I first fell in love with the gastropub (which is what I’d call BJ’s Cocktail Lounge West, this week’s subject) while teaching English in Japan. This was the late-’70s, before the term became a foodie buzzword, and over there, they call pubs that serve food izakaya, or sake houses, even when your drink of choice is a Kirin Ichiban.
Now, the gastropub trend is taking root here, as evidenced by new generation places like BJ’s Cocktail Lounge West. I need to say up front that the food served here is great, thanks to the presence of a Central American chef, Eric Gaidan, who was trained by one of our best Italian chefs, Marco Porceddu, onetime chef at Bella Luna and Francesco’s.
But before I elaborate on that, it needs to be said that the challenge for this handsome, expensively built place is the location, just off a frontage road accessed from the 215 at Rainbow Boulevard. It’s one of those industrial mall locations that you’d never arrive at by accident. Once you’ve eaten here, though, it will be a destination for sure.
BJ’s is the property of local businessman Chris Montana and a pair of Greek-American sisters, Patricia Kaytia and Marcella Kaytia-Dornin. Their ethnicity explains the presence of Greek fare such as egg lemon soup, Greek salad and chicken oreganato on this eclectic menu.
You won’t feel claustrophobic in here. This is a vast room, with several lounge areas to sit in, as well as a central bar area furnished with the usual video-poker machines, and the main dining area, which can seat somewhere in the vicinity of 160. The walls are adorned with large museum-quality paintings done by Fabian Perez, who has a national following.
The female bartenders and a few servers wear risqué outfits. Think Hooters, but classier.
Gaidan’s specialty is pasta and upscale Italian fare, but he touches all bases on a large, diverse menu. Appetizers could be something like fish and chips, the classic English pub dish, in this case Red Hook ale-battered halibut. Or it could be the Italian dish bruschetta (pronounce it bru-sketta, not bru-shetta, thank you)—grilled ciabatta bread piled high with diced tomatoes swooning olive oil, garlic and capers.
I expecially like the chef’s tempura calamari, something that you could almost imagine eating in Tokyo, rings and tentacles of gently battered squid drizzled with a citrus ponzu sauce to give it extra dimension. The richest appetizer is lobster dip, chunks of lobster meat smothered with cream cheese and baked. If you’re going down that road, better do the crab cakes instead, which are lightly breaded and pan-fried.
Moving down the menu to soup, I enjoyed the chef’s take on avgolemono, or egg lemon soup, a chicken broth with rice that egg yolks and lemon juice are swirled into. This version is frothy and intense, more delicate than in most Greek restaurants. There is also a salad section with a fairly classic Cobb, a chicken Caesar with a nicely emulsified dressing, and my favorite one here, a poached pear salad done with caramelized walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese. Clearly, we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.
From the sandwiches and wraps section, yes, there is a gyro, using a lamb mixture cooked on a grill, and also a meaty Reuben. Naturally there are burgers and pizzas as well, half-pound burgers with all the trimmings and 9-inch personal-size pizzas with medium-thick crusts.
His Greek-style chicken oreganato, marinated in white wine and herbs, has an excellent sauce.
But the best reason to dine here is Gaidan’s Italian menu. Spaghetti with meatballs, so pedestrian in most places, soars on the wings of tiny, flavorful polpette meatballs, al dente pasta and a rich, perfectly balanced marinara sauce.
Porcini mushroom ravioli and risotto are also first-rate, the ravioli redolent of sage and butter, the risotto of the mushrooms and Parmesan cheese. Gaidan makes a northern-style lasagna, the multilayered type enriched with a veal ragu and Bechamel sauce. For purists there is a tasty linguine clams, made with Little Necks he brings in from Long Island.
The short but sweet entrée list contains old chestnuts such as chicken Parmesan and a nice chicken scaloppini, sautéed with mushrooms, butter and white wine, served on a bed of angel-hair pasta. Skirt steak comes with roasted red potatoes, and the grilled salmon is done with a mildly Greek influence, thanks to Kalamata olives, capers, tomato and wine.
The restaurant also does a creative Sunday champagne brunch. Expect to hear more of BJ’s, and its polished young chef, when gastropubs are mentioned as a trend.
BJ’s Cocktail Lounge West
6670 S. Tenaya Way. 257-7378.
Open 24/7.
Suggested dishes: tempura calamari, 6.95; bruschetta, $8.95; spaghetti and meatballs, $11.95; grilled salmon, $10.95.