Chicks with Knives Hatchi Dinner at Breadbar 8/26/10

There are a bunch of underground supper clubs popping up in Los Angeles. One of the more popular ones is Chicks with Knives. Once a month they put on a fun dinner with "SOLE" food and entertainment. It sounds like a great evening out, but I have yet to attend one of these dinners so I was thrilled to learn that the Chicks would be the guest chefs at the August Hatchi event at Breadbar. The Hatchi event takes place on the last Thursday of every month when a guest chef (or chefs) takes over the restaurant and presents eight small plates for eight dollars each. "Hatchi" means eight in Japanese. Anyway, last Thursday I headed out to Breadbar with Andy of The Wind Attack. I wasn't that hungry because I was still trying to digest my meal from the previous evening at Animal (more on that later), but I had looked over the menu and was pleased that everything seemed light enough for me to enjoy without slipping further into a food coma.



This Breadbar location is in the middle of a mall which I usually get lost at, but we managed to find the restaurant without too much trouble. The Chicks called this evening "Love & Kisses & BBQ" and featured all kinds of picnic worthy item. One of the first things I noticed when we saw the menu was that despite the advertisement for all dishes including drinks being $8, the drinks were in fact $12. It wouldn't have been a huge deal if we had known before, but I thought it was a bit much, especially considering how tiny they were. I made to savor every drop of my cucumber gimlet.



We were instructed that we had to order four things per person. This normally wouldn't  be an issue for me, but again, I was still a bit full from the previous night's dinner.  I wasn't prepared for how small the plates would be so the restriction wasn't a big deal. First up was the tomato salad. The simple plating really let the tomato flavor shine. It was crisp and refreshing and the melon under the green tomato was a welcome surprise.



Charred lettuce soup with anchovy and crouton was an interesting take on a Ceaser salad. This wasn't my favorite dish of the evening, but I appreciated the play on a classic.



The pulled pork slider was definitely one of the favorites of the evening. The ingredients went together perfectly and I loved that it wasn't all too sweet. The celery salt on the peaches was a nice surprise. I just wish the sliders had been bigger!!



Sous vide rib-eye. This was my first time having anything cooked sous vide. The meat was of great quality and really flavorful. It sounds strange, but you could really taste the meaty flavor. The charred peppers were a nice accompaniment. 



The doughnuts. Oh the doughnuts. I secretly wanted to order another helping of these, but I decided to show some restraint. They came filled with a vanilla flecked cream that was full of sweet corn. On the side was a blueberry sorbet, blueberry gelee and more sweet corn. The doughnut was so great. I wish it had been a bit warmer, but Andy made a good point that the cream filling would have  melted all over the place if that had been the case.



Overall, I really enjoyed my first Chicks with Knives experience and they have a ton of fun events coming up so I'm really excited to see them again. To find out more about the Chicks, visit their website.

Hatchi Series at Breadbar Century City takes place on the last Thursday of every month:

Breadbar Century City (Inside the mall)
10250 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90067
(310) 277-3770
http://www.breadbar.net/