Crustacean Restaurant

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Food tastes so much better when enjoyed in the fresh air, so it is natural that different cultures over the centuries have fashioned and adapted their own fascinating ways of dining al fresco. This summer, Angelenos can experience ten new outdoor spots, worthy of “destination dining” featuring an updated version of each one.

Weeping fig trees overhead, solid Southern hospitality, an updated historic burger and natural ground underfoot at Gulfstream, Newport Beach

The new Gelson’s outdoor eateries with special food and wine menu, a version of the German beer garden

Outside eating goes all the way back to the Mongolian Empire. Armies would store beef under their saddles and actually eat during a rest or even “on the run”.  The Mongols (or Tartars) are credited with inventing the first “outdoor” foods that became universal favorites – steak tartare, hamburgers and kabobs.

Dine in or outside of the Reagan Library Cafe. The full, rugged view is spectacular and unexpected

The Genghis Khan Burger on the special menu at the Reagan Library’s indoor-outdoor cafe

For more information and tickets, please see: //www.reaganfoundation.org/library-museum/special-exhibits/genghis-khan/ 

Centuries later, in the late 1800s, American cowboys would cook their meat over fires during long cattle drives, and the barbeque was born.  Australians on the other side of the world took the British concept of the outdoor picnic and introduced BBQ to the mix, bringing the “picnic” home – an idea also adopted by Americans after WWII when suburban life came into full swing.

Texas Rib at Pearl’s BBQ

New Pearl BBQ  translates this concept into a “half an acre” country picnic site in DTLA,  serving up sumptuous meals of brisket, ribs, and chicken on parchment paper-lined country-cardboard trays from a shiny Airstream trailer. Individual containers hold generous portions of Cowboy Roy’s Handmade Baked Beans and from scratch Coleslaw or beautifully seasoned Potato Salad. You know this BBQ is the “real deal” when the slices of white bread peek through that parchment paper holder.

Big as a football field, open at the top, the site is ready for small or large groups plus stage entertainment at one end, and a bar at the other.

Head Cowboy & Pearl’s BBQ Pitmaster, Dana Blanchard, smokes some of the best barbecue using only C.A.B. Certified Angus Beef. (I dream about his Texas Rib) in a handcrafted Texas smoker with plenty of white oak wood.

Pearl’s BBQ is open daily from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm ‘or’ until sold out. For more information please visit www.PearlsBBQLA.com.

On the more formal side, the fierce Mongolians are credited with spreading the popularity of the fork, once thought to be to feminine by European men, elevating indoor table manners.  So kabob meat was then slid off the skewer onto a plate.

Mongolians spread the outdoor kabobs to North India, then the world.

And, the fork also went back outside when hunting parties would fortify themselves with a huge feast before setting off for the day.  Cooked meats, pastries and huge quantities of alcohol were on the menu – with male life expectancy at the time being 35.

The folks left at home eventually had the bright idea to turn their own version of the feast into a full-blown rural “picnic”, with hampers filled with favorite foods to be enjoyed while appreciating the landscape.  The English passed the tradition on to Americans, who took the picnic to the urban parks and the countryside.  Southerners also thought it an entertaining idea to picnic while watching Civil War battles from the hills.

Americans being more entrepreneurial, developed this concept into the “pleasure garden” geared more formal, urban life in the 18^thcentury.  For a fee, families could stroll landscaped city gardens, kids could play and light snacks were available, usually, drinks and ice cream for warm weather, think The Grove.  Matcha Tea also has it all in their tiny Venice store backyard (below).

For more information and a menu of the  SHUHARI Matcha Café, visit www.shuharicafe.com.

Late in the century, after the Civil War, German communities added the “beer garden”. When Prohibition put an end to public drinking in the early 20^thcentury, these temporarily turned into tea gardens.

Akuma Ramen and Sushi in WEHO brings the unbridled liveliness of the southern German beer garden, pouring craft beer on tap, popular beers, and sake.  Practically priced topnotch casual food gives it neighborhood appeal.

Akuma brings updated high spirits of the “German beer garden” with sake and beer plus topnotch casual food

The fresh, Asian summer dishes at Akuma Ramen & Sushi

Public transport and the motor car in America continued to make formal outdoor picnics even more popular in the 20^thcentury, as evidenced by the popularity of picnic hampers, complete with flatware, silverware, and linens.

Meanwhile to Europeans, al fresco dining means sidewalk cafes under a brightly-colored awning, or at little tables set up in the middle of huge walking streets in the center of the city, started during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and continuing magnificently in the heart of Budapest and Vienna – a pastry and a cafe in the afternoons or a light meal with wine in the evenings goes perfectly with people watching and socializing on a grand scale.

Dining al fresco slowly made its way to America in the mid-20th century when rooftop restaurants and sidewalk cafes began to appear in cosmopolitan cities like New York.  Outdoor dining appeared in Los Angeles hotels, like the star-studded Beverly Hills Polo Lounge, at the same time, but LA dining outdoor became commonplace only recently.

The newly remodeled Crustacean offers up a combination of both the sidewalk cafe and outdoor bar made popular poolside at posh hotels.

Owner-founder Helene An and Chef Nguyen on the outdoor patio of the newly remodeled Crustacean in Beverly Hills

Crustacean’s performance bar is visible from the street.

Crustacean Restaurant, 468 N. Bedford Drive, Beverly Hills, CA  90210. (310) 205-8990. For details, please see //www.crustaceanbh.com.

//localfoodeater.com/new-vietnamese-inspired-cocktails-at-new-crustacean/

New The Henry Restaurant’s on Robertson Boulevard beckons with an outside wrap-around veranda as inviting as any country house and more comfortable than a patio.  It fronts the chic, high-ceiling, 100,000 sq.ft, multi-level “neighborhood” space for people watching inside.

Nestled in the leafy, interior designer-row section of West Hollywood, it’s also as visible to drivers passing by as the celebrity-driven Ivy Porch, with outdoor-indoor Southern-style dining across the way.   Cecconi reigns at the north end of the street with their own wild La Dolce Vita version of an outdoor patio and fabulous happy hour menu, more hidden behind its mile-high green hedge.

Go “ethnic” with a The Almost Naked Margarita, featuring Casamigos Blanco line, Cointreau, passoã liqueur and bar spoon honey.

The Henry Restaurant,120 N Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048, (424) 204-1595, open 11:30 – 10 PM  //thehenryrestaurant.com

//localfoodeater.com/wily-fox-captures-weho-henry/

Last, but not least, the small but so special patio and the windows along the newly opened second floor of the flat-iron shaped  Preux & Proper in DTLA qualify it as a patio.  Partners, Josh Koppel and Chef Sam Monsour make every evening a party with southern hospitality, grand “from scratch” food and even their own Maker’s Mark Private Select bourbon.

Chef Sammy Monsour cooks outdoors on the intimate Preux & Proper front patio

Owner Josh Koppel with a bottle of select Maker’s Mark

Preux & Proper, 840 S Spring St Los Angeles, CA 90015, (213) 896-0090. For hours and details, please see //www.preux&proper.com.