Dine: Brunch at The Tasting Kitchen

I simply adore The Tasting Kitchen on Abbot Kinney, and despite the fact that I capped off my Friday night there with a late night dinner, I returned again Sunday morning for brunch. The restaurant only started serving weekend brunch about a month or so ago, and ever since then I've been meaning to check it out. So... the menu. I was very confused. I literally had to read it over about five times to fully understand what was happening and it took me a good ten minutes to decide on my order. First offense, no cappuccino. Only French press coffee, at least they brew Four Barrel out of San Fran, so that had to suffice. Second offense, no fresh oj. Third offense, no fresh grapefruit juice (despite the fact that the table next to us ordered two glasses...apparently "the bar literally only had enough for two glasses...I am SOO sorry." Right.


Back to the menu. Since I eat out almost every single night, I would have to say I am pretty good with menus. Seriously though, I picked this one up and was very very befuddled. There is a savory and sweet waffle situation, the diner must assume that "cluck" is chicken. There's this whole egg section and a meat section, both are completely nondescript literally it just says "steak." So, I am getting a slab of meat with...nothing? I really don't even know. And what the hell is an "egg board"?? A cheeseboard but with eggs? ANYWAY, I opted for marinated veggies with a soft boiled egg, of course the type of veg was a surprise to me since "marinated veggies" was all the menu would share. I got a little bit annoyed and didn't bother asking exactly what type of veggies were on the plate...and figured I like vegetables so it would be what it would be.

I ended up with a plate of cold eggplant and broccolini alongside a partially sliced soft-boiled egg, and while I will say the veggies were delicious -- my guess is they were roasted in the oven with olive oil, vinegar, chili flakes and a pinch of salt -- my egg was cold and I think there is nothing more gross then cold running egg yolk. I do love warm running egg yolk but cold -- it kinda takes on the consistency of, gooey snot (yeah I went there), I simply don't understand the decision to serve that egg cold. If that egg had been served warm, it would have been a great plate.

Since The Tasting Kitchen prides itself on farm to table cuisine, I will definitely come back to check out more of the (warm) menu.

The Tasting Kitchen
1633 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice, CA 90291-3744
(310) 392-6644