cafe midi and laurel hardware in la

No trip to LA is complete without a couple of good restaurant sightings and this recent trip was no exception.  Brendan took me to lunch at an unique spot on Le Brea, Maison Midi and Café Midi.

You enter through a wonderful store, Maison Midi, chalk full of retro home décor, tabletop and kitchen/dining goodies worthy of any Parisian mercantile.  In the back of the store is a charming French bistro called Café Midi. The menu boasts no less than 49 different salads, each more interesting than the next, dozens of sandwiches and burgers and of course a selection of croques-monsieur--I had the tuna and avocado croque-monsieur, smothered in melted Gruyere--the ultimate French toasted cheese!

Brendan and I celebrated his birthday at another interesting store transformed into a restaurant called Laurel Hardware on Santa Monica in West Hollywood.  The original hardware storefront gives way to a cool club/dining room with outdoor patio seating in the back.  Highlights included the lollipop sprout salad with avocado and pumpkin seeds, the beef cheeks, so tender you could cut them with your fork, and the thin crust pizza--we had the homemade sausage with rapini and red onions--all washed down with organic cucumber vodka, fresh juiced watermelon and lime.