NEW CHEF TAKING RISKS AT BOW & TRUSS IN N.HOLLYWOOD

Michael Hepworth

NEW CHEF TAKING RISKS AT BOW & TRUSS IN N.HOLLYWOOD

A NEW TAKE ON THE EXISTING MENU

Bow and Truss and The Federal news: new chef, new menu and brunch!

North Hollywood,CA(Perfect Meal Today)3/11/4/–A new chef from Seattle has taken over in 2014 at Bow & Truss restaurant and Bar in North Hollywood, and he might just create a bit of a culinary buzz at this well appointed restaurant. The place used to be an auto body repair shop and it now has the look of a very large and cavernous urban industrial style restaurant that could be found in any hip and trendy downtown district like Seattle, Atlanta or Toronto.

The previous chef Stefhanie Meyer focused on Latin American and/or Spanish tapas style food, but this new version of the restaurant is incorporating more American food, North-West style.

Chef Aaron Grissom is only 27 years and the owners must have bought into his enthusiasm and passion which certainly seemed genuine enough on a recent Tuesday night visit. I do know that his big break came on a certain show on the

Food Network that he requested not be mentioned, but it did alert the owners of Bow and Truss to his talents. Loved the first course which was a Buttercup Squash Soup ($8) Spanish style that was very rich in taste and flavor thanks to the brown butter, marcona almond and crème fraiche.

Also loved the bacon wrapped shrimp ($11) done Spanish style with a spiced jam that the tone of the evening of savory delights.

The Fish Bowl from Valencia ($22) remains a staple of the restaurant and comes in a smoked broth with spanish sausage, clan fennel flower and salmon. The new chef has added scallops, shrimp and manila clams and by the time you read this he will also be changing the name to something more sexy sounding.

What is already sexy is the Scottish Salmon done Peruvian style ($19) with crisp Mushrooms and sunfried tomato confit, an exciting dish where the salmon was pan fried and cooked to perfection and as moist as you would want it.. The dish also contained ochi from Peru and crispy parsnips, an underrated vegetable that I wish more chefs would include on their menu.

The Filet of Beef ($24) hails from Argentina and comes in a white root puree, Mushroom, applewood tomato cream and smoked prosciutto. Even better than that was the Pork Loin ($21) done Portuguese style w/polenta and root vegetable that was the perfect accompaniment to the succulent pork.

Lamb Ribs done Southern Spain style ($12) seemed a little fatty however and come with macerated fruit, harissa and lavender mint, but I would try the Club Sandwich and Chips ($13) again with scallops, iberico ham, golden pea shoots and boar bacon.

The drink menu is pretty extensive and the cocktails are very lively with new Variations being added all the rime such as the Burnt Pepino and the Julepe Oscuro. The bar in the center of the room looks very user friendly, and this is certainly a place you would want to hang out at for some time.

With so many new restaurants to check out, return visits are sometimes difficult to pull together, but this is one I will be looking forward to visiting again, as long as Mr.Grissom sticks around and doesn’t burn himself out.

The web site however needs a bit of work especially on the color coding which makes the menu virtually unreadable unless you have the eyes of a two-year old.

Bow and Truss-11122 W.Magnolia Blvd, N.Hollywood

818-985-8787

www.bowandtruss.com

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