Michael Hepworth
Hollywood,CA(Spiritsman)11/1/12/—This is the first restaurant called ROLLING STONE, and it has now been open about 1 ½ years at the Hollywood/Highland Center right on Hollywood Blvd. Four others are in the planning stage, and executive chef Chris Ennis has the somewhat difficult job of crafting a menu that not only caters to the rock and roll Hollywood crowd, as well as the hundreds of tourists who will pop in there maybe just the one time. He also has to create dishes that define his identity to a degree, after years as working as number two or three in a kitchen hierarchy in a bunch of high profile restaurants including Asia de Cuba.
I think he has got the balance right judging on a visit this Sunday, although unfortunately he was too busy to pop out and chat but decided to let his food do the talking. The things I liked about the restaurant included all the Rolling Stone covers on the wall, the huge Mural of the WHO in the lounge, and the sheer enthusiasm of management and the staff who seemed to be all up for the experience. The restaurant is very spacious, acoustics are very good and the music is not overbearing with songs we have all heard before, and at the Sunday Brunch they even have a live band playing “Brunch with the Beatles.”
Let’s go straight to some of the dishes you might want to try that stood out for this writer, Because the menu is quite complex and can pull you in several directions. For a snack try the ‘Sticky banana bacon gooey buns-$8’ that will get you started, and taste as good as they sound with the smoked pecans. This like most of the others mentioned are shareable. Good old ‘Deviled eggs-$8 with house made pickles also hit the spot.
Other enjoyable treats were the ‘Madonna Organic Egg Omellette-$14’ with tofu, Spinach, pinenuts, feta and marinated heirloom tomato. No substitutions are allowed however with the side extras of fruit salad and roasted rosemary red bliss potatoes. ‘Butternut Squash Tortellini’ comes with balsamic apple brown butter and delicious toasted pumpkin seeds for a very reasonable $14, and I also tried the best selling ‘Reuben sandwich with layers of corned beef on pumpernickel bread for $11.
So there you have it, and although we did not mention the Flatbread Pizzas, House Burger or any of the main courses like salmon and shrimp if you are really hungry, Rolling Stone is doing a commendable job in the food department without being too pretentious or expensive.
Rolling Stone-6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood/Highland Complex.
Validated Parking $2
323-464-4000
Brunch 10.00 am-3 pm Sunday
Open Daily for lunch, dinner and late-night happy hour 11 pm-midnight.
Michael Hepworth
287 S.Robertson Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
http://twitter.com/MrSpiritsman
http://spiritsman.blogspot.com
