S. Irene Virbila takes on Bloom Café today, what she calls a "real café." By that we suspect she means it's a breakfast-lunch-dinner kind of place, with a menu that runs the gamut from huevos rancheros (made with white beans?), big fresh salads, and pizza, burgers, steaks at dinner. She praises the two French chefs who opened Bloom in an "untried neighborhood," but doesn't give much reason to seek if out unless you're in the 'hood:
The menu is structured so you can come for one dish on your own, or a roaring tour through several dishes with friends. And though service has been patchy, the cafe now has a tight crew of friendly earnest waiters, though sometimes not as many as needed to make it really efficient. But then again, how speedy does it have to be? Everything is cooked from scratch and for that, it takes at least a little time. This is not fast food.Because it's just a café on a lonely strip of Pico Boulevard, Bloom gets one-and-a-half stars, which depending on how you look at the other one-and-a-halfers on her list, is either fitting or a real compliment. This week, the "S." stands for "snooze." [LAT]
ELSEWHERE: Another LATer goes to Crabulous, but too bad they don't publish the address; LA.com seems to understand Ketchup, too; Franklin Avenue checks out Vito's Pizza; a look inside 3 Square Bakery; someone finally tries froyo at Cantaloop.
