Ad Hoc | The Blue Page Special

The idea of gourmet fried chicken may seem to be an oxymoron. It isn’t. It’s simply a great rendition of this comfort food. I’ve previously written about Bouchon which several years ago began offering the crispy fare, using its sister restaurant Ad Hoc’s recipe, on Monday nights. This is why I was pleased that my recent visit to Los Angeles included the first day of the work week. My enthusiasm was quickly dispelled when a private event closed Bouchon abandoning us to seek different dinner plans.

Beast sign

Fortunately, there’s more than one hen house in Southern California. Monday also happens to be fried chicken night at Little Beast in the Eagle Rock area.

Beast chicken

Little Beast fills the space of a comfortable, craftsman style house. The menu features small plates and seasonal dishes. Happy hour includes drink specials and half-price appetizers. We ordered the charred peaches with burrata. Grilled halved peaches are smoky and summer sweet. The soft, creamy cheese provides a nice balance, while croutons add texture. Slices of prosciutto help send this over the top.

Back to the raison d’etre. Fried to a golden caramel color, four pieces of chicken share the plate with cole slaw and two thin, but surprisingly, flakey biscuits. The crunchy coating is peppery and the meat is juicy. The slaw is made with a vinegar-based dressing featuring sliced almonds. The biscuits can be slathered with the accompanying whipped butter and amber honey.

The servings are large, which makes Tuesdays the day for leftover fried chicken.

Little Beast

Four-and-a-half Plates

1496 Colorado Blvd.

Los Angeles

Ad Hoc began as a temporary restaurant. More than seven years later it remains a dining hot spot in an area rich with popular dinner options. It was created by Thomas Keller, the man behind Bouchon and the French Laundry. Besides the Keller lineage and exceptional food, Ad Hoc has little in common with those restaurants. The menu changes daily, meals are served family style and the eatery is only open five nights a week. Although accommodations are made for dietary needs, the four-course prix fixe menu means few decisions are necessary. A few add-ons are available. The meal started with Iceberg Wedge Salad saved from ordinariness by the inclusion of lardon. The entrée was far more memorable: Grilled Hanger Steak with brown mushroom sauce, haricot verte, eggplant and butternut squash over Carolina Gold Rice. The latter is worth distinguishing: an aromatic long grain from South Carolina. The vegetables are from the tfl garden – The French Laundry garden. The meat. Ah, the meat was so flavorful just thinking of it would keep me from ever considering vegetarianism. A cheese plate with Cowgirl’s Creamery buttery Mt. Tam, toasted nuts and Marshall Farm honey was a nice segue from entrée to dessert. I’m typically not a fan of bread pudding, but this Caramel Bread Pudding with vanilla ice cream and fresh blueberry sauce made me want to move to Yountville so I could come back for more. Since there’s no way to know what the menu is from one night to another, I’d just have to keep returning until it reappeared. Darn! Ad Hoc
Five Plates
6476 Washington St.
Yountville, Calif.