Tuesday night. You’re pointed west on Colorado Boulevard, away from the busy mélange of shops and restaurants in Old Pasadena. They’re fun, but not tonight.
So you head out past Ralph’s, past the Norton Simon, to where Colorado crosses Orange Grove, out on to that long ramp that tosses you out a quarter mile later, onto Colorado in Eagle Rock, that upstart hipster berg with its own heady mix of dining joints.
There, in the dark, on the left corner, at the former site of Larkin’s Soul Food, is Little Beast. A year old now, it’s joined the roster of other great restaurants on the iconic block. Named for the owner’s rambunctious 10 year-old son, Miles, the restaurant offers sophisticated comfort food in a cozy yet comfortable former Craftsman home.
Chef Sean Lowenthal, he of the Chateau Marmont Hollywood hideaway, has created a hideaway of his own, and now, the Culinary Arts Institute of Colorado graduate has the perfect solution to your aimless Tuesday hunt.
Lowenthal shows off his own Southern heritage with “Tuesday Date Night,” an off-night for some, but an “on” night for the Beast. We visited a while ago, and were charmed by the details, both in the restaurant, and in the menu.
While the menu will vary from week to week, it was chicken the night we visited, and what is more comfort food than chicken? The dinner, served on a platter for two, consists of sweet tea-brined Mary’s Chicken with charred lemon thyme jus, served with Fresno Evergreen Farms crispy buttered sweet potato, and a Valdivia Farms green bean salad.
As the meal approached, I assumed it was going to another table, as it seemed huge. The waiter assured us this was dinner, and it was actually the perfect serving size for two. The chicken itself was magnificent, with a slightly crispy skin and a juicy flesh. All of the dinner disappeared at a hungry, steady pace.
Dessert was a sweet chocolate pudding for two, which we also made short work of.
Date Night at Little Beast is almost too perfect. It’s romantic enough, you can wear something nice, but you don’t have to, and the price is right. Before your date reads this, you might want to make a reservation now. Tell him or her it just came to you.
Well, aren’t you the clever one?
Date Night at Little Beast Tuesday evenings. 1496 Colorado Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90041 (323) 341-5899, www.littlebeastrestaurant.com