Love Life, Hate Kittens

[foie biscuit pic via ben g. @ yelp]

I hate myself for not coming here sooner but come on…. LA is over-saturated with new ‘hot spots’. Between yelp, food bloggers, and hypebeast/foodie culture, “must eat” restaurants are a dime a dozen. As Heidi Klum would say, one day you’re in, next day you’re out. And besides 2009 turned into a year where we went out nearly every other night and we considered a 150 dollar dinner to be a ‘reasonable/casual’ pricepoint for dinner. Yes, I AM what’s wrong with America. 

So back to Animal. Bad dismissal on my part. Definitely my favorite place of 2010 so far. Whether it be a night with friends, a first date, a place to take your parents. It’s perfect. Small, dark, intimate..loud enough to be lively but quiet enough where you don’t have to yell. 
 
Our waiter recommended that we get 5-6 small plates or go 4 apps/one main. More variety = better. 6 plates it is. 

1) Grilled crab legs in tabasco butter + baby kale, pecorino, lemon, smashed croutons - I love crab but always felt that it was too much work for little reward. Animal cuts to the chase. Huge, meaty crab legs…sweet and succulent with the butter. Huge portion. Hell, in fact we joked that we should cancel the rest of the meal and just get the crab legs. A million of them. The kale was a nice complement.. the croutons added a nice texture.
2) Foie gras, biscuit, maple sausage gravy + marrow bone, chimichurri, caramelized onion - wtf @ maple sausage gravy. It was mind blowing. I felt like I was eating willy wonka bubblegum where I could taste each distinct item/flavor in each bite. Sweet but salty and meaty. Mmm. Not to mention the huge piece of foie. The bone marrow was good too. I wish had more toast points or bread to soak up the chimichurri.
3) Quail fry, grits, chard, slab bacon, maple jus + rabbit loin with parsnip, pear mostarda and Benton’s bacon - The quail fry was a classier version of my favorite fatty indulgence (chicken + grits. mmm). The rabbit was pretty good. Tasted like chicken wrapped in bacon. lulz.

Although I was plenty full, we ordered tres leches and champagne for dessert. Which sums up everything indulgent that I love about LA. I wish I could start a company called champagne and cake. I have no idea what I’d sell but it would be fucking fabulous.

Animal

435 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90048

(323) 782-9225

www.animalrestaurant.com