Hudson House UPDATE – Redondo Beach

I think I’m a little biased toward Hudson House. I think it’s because Hudson House gives me hope. As the neighborhood misfit, a hip hidden bar buried deep within the spoils of solemn suburbia, Hudson House draws quite the crowd by providing an island of chill vibes in plain view of the eyesore Albertson’s across the street. When in SoCal, I feel like the East Coast eyesore. The looming figure in form-fitting black, surrounded by the flowy fashions that  flood the sandy boardwalks of every beach.

But sometimes you can combine the world you live in with the world you miss. SoCal’s healthier-than-thou attitude meshes with my love for southern greens in these Kale Grit Fritters, a slightly sandy spin of the south deep-fried with parmesan and SoCal superfood and a touch or garlic mayo-esque tartar sauce. If those grits aren’t southern enough for you, the Sweet Potato Fries are as great as it gets.

The fries are pretty authentic, but the Brown Sugar Pork Ribs weren’t. Not that they were necessarily meant to be, but you just never look at pork the same way after you’ve been to a pig pickin’. The meat does fall off the bones, but the sauce is sweet, dimensionless topping. It tasted like barbecue sauce-colored sugar with none of the fire-smoke of barbie over a grill.

I persevere, I sustain, and I stay, but I am an east coast southern girl at heart. There are time I feel homesick, there are times when I feel as out of my element as a fish out of the water. I don’t love the water as I prefer to hike, but I think being a fish out of the water feel something like sticking your face into the Toasted Edamame and Shishito Peppers. Something sweet surrounded by something sticky surrounded by a sickening sauce. The sauce makes it impossible to taste both the edamame and the shishitos, which totally destroys two of my favorite foods.

The edamame and shishito peppers is the classic SoCal definition of #TTH, or try too hard, for those who are too cool to care. Now imagine the exact opposite of that and you have the Lamb Paneer Skewers. The hot lamb and paneer skewered with a stick of sweet sugar cane dipped in cool yogurt sauce is probably the best balanced dish I’ve ever tried. The sweet with salty, sweet with savory, meat with yogurt, hot with cold makes for a mind-blowing mix. Just don’t forget to chew on the sugar cane when you’re done. It’s absorbed all the flavor of the lamb into one sweet little stick.

I don’t think I’m a SoCal girl, but I think I’m okay with that. After all, I wouldn’t want to be #TTH to fit in, and maybe I can make it work for me like Hudson House. I bet their star chef Brooke Williamson didn’t fit in either when she started cooking. A girl with no culinary degree to speak of, she probably ruffled more than a few feathers until the kitchen saw her genius. I was certainly surprised. She may no know her shishitos, but the lamb is pure enlightenment.

Brooke’s rise to stardom is pretty unconventional and definitely the path less travelled compared to her peers. It looks like she applied that idea to Hudson House and worked it. Thanks to choosing not to go suburban strip mall, Hudson House has made itself the ultimate, the coolest, and probably the only spot to hang out in that part of Redondo Beach. I’m not sure when my misfit misfortunes will bring, but I’ll be better than okay if I do half as well as Hudson House.