This Tin Roof is not Rusted

Tin Roof Bistro

3500 North Sepulveda Blvd. #100

Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Yes, we are up in the South Bay area again, so you know what that means. We are taking our good friends Chuck and Stephanie to LAX for one of their six trips a year to visit their grandkids in South Carolina. Most people need to be in their golden years to travel this much, and luckily Stephanie married someone that was way older than herself, and well into his golden years when they met all those years ago. I can write this because Chuck probably has misplaced his bifocals, and can't read this anyways.

With this dynamic duo traveling so much, you might think that we are running out of places to eat when heading up this way. Nothing could be further from the truth. The South Bay area has so many great restaurants that we want to try, Chuck will be 105 years old by the time we have even made a dent in our list of restaurants to hit up. Of course, that's only three years away, but new places are opening all the time. On this trip, we came up to try the highly rated Tin Roof Bistro.

Tin Roof Bistro is located on the outskirts of the Manhattan Village Mall, which is on the corner of Sepulveda and Rosecrans. This restaurant visit added a little more importance to me, because of the recently opened up Simmzy's back in OC at the new shopping and entertainment venue, Pacific City. Simmzy's is the sister restaurant to Tin Roof Bistro, and part of the Simms Restaurant Group, which also includes the restaurants, Fishing With Dynamite, Manhattan Beach Post, and of course the now five location-strong Simmzy's.

Tin Roof Bistro, which opened in 2009, is Mike Simm's vision of a wine country locals spot. A restaurant where you can feel comfortable wearing a t-shirt and jeans, or in a sports jacket. Mike knows a little something about wine country, as he worked up in the Napa Valley after graduating college. He also has the restaurant business in his genes, as his dad and grandfather are longtime restaurateurs.

We got here at just before 8:30 on a Friday night. We had no reservation, but at this later dinner hour, we had no problem being seated right away. I'd say they nailed Mike's vision, as the restaurant was very comfortable, lively, and unpretentious. The feel of it reminded me of one of our favorite spots in San Clemente, Vine Restaurant, which is also going for the wine country feel, without the stuffiness. The menu is dotted with appetizers, salads, a fine selection of daily specials, and entrees. The entrees are all reasonably priced, with none of them reaching Chuck's critical $30 mark. Let's see if we could send Chuck and Stephanie off to South Carolina with a great meal.

First up is an item that you can also order at Simmzy's, the Blue Cheese Haystack ($6.75). On Tin Roof Bistro's Yelp page, this gets a lot of love, and that held true at our table as well. A mound of shoestring fries is topped with a blue cheese dressing and a sauce that resembled a milder buffalo-style sauce. I enjoyed these, but because the fries were so skinny, it was hard for the sauce to cling to them. They were good quality fries and the blue cheese had a little tang to it. A nice start to our meal at Tin Roof.

Since Chuck was buying dinner in exchange for the ride to the airport, we all got salads. This was Katie's selection, the half version of the Manhattan Beach Cobb ($8). This take on a Cobb salad had Katie drooling. It came with romaine, bite-sized chicken pieces, avocado, bacon, walnuts, celery, grapes, crispy shallots, and a combination of herb vinaigrette and blue cheese dressing. This updated spin on a Cobb salad was refreshing and hit the mark. Lots of different textures kept each bite interesting, and the combo salad dressing was the best of both worlds. Katie remarked that she might just get the full version of this salad next time.

I've been on a real roll with Caesar salads lately, and that held true to form on this night as well. This Classic Caesar ($8.75) had all the components you'd expect to find in a Caesar; chopped romaine, plenty of shaved Parmesan, some pretty solid croutons, and their self-described, "take no prisoners" Caesar dressing. This salad was not revolutionary, but I liked the combined effect everything had here. There was plenty of the dressing on here, the crunch from the croutons was good, and they also did not skimp on the shaved cheese. A delicious, yet basic Caesar.

I guess Chuck was in a good mood because he allowed himself and Stephanie to split this Simple Greens Salad ($5.75). This was a pretty good-sized salad for the price, and it came with a good variety of greens, tomatoes, shredded carrots, croutons, and a honey Dijon vinaigrette. No complaints from either Chuck or Stephanie about this salad, which they said had fresh produce, and the dressing provided a nice flavor to the greens.

We saw a number of pizzas coming out of the kitchen this evening, and two of them made their way to our table, the first of which was this M.S.G. Pizza ($13.50). Mushroom, sausage, and garlic made up the name of this pie, but there was also red sauce, mozzarella, and plenty of green scallions topping this. Katie really enjoyed her choice here. She felt that the toppings on this pizza went well together, without one of them stealing the spotlight from the others. She also was a big fan of the crust here, as it was not soggy in the middle, like a lot of these wood-fired pizzas tend to be. I also enjoyed the piece I stole from her.

Almost without fail, if there's a menu item with the word spicy included in the title, Stephanie makes a beeline for it. She was true to form when she chose this Spicy Chicken BBQ Pizza ($12.50) for her and Chuck to share this evening. Fresno chilis, smoked mozzarella, chicken, cilantro, and caramelized onions topped this pizza, which predictably, Stephanie said could have been spicier. Both she and Chuck did like the pizza, thought the chicken was tender, and the crust was pretty solid. They would probably get something else on their next visit here but had no qualms about this being their first meal at Tin Roof Bistro.

I was not feeling like a pizza this evening and instead opted for something off of their entree portion of the menu. This Grilled Flat Iron Steak ($26.25) caught my eye right away. This 8-ounce steak was cooked perfectly to my desired medium rare specifications, tender, and made even better with a very good homemade Worcestershire sauce. Almost outshining the beef was the fingerling potato hash, which was topped with plenty of blue cheese and bacon. One of the better side dishes I have had in a while. The potatoes were done right, and you can never go wrong with a blue cheese and bacon combo. A very satisfying meal.

Chuck and Stephanie still had about two hours before their flight, so we decided to splurge on dessert with this Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse ($4.25). This was a lighter than expected mousse but still had a rich chocolate presence. I wish there was a little more of the pecan brittle toffee incorporated here, but this was a great way to end our stay at Tin Roof Bistro.

I left here pretty impressed with almost everything we experienced at Tin Roof Bistro. The food was exactly what they were striving for, chef-inspired cuisine, with an emphasis on freshness. Almost overshadowing the food was the warm, yet professional service we experienced on this evening. When patrons would get up during their meals, the staff would fold their napkins for them, which is not something that you see at a restaurant with this price point. I also noticed a real team atmosphere among the wait staff, which helped keep things running smoothly. After eating here, I'm really looking forward to this restaurant group's entry into the OC dining scene. Tin Roof Bistro was a great sendoff for Chuck and Stephanie.

Out of five cats, (for the obvious reason of when I hear the words tin roof, I immediately think of the play by Tennessee Williams, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"), five being best to zero being worst, Tin Roof Bistro gets 3.5 cats.

For more information about Tin Roof Bistro, head to their website here: http://www.tinroofbistro.com/

Stirring the Pot at the Kettle

The Kettle 

1138 Highland Avenue

Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

I've concluded that if I had to live anywhere in LA county, one of the spots at the top of my list would have to be Manhattan Beach. I'm sure parking is awful here, and the crowds during the summer months would get on my nerves, but this area seems like OC's own, Newport Beach. There's a vibrant bar scene from everything I have seen on our few visits to this South Bay city. Then there are also plenty of restaurants, which piques my interest in an area.

Of course, we were up this way to take our good friends Chuck and Stephanie to LAX for one of their what seems like 30 trips back to North Carolina. This trip was a little different because good old Chuck had scheduled a Friday night flight out of LAX, so we had to leave OC around 6pm just to have a little time to make it up this way to have dinner.

405 traffic broke up a little after the OC county line, so we made it to Manhattan Beach at around 8. The area was popping with activity, and our first choice for dinner was booked solid, so we scrambled a bit to find another place to eat where we could get in since Chuck is always fidgety about getting to the airport on time. After a quick search of Yelp, we decided on dinner at The Kettle.

The Kettle proclaims on their menus that they have been "locally world-famous since 1973." In that time, they have gained quite a reputation for their breakfast items, and because they are open 24 hours a day, they are also the place to be as soon as the bars close. Luckily we were with old man Chuck, who is used to being in bed by 6pm on most nights, so we had no chance of running into a bunch of drunks on this trip.

The restaurant had an old-school feel to it without trying too hard. The menu is pretty diverse, so if you have a picky eater in your party, like Chuck, you will have no problem finding them something to eat here. The menu is definitely something you would see at an old-school diner. Plenty of breakfast items, appetizers, sandwiches, and burgers also feature full-blown suppers. Chuck was checking his watch every two minutes now, looking forward to sitting in the airport for two hours. So let's look at what we ate before Chuck and Stephanie vacationed.

Chuck and Stephanie did not want to be overly stuffed for their cross-country flight, so they decided to share a meal. I believe Chuck just wanted to cut down on expenses, but we'll take his word for it. Dinners come with soup or salad, and selected the Mixed Greens Salad. This salad contained some garbanzo beans, tomato, plenty of croutons, and your choice of dressing. The greens were pretty fresh, and they both liked the provided crunch of the croutons. A very capable starter salad at The Kettle.

Meals come with your choice of muffin here, and they were out of my usual selection, blueberry, so I opted for a Honey Bran Muffin, while Chuck had the Banana Nut Muffin. Even though bran is probably one of my least favorite kinds of muffins, this one was moist and had a touch of sweetness to it. The banana nut muffin was better and came out like well-made banana bread. Very tasty. Hopefully, next time we visit, I'll be able to try one of their blueberry muffins.

Much to Chuck's delight, the entrees quickly made their way to our table, starting with this Braised Pot Roast Dinner ($18.95). This classic dish was made with chuck roast braised in red wine, beef stock, and vegetables. The result was pretty tender shreds of beef, with plenty of flavor from the sauce. This came with red-skinned mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach. Both were pretty good, but the potatoes shined here. Good consistency and the gravy was tasty as well. The garlic bread looked a little better than it actually was. It could have been a little softer for my taste. Chuck and Stephanie made quick work of this plate, probably because they wanted to rush us to LAX.

Katie tried the Grilled Vegetable and Ricotta Salad ($16.50 with grilled chicken added). This salad had a plethora of items in it. Grilled eggplant, mushrooms, bell peppers, red onion, and zucchini are here, along with baby kale and cherry tomatoes. Then it's topped with toasted pine nuts, pesto, ricotta cheese, and a balsamic vinaigrette. This was a pretty good-sized salad, which Katie took a good amount of home. She loved the variety of things here, and the chicken was served warm, which she liked.

When we walked into The Kettle, I felt this place reminded me of another restaurant. After seeing this French Quarter ($13.95) on the menu, I realized that the restaurant I was thinking of was Mimi's Cafe. They also have a similar burger on their menu that closely resembles this one. This version is better, though, because they use a half pound of Wagyu beef, cooked to a beautiful medium. They pile on melted Swiss cheese, bacon, red onion, lettuce, tomato, and thousand island dressing, all on toasted sourdough bread. This was a pretty solid burger. Not overly greasy, but it still had a nice flavor to beef. The toppings were all pretty good but did not get in the way of the meat. The bread held up nicely, and the fries were better than average seasoned fries.

For being our second choice restaurant on this bustling Friday night in Manhattan Beach, and with a time deadline, we were all pretty pleased by The Kettle on this night. As I was writing this review, I did a little more research and discovered that this restaurant is related to Mimi's Cafe. The founder of Mimi's, Arthur Simms, bought The Kettle back in 1976, and from what I can ascertain, they are still part of the same restaurant group, but I might be wrong about that. Anyways, back to this visit. We had a good meal here, the service was superb, and their variety will be enough to please almost anyone visiting. We even made it to the airport with two hours to spare before their flight took off. A very successful night.

Out of five potato chips (in honor of one of my favorite brands of potato chips, Kettle Brand), five being best to zero being worst, The Kettle gets 3 potato chips.

For more information about The Kettle, go to their website here: http://thekettle.net/index.html

Jetting Up to North End Caffe

North End Caffe

3421 Highland Ave.

Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Whenever we are going to an area we rarely go, I always look for places that have been on TV, or I scurry and try to find restaurants with glowing reviews on-line. When we were going to be taking Chuck to LAX, and he suggested that we eat dinner before their flight, I knew where we needed to eat, North End Caffe.

North End Caffe has both of my criteria covered. They have been on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and they have a lot of four and five-star reviews on Yelp. I am not sure why I like eating at places that have been showcased on TV. A good majority of them have been really good, but we have also had some real stinkers as well. Online reviews are a much better indicator of how a restaurant is going to be. I look at Yelp and Urbanspoon, then read what other bloggers have had to say about a certain place. This was the case here, and most reviews were positive.

For this dinner, the timing really had to be right. We had left OC at six on a Saturday night, so that gave us three hours until Chuck and Stephanie had to get to the airport. Luckily there was little in the way of traffic up to Manhattan Beach, so we made it in just under an hour. Parking was another hurdle, but we lucked out and got a great spot on the street one block away from the restaurant. The last thing that could trip us up was the wait at the restaurant. Here again, we dodged a bullet, as the wait was only five minutes. This was all going along great.

North End Caffe is right down the street from the ocean. The restaurant is not too large. Maybe eight tables inside, and two large ones outside. The ambiance was laid back, with a heavy influence of beach vibe. The restaurant was well-staffed, and they really kept things moving along as a team. This restaurant is known for their breakfast items, even though the meals they featured on DDD were all lunch items. The lunch menu was available during the evening hours, as well as nightly specials that were written out on a chalkboard on the far wall of the restaurant. Many of these specials sounded great, but I was going to stick to what I saw on TV. Let's see how that turned out for us.

Since we were doing Chuck the big favor of taking him to LAX on a Saturday night, Katie and I decided to take advantage of him buying us dinner, so we started off with two salads. Katie just wanted a side salad ($5.75). This colorful side salad came with red onion, a spring lettuce mix, tomato, cucumber, and a citrus-based dressing that I did not get the name of. Katie was a big fan of this large side salad. It had very fresh produce, and the citrus-based dressing really had a nice mellow flavor. My Caesar Salad ($5.75) featured fresh romaine greens, a little Parmesan cheese, and a mellow Caesar dressing. When I first saw this salad, I thought it was going to be on the plain side. The dressing, although not heavy, still had a nice flavor to it. I would have liked some croutons here, but the salad was still good without them.

When a restaurant has been on TV, I like to get the items that the host had eaten. The Kahlua Pig Monte Cristo Egg Rolls ($10.00) was the first thing they made on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. These egg rolls are stuffed with Kahlua pork, which is roasted for 12 hours, Swiss cheese, black forest ham, and what I believe to be cabbage. These are then fried, and served with a Wasabi Mojo sauce. The Wasabi is not over the top, and kind of gets neutralized by the mayonnaise and teriyaki sauce, but still has a nice flavor to it. These egg rolls were one of a kind. The pork is well done, and the egg roll itself is fried to perfection. This is must get when coming to North End Caffe.

The other item that was highlighted on the show was the Fettuccine Carbonara ($14.50). This heaping plate of food was as rich as I have tasted in a while. This pasta dish definitely sticks to your ribs food, perfect for a red-eye flight back east, so you can sleep the whole way across the country. They make their own pasta at North End Caffe, and it shows. The pasta is way fresher than anything you can get at Olive Garden. Also included in this carbonara is the salty pancetta, a cream sauce, and lots of pecorino romano cheese. The result is a heavy, but balanced plate. This was not a bad send-off meal for Chuck and Stephanie.

What I got for dinner was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives as well, but they just showed people ordering it. I was torn between ordering off of their nightly special menu, but I ultimately went with the Fuego Burger ($12.75), which is on the regular menu. This nine-ounce burger patty was joined on the baguette with pepper jack cheese and cheddar cheese, bacon, avocado, red salsa, and a chipotle mojo. The burger portion of this reminded me of a meatloaf, more than a burger. The meat was very dense, with a nice seasoning to it. The condiments were fine, but none really stood out like I thought they would. This burgers big downfall for me was the baguette used here. It was very crusty and was difficult to get through in certain parts. I probably would have liked this burger a lot more, had the bread been better. The Belgian fries that came with this burger were pretty good. The potatoes were fried perfectly, with just enough crunch to them, then seasoned with a touch of salt. I was full, but I ate plenty of these.

Dessert time! Looking at their menu, most nights they offer two different desserts. The night we were here they had the Salted Caramel Bread Pudding ($6.95) and the North End Brownie Sundae ($6.95). After eating the bread pudding here, I have decided that I am not a huge bread pudding fan. Not anything against this one, but I can not recall ever being in love with any bread pudding I have ever had. I did like the salted caramel sauce poured over this pudding, but the pudding itself left me wanting more out of it. The brownie sundae was more to my liking. The brownie used here was very soft. Almost like it wasn't cooked all the way, but it was. I thought the brownie to ice cream ratio was one of the best we have had in a while. I always hate when places skimp on the amount of ice cream they serve alongside a cake or pie. Hot fudge would have pushed this sundae over the top.

We really enjoyed our trip to North End Caffe. The food was all above average. The menu is big enough that it would definitely warrant other visits. Next time I would definitely try some of the dinner specials, and of course have the egg rolls again. The service during our visit was spot on. They really took care of us and made us feel welcome. The prices are a little on the high side, but at a place that makes so much from scratch, that is to be expected. Portion sizes were pretty large as well. My burger was only nine ounces, but it filled me up. Guy Fieri got this one right. North End Caffe really filled the bill perfectly for our trip up to LAX. We got in and out in an orderly time so Chuck and Stephanie could make their plane. We had a great meal, and eating at a place that is in a different area than we are used to making both Katie and I feel like we were on vacation as well.

Out of five hockey sticks, (because the city of Manhattan Beach is home to numerous current and former hockey players, and I miss hockey so much now that the players and owners have imposed a lockout), five being best to zero being worst, North End Caffe gets 3.5 hockey sticks.

For more information about North End Caffe, click here: http://northendmb.com/