Don't Tell The McCoys

Nothing could be worse then having a birthday on New Years Day.  I could bore you with a lengthy list of reasons, but I think you should just trust me.  Or, how about this nibble as an excuse: nothing is open.  That's right, since all of the restaurants stay open late the night before and often have special menus, they decide to give their staff the day off and are closed on New Years Day.  So my choices are often limited.  This year my husband selected Hatfield's from the list of limited restaurant options.  Thankfully it was actually on the list of restaurants I wanted to try, so its not like we were stuck going to Outback Steakhouse.  The one bummer from the evening is that I lost all of my notes from the night, so this review will be based on memory.  Wish me luck!

The restaurant is on the northwest corner of Melrose Boulevard and Citrus Avenue, two blocks west of Highland, so you would think you would find the valet on Melrose right?  Nope, its on Citrus next to the restaurant, so if you're heading west on Melrose after turning off of Highland, be prepared to do a u-turn to get to the valet.

The interior of the restaurant is simple in neutral colors with the main pop of color coming from the pots and pans hanging over the kitchen.  Also the bar has a bright wall of color to contrast with the dining room's neutrality, but you have to be facing that direction to notice it.

Have you ever had that experience where you see another waiter and wish he was yours?  Part way through our meal we had that moment as we watched another waiter explain to a neighboring table that items from the prix fixe menu can be ordered a la carte.  It would have been nice to know that before we placed our order - not that I have any complaints about what we ended up with, but I probably would't have gone with the Vegetarian Prix Fixe menu had I known I could just pick items from it.  But, when else can I have a piece of cauliflower as an entree?  For the record, the Vegetarian Prix Fixe was $56 and was comprised of the Butter Lettuce Salad, Ricotta Agnolotti, Brown Butter Roasted Cauliflower, and my choice of dessert.

The meal started off with an amuse bouche, but unfortunately all I can remember about it is that it was barely one bite, it had dungeness crab in it, and it was tasty.  Great review, eh?

Crab amuse bouche

First course for me was the Butter Lettuce Salad which was very tasty.  The lettuce required slicing which I find to be an annoyance, but I got over it.

Butter Lettuce Salad (compressed pear, manchego, roasted pecan, apple cider vinaigrette)

The husband decided to go with two appetizers for his first and second courses - we were celebrating after all.  I don't normally eat octopus after a bad sushi experience (rubbery!!!), but this was very tasty and not rubbery at all.  Still, I can't say that I'm convinced to try the cephalopod again.

Japanese Octopus a la Plancha (green garbanzo, roasted globe carrots, asparagus, ginger chermoula)

The husband's second course was the roasted carrot and sweet potato soup.  Thankfully the sweetness of the two vegetables was cut by the pork belly and the sweetbread.  Having once tried sweetbreads at Butter in NoHo in Manhattan, we still haven't been sold on the taste of this delicacy.

Roasted Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup (crispy pork belly and sweetbread, maitake mushrooms)

My second course was the ricotta agnolotti.  The pasta itself was perfect, accompanied by butternut squash cubes in a perfect sauce.  The problem was that the ricotta stuffed inside the agnolotti was bland and unseasoned.  In fact, it was bland for even being plain ricotta.  Perhaps this was a brand issue.

Ricotta Agnolotti (butternut squash, sherry brown butter, parmesan)

Time for the entrees.  Thankfully we had learned that the lamb was a small serving of only two rib chops, which prompted my husband to have ordered the second course.  I'm not sure how a restaurant can claim that two rib chops is an entree sized portion, or how they can justify charging $38 for such a small portion, but Hatfield's did both.  That said, the lamb was cooked perfectly and which the potato puree was green from the chives, it was quite creamy though it only seemed to get its color from the chives and not much flavor.

Date & Mint Crusted Lamb (roasted heirloom root vegetables, fresh chickpeas, potato chive puree)

My entree, as mentioned earlier, was a slice of cauliflower.  If I weren't dieting, I would be outraged as seriously, cauliflower as an entree?  But I'm dieting, so cauliflower was my entree.  Surprisingly the cauliflower was quite filling and perfectly complimented by the plantains and raisins.  I can't say I enjoyed the celery root puree, but my guess is its because I learned I don't like celery root and not because it was prepared poorly.

Brown Butter Roasted Cauliflower (toasted almonds, celery root puree, golden raisins, plantains)

For the dessert I selected the coconut tres leches cake as I'm quite fond of tres leches.  I'm glad it was included in my meal as it was quite small.  I loved the compressed pineapple and wanted more of it.  And the cake itself and coconut toffee was yummy as well, but all I needed was one bite of the blood orange sorbet to know that I didn't want any more of that.  It was tart and completely contrasted with the tastiness of the rest of the pastry.

Coconut Tres Leches Cake (compressed pineapple, coconut toffee, blood orange sorbet)

Coconut Tres Leches Cake, up close

My husband was inspired by my dieting and decided to go with the ice cream/sorbet trio and selected the three most unusual flavors available.  All three flavors were yummy, but I enjoyed the pineapple chili the most.

Ice Cream & Sorbet Trio: Medjool Date, Butterscotch-rosemary, Pineapple Chili

At the end of the meal they presented us with a complimentary dessert of two tiny cupcakes.  Since they were chocolate, my husband passed on his and I got both.  Yeah, so I was dieting, but it was my birthday and I had cauliflower as an entree.  Yum Yum.

Complimentary dessert: mini espresso chocolate mint cupcakes

I really wish I hadn't lost my notes as this would have probably been a better review, but c'est la vie.  My husband said he would gladly go back to Hatfield's, but I can't say that I agree with him.  While I enjoyed my meal, it didn't rock my world.  That said, I want to thank the management of Hatfield's for being open on New Years Day and recognizing that not everyone wants to stay inside all day watching football and recovering from a hangover.