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player ready...While the “L” tracks overhead don’t exactly scream “glam,” BLVD will ooze it, if the team behind the project has any say.
Channeling ’50s-era Sunset Strip and Hollywood decadence, BLVD is aiming for a mid-June opening, according to partner Kara Callero, who runs the spot with her husband, real estate attorney Frank Callero; and his cousin, Steven Zaleski, a real-estate investor and developer.
Back in February, the team lured executive chef Ross Mendoza from his post at Pump Room, and he’s now teasing out menu details as the final touches on the restaurant get under way.
“This is not tweezer food,” says Mendoza, an alum of James Beard Award-winning ABC Kitchen in New York, referring to a particular fine-dining trend of precious preparation and plating. “We want to transport guests to a different time and place with our food.”
Taking more than design cues from Hollywood’s Golden Age, Mendoza and the partners consulted numerous restaurant menus, cookbooks and history of the time period for ideas. Some points of reference include Taix French Restaurant, Ciro’s, Scandia, the original Hamburger Hamlet, Brown Derby and Mocambo.
Additionally, “American cuisine in this post war period was a time influenced by troops returning from war, who brought with them new flavors and expanded palates,” said Callero. Think Pacific islands and Southeast-Asian flavors, but also French and Italian cuisine — all from countries to which American troops were deployed.
The goal is to refresh, not recreate, American cuisine from the time period, says Callero. “We decided early on we didn’t want to just recreate classics from the ’50s, things like lobster thermidor,” says Callero. “We want to be inspired by those things, but contemporize the menu for our current times.”
“Our food will be glamorous and decadent,” says Mendoza, “but refined to modern palates, a little brighter. We’re going for refreshed classics and experimenting with those global flavors.”
The menu is largely developed — the dessert and beverage programs are still in progress — and dishes seem a grab bag, but with a method to the madness. “What drew us to the ’50s and the concept was that back then, people went out for the design, the music, the drama of a space — it was more than just dinner. It was an all-encompassing experience,” says Callero.
So what does all this mean? Think seafood towers, traditional caviar service, whole loups de mer and suckling pigs, and much more, including dramatic sweets. “I know I’m going to offer a bananas foster and baked Alaska,” says Mendoza.
Mendoza has organized the menu into three loose categories, based on size and shareability: Smaller, medium and larger plates, though the latter can act as traditional entrees. “People can come get a snack and a drink, or they can come with friends and party,” he says.
Show-stopping dishes — the seafood towers, whole animal service — is a nod to the heaving, jaw-dropping platters of yesteryear, without indulging some of the more novel dishes (savory jello molds, anyone?).
Other dishes on the menu will speak to the global flavors introduced to Americans at that time, like tempura prawn with decidedly Southeast Asian flavors of tamarind, lime and chiles, or a house pappardelle with oxtail ragout. That suckling pig? Doused in a Cuban mojo sauce and served with sweet peas and fava beans. Representing France is a tournedo Rossini, a throwback haute cuisine dish of filet mignon rested on brioche. In BLVD’s case, it will be topped with foie gras and bathed in a truffle sauce. “It’s luxurious but not fussy or stuffy,” says Mendoza.
It won’t all be show (and heart) stoppers – American comfort classics will also be served. “It’s a way of showing off dining from that era, but with twists,” says Callero. Expect takes on minute steak and potatoes, patty melts, pot pies and even a chef-y update on the Ritz Cracker.
Both Mendoza and Callero insist that the restaurant is a modern look at Hollywood dining, but is not driven by theme and theatrics. As the team gears up for opening, it’s just a matter of tweaking their existing plan rather than overthinking things.
“If we had a choice, we’d have a 100 item menu,” says Mendoza.
817 W. Lake St.
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