Hooray! Restaurateur Alan Jackson Opens Upscale Bull & Butterfly

(Gerry Furth-Sides; all photos by Victoria Pearson) Alan and Heidi Jackson’s new Bull & Butterfly, now open for dinner service in the  Playa Vista neighborhood near the beach, marks a new direction from casual to fine dining for the Jackson team.

We have loved Chef Alan Jackson’s food since our first dinner at Jackson’s on Beverly Boulevard so much I can vividly recall it my first meal in the stylish, rustic restaurant as though it was yesterday.  Our fingers are crossed with this new venture, even though  Chef Alan Jackson is renowned for being a brilliant strategist.   After all, he accurately recognized the cafeteria niche in LA’s culinary landscape and was one of the first chefs in 2008 to go from white tablecloth to casual with his Lemonade concept.   Another plus for Bull & Butterfly is its location in the gentrified Playa Vista developments that seems to ensure surprising success fueled by local tech company spending money (see SOL MEXICAN COCINA review in LocalFoodeater.com)

Bull & Butterfly is welcome news because of trend of white tablecloth dining chefs continue to move in the opposite direction, from high end eateries to casual.  LocalFoodEater.com covered a couple of the recent move with Danny Elmaleh (from international Cleo to heading the kitchen at MizLala and Johnny’s Pastrami on Adams and Daniel Son, from Kura to Katzu Sando.

Seasoned culinary duo Their “dream restaurant,” is a reimagined steakhouse experience, inspired by the couple’s time spent traveling and living in West Coast ranching locales, ranging from Paso Robles to the Guadalupe Valley. Bull & Butterfly features a bright and airy open layout, central and conversation inviting horseshoe-shaped bar, al fresco patio, and warmly lit interior, featuring a palette of blush pinks, emerald greens, and rose- and brassy-golds.

Executive Chef Robbie Nowlin, previously of Otium in DTLA, heads up the kitchen, this the place with a menu like the old Chaya Brasserie were you wanted to order every single item on it.

His  organic, humanely- and pastured-raised meats, plus snout-to-tail cooking, at its foundation, Bull & Butterfly’s menu updates classic steakhouse dishes in what we have come to call, a California Coastal fashion. The region’s rich ranching roots influence the dishes in a unique way from featuring Santa Maria-inspired grilled meats with  techniques used like ember-cooking, spit-roasting, and charcoal-broiling, to to Baja-sourced wines.

On the menu, a wide selection of seasonal, locally sourced veggie-centric dishes, salads, and sides have been created to also be able to stand alone as entrées.  Guests may choose from menu categories including: Raw and Seafood, Starters, Salads, Meals, Asada Style Steaks & Meats, Butcher Cut Steaks & Chops, and Sides. Complete menus can be viewedhere.

“Our menu offers a fresh take on the traditional steakhouse fare, with a variety of dishes that are fun to explore and light and easy to return to, day after day,” says Founder Alan Jackson. “Guests might enjoy a carne asada-style steak served with beans one night, a classic dry-aged rib-eye the next, or opt to go wholly vegetarian on another evening.”

Highlights include:

• Hamachi – coconut aguachili, hearts of palm, Josper smoked red onions
• Albóndigas – beef-pork meatballs, guanciale-tomato sauce, and rosemary ricotta

• Spanish Fried Rice ­– Mexican Gulf shrimp, local squid, Spanish chorizo, smoked pork belly, and preserved lemon aioli
• Warm Wagon Wheel Bacon Biscuits – served with house smoked butter
• Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps – pickled watermelon, herbs, serrano and chili sauce
• Spit-Roasted Chicken – sweet lemon, fennel, and lentil-bread salad
• Asada Style Steaks & Meats – wet aged thin cuts of meat grilled over mesquite served with brazen Paquito beans, quinoa-corn salad, Santa Maria salsa, and chimichurri; choice of K4 Ranch Hanger, Creekstone Farms Ribeye Cap, or Newman Farms Pork Loin Chop

• Butcher Cut Steaks & Chops – served with ember roasted vegetables and choice of chimichurri, tarragon butter sauce, or peppercorn sauce; choice of Mariposa Ranch Flat Iron, Stemple Ranch New York Strip Loin, Diamond A Ranch Spencer, or Newman Farms Pork Porterhouse

The wine list, with options by-the-glass or bottle, emphasizes the regions of Paso Robles, Santa Maria Valley, and Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe, along with an extensive list of local and international selections. Bull & Butterfly’s beer menu, complete with options on tap as well as bottles and cans, features local favorites.

Bull & Butterfly opened with outdoor dining, with lunch, weekend brunch, and take-out to follow in the coming weeks. With the safety of staff and guests as top priority,  string-light gazebos and  plants make the patio festival that incorporates social distancing protocols, sanitization, and safety measures.

Bull & Butterfly is located in the RUNWAY center at 12746 Jefferson #2200, Playa Vista, CA.  For  restaurant hours and details, please visit www.bullandbutterfly.com, on social media @BullAndButterfly on Instagram, and /BullAndButterflyRestaurant on Facebook. Reservations are required and available via Tock.