Besha Rodell Advises Sticking With Dessert at Odys and Penelope

This week, Besha Rodell visits Quinn and Karen Hatfield's follow up to their now shuttered Hatfield's, Odys and Penelope. Although the restaurant is designed as a modern churrascaria, "a spot less focused on composed plates and more focused on cooking over a flame," Rodell finds the meat dishes rather unreliable. With the exception of the glorious applewood-smoked short rib, the LA Weekly critic notes:

The lick of an open flame gives and can also take away. It's a hard way to cook. I had a slow-grilled Wagyu tri-tip that had a gorgeous, deep pink color but was unrepentantly chewy, and a maple-miso eggplant stacked Jenga-like, which was totally raw and woody on the inside. A grilled swordfish was more remarkable for the delicious jumble of barley and mushrooms beneath it than the fish itself, which was a little tense in the flesh. [LAW]

However, the highlight of the meal is at the end, with desserts that approach "philosophy, or perhaps religion:"

Ah, but those desserts. There was even one inspired by the bane of my childhood, the pavlova, that made me swoon. In this iteration, cups made of impossibly light meringue held scoops of frozen yogurt surrounded by the freshest, sweetest strawberries and a tiny smattering of cocoa nibs, which gave it playful dimension. [LAW]

The La Brea grill house walks away with two stars.

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The Elsewhere: Bill Esparza eats stellar Americanized tacos and quesadillas at All Flavor No Grease, Eddie Lin eats ramen (bowls) at The Original Ramen Burger, and kevinEats enjoys the comforting classics at Jon & Vinny's.