Tuesday, January 19, 2010

New Westside neighorbood gem: The Six

Add ImageThere's a new kid in town. Another gastropub that has a great atmosphere to hang out for drinks but is also a great spot to grub on really good food. Angelenos are beginning to realize that they do not need to be held hostage to unhealthy, greasy, poor quality, boring food while out drinking. What's best is that the new spot, The Six, in located in a neighborhood where there is only one other bar-Westside Tavern.

The Six is in the location that used to be Jack Sprat's, right by the Westside Pavilion. The restaurant bar is owned by SoCal natives Will Karges (Jones Hollywood, Johnny's Pizza), Jake King (Rix Cafe) and Devin Klein. The chef is David Gussin, formerly from Akasha so you know that the food will be made with good quality, local ingredients.

The decor is pretty cool: I like the high ceilings, wooden beams, sconces, specials written on mirrors mounted on the walls and the wine-crate bar. Their menus look great. Good beers on tap and a good selection of wine. A bunch of pizzettes and flatbreads, the cassoulet looks interesting but the word on the street is that the banh mi burger with pork belly is the thing to get. In fact, I just read on EaterLA that Christian Bale was there on Tuesday and he ordered the burger. Darn, I was two days too late.

Glass of bubbly to start.
We ordered the banh mi burger but to our dismay, they had JUST run out. Some other guy had just ordered the last one and we really wanted to tackle him for the burger. C'est la vie. Since it was rather late in the evening, we did not want too large a meal so the flatbread looked like a good option.

Grilled Kabocha Squash flatbread with brown butter, crispy sage and mozzarella
It's homemade and delicious. Sage and brown butter is one of my favorite combinations and is great with ravioli. If you like butter, you'll like this flatbread. Personally, I like butter over olive oil so I enjoyed this but for some health conscious diners, you might want to pad down the pizza just a tad. The fried sage was aromatic and melt in your mouth.

Crispy skin thigh with kabocha squash quince hash and pomegranate gastrique
Yay for using dark meat since I'm not really a white meat lover. The crispy skin was my favorite and the meat was tender, which can be quite a feat. I loved that they used seasonal ingredients in both dishes.

Flatbread with crispy prosciutto, mozzarella and baratta
Another delicious flatbread. You can tell that all the ingredients are fresh especially the cheese. I like that it's lighter and thinner than a regular pizza which is great when you're keep with that New Years resolution.

At this point in time, we were the last patrons at the restaurant as we kept ordering additional rounds of drinks. The owners and chef came by to say hi but there was no pressure to chase us out of the restaurant. In fact, it was fun to chat with them and find out their history, relationship and vision for the place.

They also brought over a complimentary dessert of a cookie sandwich.
Look at the cookies, they remind me of college days with Diddy Riese. Fresh, large cookies that warmed the banana foster infused flavored ice cream up a bit. Good sweets are always a good way to end the night.

I'm pretty stoked about The Six. There aren't many bars around the area so I'm glad for this new addition. It just opened so they don't have a big bar scene or happy hour menu set up yet but I think a couple stools by the bar will easily do the trick. The food is updated comfort food that is healthy, fresh and there were many more items that I wanted to try including the banh mi burger, lamb and grits, and the cassoulet. The service was great: our waiter was very friendly, attentive and also let us sample a wine before ordering. The owners and chef were welcoming and very excited and passionate about their new project. I'm definitely going back for my banh mi burger and a great bar scene. We need to inject more life into the area and The Six is doing just that.

Hits: flatbread, crispy thigh, service
Misses: ran out of banh mi
Rating: ***

The Six Restaurant
10668 E. Pico Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90064

3 comments:

Daniel S. said...

I came here last Friday night and thought it was decent. We tried the squash flatbread, the beet salad (which was good!), and the burger which was also very good if messy. (pic here: http://twitpic.com/ya5ci).
This place has lots of potential and I'll be back for sure.

SinoSoul said...

Is this significantly better than Westside Tavern? Cuz.. the concept of Banh Mi "Burger" is totally moot, and disconcerting.

stuffycheaks said...

Hi Daniel - seems like we always end up hitting the same spots around the same time :)

Hi Sinosoul - unfortunately I still haven't been to Westside Tavern (gasp)- in fact we were planning to stop by after The Six but it got late.