The menu can be somewhat ambiguous like that. The chicken is marinated and cooked in orange juice and achiote, then shredded and mixed with an achiote aioli and stuffed into a crusty ciabatta-style roll with avocado and pickled onions. The fried broccoli rabe underneath the steak is wonderful.Īt lunchtime, the organic chicken torta is very good. I’ve never understood a chef’s urge to marinate a $42 steak, which in this case is very nice organic, grass-fed beef, which probably doesn’t need so much masking. The sake-soy-marinated ribeye steak, by its very name, is far more saucy than it needs to be. At dinnertime, clams are steamed in white wine and mild, aromatic Calabrian chilies. The huevos rancheros are delicious, as is the almond maple granola. Nor have I found anything that I consider bad, except for maybe the thin, overly vinegary Bloody Mary at brunch, which was graciously removed from my tab. I haven’t tasted anything that I thought was great. The bar is crowned with a breathtaking skylight, and unless you’re sitting at the bar, you would hardly notice it. The music - soft rock from the 1970s, mostly - is perfectly calibrated so that it fades in and out as conversations crest and lull. The patio feels extra luxurious thanks to its plush indoor furniture.
It’s not a very big place, with only a dozen tables inside and maybe just as many outside on the olive-tree-lined patio. The kitchen serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. This sexy little spinoff of the East Hampton original opened last month at the Crystal Cove Shopping Center.