Restaurant: Joe’s Restaurant [1, 2]

Location: 1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291

Date: June 23, 2013

Cuisine: California Farmer’s Market

Rating: Consistently good

I’ve been coming to Joe’s since 1995 or 1996 and they are approaching their 20th anniversary any day now. In a major metropolitan restaurant scene, that’s an eternity. Chef Joe Miller was an early proponent of the ingredient driven “farmer’s market style” of California cooking that is very popular right now. And despite the restaurant’s venerable age, the menu is continually rotating and the dishes remain fresh and relevant.

The Abbot Kinney frontage.

Quaint bar. Further inside is a little maze of little rooms and a lovely patio that is perfect for brunch.

The brunch menu.

Joe’s has good bread. Particularly the brioche. At brunch there is also banana bread, but I forgot to photo it.

Buttermilk pancakes. Made in an iron mould by all appearances.

Brioche French Toast. Cherries jubilee, vanilla whipped cream, toasted almonds. Decadent, like a dessert!

Pan seared skuna bay salmon. Couscous, green onion, roasted radishes, snap peas, parsley sauce. A lovely piece of salmon.

Reuben sandwich. Corned beef, sauerkraut, gruyere cheese, 1000 island dressing, pickled vegetables. Simultaneously classic and reinvented.

Wild dungeness crab hash. Roasted peppers, country potatoes, rosemary nage, soft poached eggs.

Joe’s offers not only a great brunch, a lovely patio, but considerable value as well. For this kind of gourmet treatment, the brunch entrees are extremely reasonable, averaging perhaps $13. You could expect to pay close to this for an omelet at a typical LA short order joint!

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