Two Stars for the Mark Peel and Jay Perrin's Tar Pit

Today SIV stops by the Tar Pit, and while she enjoys the concept and the atmosphere, she believes "It's a promising idea, and a good fit with the neighborhood, but it's still a bit rough around the edges." Therefore, two stars go out to chef/owner Mark Peel and GM Jay Perrin, and on the subject of Audrey Saunders' drinks, SIV says, "[they] have a wonderfully refined sensibility. They're fresh and not too sweet. A good place to start is with her signature Gin Gin Mule, which blends lime simple syrup and house-made ginger beer with gin and fresh mint. But you can pretty much point to any of the dozen enticing cocktails and not go wrong." With regard to food, however, "While the [Mediterranean small plates] concept is fundamentally appealing, the kitchen sometimes falters in the execution...On a first visit, I was thrilled with everything...Weeks later, not one dish we ordered had the sparkle and crisp execution of that first time. But on the following visit after that, the kitchen was back on track...But then on one last visit, I found the music cranked up to an earsplitting level well before 9 p.m. and the food somewhat off...the execution needs to be more consistent." Nonetheless, the Tar Pit walks away with a solid two stars. [LAT]

The Elsewhere: The Find goes to Magic Wok, Food She Thought dines at Petrossian, Eating LA samples the new Hatfield's, Gastronomy hits up Mariscos Chente, and Exile Kiss dines at Tavern.