This week, Besha Rodell visits the newly relocated Salt's Cure, chefs Chris Phelps and Zak Walters' meat-centric concept that moved east from a transitory space in West Hollywood to a proper restaurant in Hollywood. Although the Weekly critic takes a moment "to be a little sad at the passing of the old model" with its "semipermanent feel of the room, the intimacy of sitting right at the edge of the kitchen — it had an audacity and purity of personality that I found refreshing," she says that ultimately, "not much has changed about the soul of this restaurant." That is to say, the meaty offerings are as good as ever:
Along with prime cuts of beef, which are big and tangy and fantastic, you might find something called "pork secret," a small, seared cut of pork so tender you'll be happy to eat it medium rare. Or a lamb loin chop, a cross-section of muscles that's bouncy and bloody and musky and returns you to your base carnivorous state, tearing at the meat like a wolf.
The regular menu tends to focus on the byproducts of the butchery, as well as seafood and salads. A fat, white sausage with a lovely, smooth consistency comes with poached apples and sauerkraut, an example of the way Phelps and Walters are able to translate classic cooking, in this case German sausage-making. They channel the country cooking of France with pork pâté over a slice of crisp apple on hearty wheat toast, and there are hints of Spain in the wide dish of clams with hunks of nubbly lamb sausage. A generous slice of grilled bread at the bottom of the bowl soaks up the meaty/oceanic juices. [LAW]
Of course, B. Rod also gives a nod to the restaurant's popular oatmeal griddle cakes, and awards Salt's Cure three stars.
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The Elsewhere: Darin Dines has a standout meal at Simbal, Gastronomy Blog does brunch at Taco Maria, and Bill Esparza heralds the guisados at Zamora Bros.