Pinot Bistro

GONE! Ye Olde King’s Head is moving in! How’s that for a switch?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Glad we had our holiday party at Pinot last year, DAYUM!
Humbly submitted,
Moi

My husband I went there for New Year’s Eve which had a fixed menu. We have eaten at Pinot before and were very happy with everything, especially the food. We thought the New Year’s Eve menu looked especially good, so we booked a reservation.
I ended 2011 hugely disappointed, and now I am starting 2012 complaining. The dinner I had at Pinot Bistro on December 31, 2011 at 7:15pm was probably the worst meal I have ever had. The amuse-​bouche was a joke. It was literally no bigger than a raisin. The cauliflower soup was thin and bitter. The fish was tasteless. The gnocchi was hard and rubbery. I have had better airplane food.
In all fairness, my husband had the steak and was pretty happy with it. But he did have to admit my meal was pretty darn awful. By the way, I am not a big complainer when it comes to food. I will eat just about anything placed in front of me.
And yeah, this meal cost us about $ 200. I really consider it money down the drain. My biggerst regret — we did not go out for sushi.

Dine LA… a chance for paupers to dine like princes.
So I decided to be the ultimate third wheel and accompanied my two married friends Adam and Suzie H. to dinner. Yeah. That’s how I roll. (Am I a homewrecker? No! Just hungry.)
Pinot Bistro was simple but delicious. The ambiance was elegant but not pretentious (just like my reviews ;D) Our three courses were as follows:
Appetizers:
Arugula salad (Manchego cheese, dates, walnuts, apples) [GET THIS]
Mushroom risotto (Wild Oregon Mushrooms w/​a Parmesan crisp) [GET THIS]
Entrees:
Garlic Fried Chicken – the chicken was okay but the skin was DIVINE!
Braised beef short rib [DON’T GET THIS]…like a poor man’s galbi jeem (for you non-​koreans out there… just don’t get this).
Some kind of fish (sorry Adam I can’t remember)
Dessert:
Chocolate profiteroles, vanilla, banana – if you know how to pronounce this… bravo!
Apple Pie
«Coffee» and donuts
Sorry…I tried this place a few months ago so I don’t remember much else. :P But definitely worth going to during DINE LA! Regular price… perhaps for a special occasion…

Yet another amazing DineLA find. Delicious food, amazing service, and a killer hanger steak. Definitely recommended, especially if you’re a fan of French food and technique, and at $ 34 a pop it is quite a deal.
Since I went in a large group we were able to sample a little bit of everything, and loved each and every bite. From the short rib beef bourguignon to the piping hot French Onion soup Pinot Bistro definitely delivered on all counts.
If I had to choose one standout dish it would have to be the hanger steak and the amazing brandade that accompanied the pan-​roasted cod, but like I said above they hit every dish out of the park. Everything was well executed and perfect cooked. Oh and as far as presentation goes 5 stars all the way!
I’m definitely a fan!

I have traveled all over the world. Eaten at top restaurants in Geneva and Milan and the meal I had at Pinot Bistro last night ranks amongst the top 10 meals of my life.
A friend and I arrived a little late, actually alotta late, for our reservation but the hostess was quick to seat us at a lovely corner table.
(Ambiance here is wonderful. It’s just a clean and classic bistro styled restaurant where the focus is on the cuisine and not just the «theme».)
Since we were so late we wanted to respect the chef and kitchen staff so we simply asked the chef to create something for us that wouldn’t be too much of a hassle… and
.GOODNESS. I will forever be thankful that he was willing to accommodate us and our request.
Chef Steven Mary came to our table and asked if we had any specific preferences. I am sadly not a fan of shellfish so that was my only request. What was to follow was one of the most delightfully fantastic experiences of my life.
Glass of champagne with a burrata, crispy prosciutto and fig croquette.
Glass of Pinot Noir with an herb/​butter crusted halibut on a bed of cauliflower risotto with some amazing tarragon butter sauce. I had to make myself stop eating it since I knew we still had a few courses. Some may think «cauliflower risotto»? No, it’s not strange it’s FANTASTIC. Best new dish in my repertoire.
(Now remember, I don’t exactly remember what EVERYTHING was because they were all his «off the cuff» creations. Oye vey!)
A sampling of the best Mushroom and engilsh pea risotto with a Parmesan crust with truffle oil. Best RISOTTO since Milan.
Glass of Malbec with «duo-​pork» — pork chop, pork belly, stone fruit «bread pudding», glazed root vegetable, sauce aigre-​doux (like a sweet soy based sauce) If this is still on the menu, ORDER IT! Oh, the pork belly melts in your mouth. The sauce is just sweet enough and the stone fruit bread pudding combination is mesmerizing.
And FINALLY Macallans 12 year old scotch (neat) paired with their signature chocolate croissant bread pudding DRENCHED in Wild Turkey sauce. Now, no joke, BEST DESERT I’VE EVER HAD! And I am not a huge chocolate fan. The pairing of the scotch was «slap me» good. Oh, wow. Exquisite.
…And then a cigarette because, YES, it was THAT GOOD!
And the BEST part… the phenomenal service. From Chef Mary to the Managers, Jessica and Kristin, to the busers and valet, it was wonderful.
A completely memorable experience. I will be back very very soon.

We bought two bottles of wine and headed here for date night.
We had the:
Escargots, beef tartare, duck, white fish, and croissant bread pudding.
I was so stuffed, but it was all soo good! The white fish was incredible, and I’m not usually into fish. The croissant bread pudding was also a must-​try.

I love this place and have loved it for almost thirteen years. I have never had a bad experience in that time, so I am surprised to read the negative reviews. As always, of course, some people are bound to be unhappy. Prices and portion sizes should not come as a surprise for a restaurant of this caliber. I think the prices are moderate and the portions are not too big, which is a plus if you like to get three courses. I know there is a fairly new chef now, so some items on the menu are new, but a number of classics remain. Here are my recommendations:
1. Before you come, buy some wine. I like the one bottle per person rule! But I also like to linger over a meal for hours (I’m the slowest eater in the universe), and at Pinot Bistro you can do that. ZERO corkage and good glassware. The best.
2. Great salads and generous for the price. I have enjoyed the Caesar before as well as the arugula manchego, but my current favorite is the endive roquefort because I love blue cheese and the endive, in two colors, makes the plate look especially nice.
3. Not a great spot for vegetarians, which is a minus, but if you eat fish, the fish dishes are excellent. I’ve enjoyed the whitefish meuniere with brandade potatoes since 1998 (though it looks different since they brown the butter now), but on my last visit this past Saturday I enjoyed the trout a la Grenobloise with brussels sprouts and cauliflower purée. Delicious.
4. This is one place where I always get dessert NO MATTER WHAT and it is always the same: the chocolate croissant bread pudding with Wild Turkey bourbon sauce. The only change over the years has been that the dish is a bit higher and the sauce is served in a little square bowl rather than a little pitcher, though when I mentioned that casually to the excellent server Anna, she brought me more sauce and put it in the little pitcher. Lovely.
And one more thing: I’ve never had a problem with service. Ever. I find the servers knowledgeable, attentive, and friendly.
Oh, and yet one more thing: if you’re willing to walk a block or so, you can almost always find a space on the street.

I heard good things about the patina group, which owns this place, but it was utterly disappointing! I felt like I was robbed by coming here! Small portions, bland, exorbitant prices.
Décor:
It’s a nice restaurant, but it wasn’t amazing or unique. The tables weren’t all cramped like many restaurants trying to maximize on the number of tables.
Food:
The food was terrible!
1) The salads were decent, but nothing spectacular. A salad from a fast food restaurants are much cheaper and taste better.
2) Braised ribs were recommended by the server and it was one of the most tasteless entrees I’ve ever tasted.
3) Salmon tasted as if they forgot to include some seasoning.
Service:
The staff was friendly and attentive, and the bussers were on top of clearing our tables for the next portion of our meal. The was the only positive portion of my experience.
Parking:
Valet. You can try to look for street parking, but highly unlikely.

Eh. And I even had a discount ($ 30 birthday from Patina Restaurant Group). Started with the pork rillette which had an OK taste, came with toasted and slightly burnt bread (4 pieces only, really!) — and was warm on the bottom and cold, refrigerator cold, on top. Checked with the waitress and yes, that was the intention. :\
Had the hanger steak, medium, which was done to a mostly medium well, if not more. The sauce that came with it was just a dipping/​pouring sauce, which I found a bit strange. The Mac & Cheese (with bacon) was disappointing, and seriously, anything with the word bacon in it usually thrills me. It was a hearty cut of bacon, and fairly fatty. Yikes.
The fries were redeeming, but not enough so — the garlic chicken was alright, and perhaps even better the next day as leftovers…
There’s valet parking, but I parked at a meter a bit down the street. I was late to a reservation, but the restaurant crowd was thinning out so that wasn’t a problem. The BF and I were seated… drum roll please at table in the back squished between another 2-​person table and the kitchen hallway. Which nicely had a bit of a accordion privacy screen covering it, but too much activity in that area, and the chair in front of the privacy screen (had the screen not been there) would have been in the mini hallway. Seriously? Is there that much of a need for another 2-​person table?
Sorry Patina Restaurant Group, but this is one I’m not returning to.

This was one of my favorite restaurants, since they have oysters and my husband loved them. I enjoyed the atmosphere and excellent service. My favorite dish is the white fish with mashed potatoes, can’t go wrong and then the bread pudding with bourbon, out of this world. I also love the Spanish Manchego salad.
You may also enjoy a lovely dinner at the bar which I’ve done more recently and love the manager Georgina, who is quite friendly and inviting.
I highly recommend Pinot Bistro for an elegant dinner or a quiet night out alone.

My husband and I chose to come here on Valentine’s day for a special dinner. We ended up pretty disappointed, wishing we had gone to one of our other, less expensive stand-​bys instead.
We arrived for our reservation and the hostess had to ask our party name three times before eventually finding another hostess to seat us. Pinot has two main dining rooms and a third, more casual room with linoleum tiled floors, adjacent to the bar. We were seated in the casual kitchen/​bathroom style room rather than one of the actual dining rooms, despite having a reservation. The tables in this room are tiny and the room is flooded with a harsh light from the streetlamps outside, not exactly warm and romantic. We were seated in one right against the glass door to the patio, which was very drafty. There were still at least 8 tables free in this area (of about 11 tables) so we asked to be moved to another table that was less drafty. The hostess came and moved our menus without a word, when I said thank you, she just walked away, no response.
The server came and I asked which of the signature cocktails was less sweet– he told me which one, a brandy with lemon and lime and a cinnamon sugar rim. I knew it would be sweet, but I had asked which was LESS sweet. I ordered it, and then it didn’t come with the cinnamon-​sugar rim — the hostess who delivered it said «that’s because you ordered it less sweet.» Which was not actually what happened, I had just asked for some direction in ordering. The server should have said, «would you like it without the cinnamon sugar rim? It would make it less sweet?» to which I would have said, «no, please bring it with the sugared rim.» Anyway, I didn’t send it back because I didn’t want spit in my drink which I felt like might have happened given the icy manner in which we were treated.
The V-​day menu was prix fixe, $ 55 for 3 courses and $ 65 for 4 courses. I’m not super well-​versed in fine dining so I had to ask for clarification which course was omitted if you did the 3 course, and the server actually told me one thing and then when I tried ordering it, apparently I was wrong about which course was omitted in the 3-​course.
I want to say that throughout the meal, the bus-​boys (or server assistants) were friendly and helpful, very effective and on-​the-​spot. I would’ve slipped them a $ 20 if the meal hadn’t already bankrupted us.
Now, the food: I started with mignonette consumme with fried oysters. It was a served cold, and the broth was rather tastless, so it was really fried oysters served in a bath of cold water. But the oysters tasted really good. My husband had asparagus soup which was bland. The bread they brought to the table was excellent.
Second course, I had seared scallops and my husband had mushroom risotto, both were outstanding.
Main course, we both got a duo of beef: braised short rib and flank steak. The short rib was tender and delicious, served on a bed of whipped mashed potatoes with some tender sweet carrots on parsley purée. Delicious, delicious all. Flank steak was a little chewy but that’s to be expected.
Dessert was also good. My husband had croissant bread pudding which was great, and I had a lemon tart that was served in a pastry that was a little harder than it should’ve been.
We won’t be back. Even though the food was mostly good, the price and service combined make it not worth it. Bottom line though, if you don’t care about good service and you have a lot of money, you’d probably like it.

My friend and I ate here two nights in a row. He was moving to the UK and wanted to treat me to a really good dining experience. Never being one to turn down an invite out, i had to say YES! He had eaten here a few times before. scanned the room for the décor. (as I always do).I really liked the casual atmosphere. The menu offered a few diferent Vegitarian dishes. This was a plus for me. We both loved the wine, our meals and the service. They also have a nice bar area. Definitley worth two nights back to back! Romantic type of place.

A French restaurant that offers some traditional French dishes, but without the stereotypical Parisian attitude.
We ordered the «Sunday Local’s Night Menu», which offers a starter, entrée, and dessert for $ 32. Since the main dish alone cost at a minimum $ 23 and the cheapest starter is $ 9, it’s a pretty good deal if you’re looking to get two out of the three anyway. Unlike most starter – entrée – dessert options, you can choose any item on the menu rather than from a much more restrictive list.
I tasted the Pinot baby greens, Roasted garlic chicken, Salmon, loup de mer and sorbet.
Pinot garden baby greens, raw vegetables, Champagne vinaigrette – highly recommended. Rather than large raw vegetables, the salad had shredded carrots and a couple other vegetables. The dressing was delicious.
Roasted garlic-​crusted farmer chicken, Pinot fries, caramelized onion – As our waiter described the dish «It’s basically Fries with a side of chicken.» Most of the plate was covered by French fries, but the little bit of chicken on it tasted great.
Sautéed salmon, sweet corn risotto, tarragon, roasted tomato, lobster jus – The Salmon was tender, but the corn wasn’t too exciting.
Loup de mer (Atlantic Sea Bass) with brown butter sauce and cauliflower, haricot verts, and grapes– Seasoned well and great sauce. The vegetables were good enough to order as a dish on its own. The grape/​green bean combination sounded a little weird, but complemented each other and the fish nicely.
Lemon, Mango, and Raspberry Sorbet– The lemon sorbet was too icy. The Mango and Raspberry had a texture more similar to ice-​cream that sorbet. It was a nice way to finish the meal.
Overall, it was an enjoyable evening, and I look forward to eating here again.

Went here for the Tour de France tasting menu which did not disappoint. We were seated in a romantic corner table and shortly after arriving were given two glasses of champagne, complimentary, to help us celebrate our special occasion.
The monk fish and duck confit were amazing and the potato galette immediately took me back to Paris after the first bite. The service was attentive without being intrusive and the pace of the parings made for a perfect 2 hour meal.
So why only 4 stars instead of 5? (I would have given 4.5 if allowed) I went back and forth over this and when I asked the Mrs if they could have done anything differently, she said what I was thinking.
With a tasting menu, instead of just setting down the glass of wine and saying «this is for your next course» tell me what it is, where it is from and why it was chosen. What part of the next meal that I am about to enjoy will it compliment? With «sou-​servers» bringing the meals out of the kitchen, make sure you come out with them to tell me what I’m eating. Someone saying «the oysters» and «the snapper» isn’t telling me more than I already know. Let me know that it has been poached in butter, or accompanying my meal is potato and basil croquettes. I shouldn’t have to wait until you come over to check on us to ask about the wine or to see if these are haricot vert beans or regular green beans.
Minor complaint? Maybe but when your tip will be more than what most people spend on their dinner it’s the small things like that which make for a more complete service and experience.

Had a friend who suggested this place after she recently visited and learned there is a new executive chef. I had such a great experience that I wanted to make sure and review it for Unilocal.
I met two friends last Saturday night for dinner at 6:30pm. The outside of the building reminds me of places I have visited abroad. Walking in, I noticed the full bar on the right and the great lighting. The place is romantic and classy.
The waiter took our order and paired some great wine with our choices. Everything from the clasic chilled soup to the duck to the choloclate drizzeled bread pudding was perfectly seasoned and portioned.
I only wish I lived closer so I could frequent Pinot Bistro more often.
Hats off the the change in chefs and the major face-​lift it gave the place!

I haven’t been to this location in years and didn’t know if it would be as good as I had remembered.
Every night they have a special and that evening it was Short Ribs with mash potatoes, carrots and bone marrow/​horse radish. I was craving for comfort food and boy did it comfort me… It was so delicious, seasoned perfectly and a HUGE portion so that I can enjoy it again as left overs. :)
My husband had leg of Lamb and he also felt that it was tasty and beautifully presented with a terrine of potatoes and string beans. The best lamb he has had in a while.
The atmosphere was lovely, service impeccable, a french bistro with the perfect Saturday evening fare.
It is a bit pricey, but really worth it if you are craving for this type of food.
We’ll be back.

The service = 5 stars
The entire staff was overly attentive and friendly.
The atmosphere = 4 stars
Very nice. It felt like we were sitting in a living room.
The food = 2 stars
The food left much to be desired. The crab cake was okay but the sauce had a weird flavor. And the mustard chicken was actually cooked perfectly inside. However, the skin wasn’t crispy and the chicken wad completely flavorless. The literally spread some mustard on it and put it on a plate. I wad highly disappointed.
Overall I would give this place another try simply because of the service and ambiance.

We needed a nice place in the valley so we decided on Pinot Bistro and went for the Dine LA dinner menu.
Started with a cocktail to grease the wheels, if you will. I had an amazing La Coloniale and it was so good I kept those coming throughout dinner. even though they were pricey (~$ 15 each)
The service was great from beginning to end! we had a 2 year old with us (we let them know when we made the reservation) and they put us in an appropriate spot. Our waitress overheard that it was my sisters birthday and they brought some very tasty sorbet for her, in addition to her desert, which was both perceptive and very nice.
The food was good. Nothing stands out as a must order when I return, although I did like the duck and tuna both. They were very well prepared with great flavor. I did try some bone marrow (not for me) so I thank them for that new opportunity. My sisters had the Ratatouille terrine and really loved it.
I look forward to ordering off the regular menu and seeing if there is anything that becomes a must in my culinary bank. All said in done, a very nice dinner experience. We’ll be back.

This place was average, so average that I might actually forget I ate there in a week. The service was amazing and friendly. The restaurant itself is beautiful and inviting. I was expecting so much more because after all this is Patina owned.
As for the food… I’m not sure the Chef knows about salt. I feel bad saying that, but all the food could have used more seasoning. I started with the french onion soup and it was very well crafted. I think it was the most memorable dish of the night. I sampled the beef tartar and enjoyed this dish as well. The main course however was very simple. Salmon over a bed of haricot verts, topped with chopped tomatoes. Simple, so simple that it could have been prepared by the basic of cooks. It needed something, just a little extra oomph… I was waiting for it but never found it.
I left full of course, and because I had great company I rather enjoyed this meal. I’m tempted to come back again to see if the food improves, but then again. there are so many other restaurants to try on Ventura Blvd.

I gave it a two stars coz no matter how willing I am to shell out more mulah for service and ambience, which are both excellent here, I’m still expecting SOMETHING in the food department.
The food was good but entirely forgettable. Not what I’m expecting when I shell out half a grand for food.
Parking available in the lot.