Wood and Vine (Hollywood, CA): Monday Market Dinners and ChickenandWaffles

Fact: Wood and Vine has one of the best al fresco dining area in Hollywood. Insist on a table here as long as the nights aren't too cold. It's a quiet escape from the craziness of Hollywood Blvd.

When Wood and Vine first opened, the executive chef Gavin Mills had to figure out how to work with the tiny kitchen and now he's got it down. The kitchen is so small it has no walk-in fridge! But that just means Chef Gavin goes to the market every morning for fresh ingredients.

At a recent dinner, I started my night with a Chai Gold Rush (chai and vanilla infused bourbon, lemon, honey, $12). This was a great cocktail, probably my favorite of the night! It's not overwhelmingly "chai"-like, just notes of spices. I hope they keep this one on the menu for a while!

Mondays are good to give Wood and Vine a try with their Monday Market Prix Fixe menu, $18 for 3 courses. There were three of us dining, so we tried one of the prix fixe menu while ordering other items to try.


The first course was a Melon consomme with basil.
This was a rather interesting first course. It was cold (good for the summer) but since it's also sweet, it was more like drinking melon juice rather than a consomme.

The entree that night was Shrimp and Grips with Anson Mills grits and house andouille sausage

The current menu has plenty of Southern items (as you'll see more below, chicken and waffles being one) and he's also doing a Southern Sunday suppers. I lived in South Carolina for high school and developed a liking to grits. I liked the shrimp and grits here, especially the texture of the grits and the addition of the housemade sausage.


The dessert was a plate mini eclairs and cream puffs

We wanted to try out their other items too, including the Charcuterie and Cheese ($13 for 3 selection). We chose Fourme d'ambert, venison pate, chicken liver mousse

The chicken liver mousse was very good, smooth, and creamy.

The cocktail menu also has a seasonal section, and I tried Chilean Cooler (Kappa Pisco, lemon curd, watermelon, champagne, $12) from the Summer Solstice section.

Grilled peach, burrata, sea salt, balsamic reduction ($12)

I like that the grilled peach wasn't overly ripe and still maintained some crispness to contrast with the burrata.

Frog More Stew, corn, red bliss potatoes, smoked sausage ($15)

When we ordered it, we thought there would be frog meat in the stew, but turns out that it has shrimp and sausage instead. This is apparently a classic stew from the Frogmore community of low country South Carolina.

Chicken and Waffles, maple glaze, sage butter ($16)

This was a great rendition of fried chicken and waffles. Usually the maple syrup and butter usually makes thing a bit too sweet for my taste, but since they use sage butter the added savoriness worked very well.

Hand rolled potato gnocchi, summer squash, toasted pistachios, truffle ($15)

I loved the gnocchi, which were very fluffy, and this dish was hearty and filling despite being vegetarian.

This part of Hollywood is lacking in great, unpretentious food, but Wood and Vine is poised to solve that problem. Sit in the back outdoor area with a cocktail, fill up with chicken liver mousse and gnocchi or partake in the affordable Monday Market menus, and you may just forget you're in Hollywood.

Wood & Vine
6280 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 334-3360
woodandvine.com


Disclosure: This meal was hosted.