Saddle Peak Lodge - Calabasas

Lawry's left me feeling pretty good about Restaurant Week so I went to Saddle Peak Lodge with high hopes. Honestly, though, even if the food wasn't totally amazing, I would still be at their mercy...

Because Saddle Peak replicates the rustic hunting lodge to a tee...with its authentic middle-of-nowhere location; hours from the nearest cell phone tower and leagues from civilization. 

But there are worse places to be stuck than with brilliant bartenders, a glass of High West Rye, and a plate of Chef Style Raspberry Point Oysters. Even for people who don't like oysters, Raspberry Point puts out the most "approachable" combination of buttery and brine. When topped with lemon and champagne gelee, they're meant to be slurped, pinkies up.

Then the restaurant week menu started. The Creamy Tomato Soup amuse bouche was a pretty good preview for everything to come. The soup was exquisitely made, sliding down smooth but still retaining some tang.

I never thought a single soup, especially a simple Gazpacho, could blow my mind. The only-barely-slightly sweet pickled watermelon has a sharp spicy kick that really highlights the crab. I've never had anything like it, and I may never find another gazpacho this good.

The Pea Toast is another unexpected treat. I don't even like peas, but when they're fresh and sweet like this tasteful little black-truffle-Burrata mash-up, they disappear pretty fast. 

All that Lawry's prime rib seems tame next to Seared Venison Carpaccio. Prime rib may have serious savor, but venison really ups the game with barely bloody, incredibly satisfying slices that melt in your mouth.

The Scarlet Corn Agnolotti was probably my least favorite dish, but I still couldn't find much fault. Sweet corn tucked into al dente, slightly doughy, dumpling-pasta pockets are not so easy to impugn, and I feel like my deeply-buried vegetarian side just breathed a sigh of relief.

What's the point of a hunting lodge if you don't sink your teeth into a fresh kill? The New Zealand Elk Tenderloin is barely-seared with a glowing, blood-red center, sweetened by a hint of cherry, complemented by a heavy side of roasted onion and mushroom.

I wish my meal had ended with the elk. The Summer Strawberries olive oil cake had a perfect lemon curd and dense buttermilk ice cream that tasted sweet and churned, but I almost would have rather walked out of the lodge, past all the mounted heads and through the wooden porch stilts with a glimpse of gamey elk left on my tongue.

They always say, "Out with the old and in with the new", but between Lawry's and Saddle Peak Lodge, I couldn't disagree more. They don't make things like they used to, and Saddle Peak Lodge is on a different wavelength from new-school LA there the general attitude is to act like you're too cool to care. 

Saddle Peak cares and it shows. They put everything they've got into everything they make, and you'll never question their quality and skill. Every bite is incredible because someone poured their heart and soul into it, and sorry rest-of-LA, but I just can't see anything wrong with that.