known to some customers, between drinks, as the “easy lay” –would become the New York home of Tallulah Bankhead and the site of a number of historically significant events during its lifetime, such as the untimely death of Tennessee Williams, when the playwright mysteriously chocked on an eye-dropper. For decades, the Monkey Bar provided a cozy outpost for ad men in bespoke suits, after-hours politicians, and media barons looking for a little fun. After a few years in disrepair, the Monkey Bar was purchased, in 2009, and returned to its former glory by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, his wife, Anna, and hotelier Jeff Klein. Renowned illustrator Ed Sorel was commissioned to paint a three-paneled mural paying homage to the great Jazz Age figures who once sailed through the saloon doors. The dining room’s lush red leather banquettes and dim, attractive lighting have restored the fizzy thrill of both glamorous and cozy-and harken back to a bygone era when a gentleman never left the house without a tie and a lady always had a pair of white gloves in her purse.

Monkey Bar is one of those Classic NYC Establishments that “has history.”

Highly Recommend Monkey Bar Manhattan!