Brunch at Vu

I'm the kind of Angeleno that hates to drive. I work in West Hollywood, and live in Hollywood. If you need me to go further, it has to be good. This past weekend I ventured out to the beach cities not once, but twice. It was a miracle, but also necessary because of the heat. I braved insane traffic on Saturday for brunch at Vu, a new-ish restaurant in Marina Del Rey with a fun, seasonal menu and a beautiful view.



To calm my nerves at being a half hour late (traffic!), I started with a mimosa (not pictured) . It was exactly what I needed. Vu has an interesting cocktail menu, so even though I'm not a big hard alcohol drinker, I couldn't resist trying a sip or two. The bellini was a little too sweet for me, but the mojito was perfectly refreshing. Beer after Branca with Fernet and Ginger beer was meant to be drunk in a single shot, but I didn't mind sipping each slowly.







We did have food to go with all of those cocktails. The table shared plates of fruit with Greek yogurt and an assortment of savory breads with herb compound butters. Unfortunately, the butter melted pretty quickly in the sun so no photos of it.





Considering that chef Kyle Schutte is known for his molecular gastronomy (he worked under Richard Blais), the brunch menu is surprisingly devoid of any complicated techniques. Saturday was National Eggs Benedict day and while I always prefer a savory breakfast, I opted to have my eggs prepared a different way. I ordered the lobster omelet which came filled with asparagus, shaved fennel, lobster, and pork belly and topped with a pommery hollandaise and a few more pieces of pork belly. I would have preferred larger chunks of lobster, but overall, this was a great spring dish. I am picky about potatoes, but I really enjoyed the home fries as they were very light and crispy.



The chef did a version of the Hawaiian benedict with asparagus instead of Spam on sweet Hawaiian rolls for one of our vegetarian diners. It looked so perfect, I just had to capture it.



By this point I was pretty full, but we couldn't pass up dessert. This is the area of the menu where the molecular gastronomy really comes into play. Buttermilk panna cotta with liquid nitrogen coca cola and carbonated blackberries sounded interesting, but unfortunately the texture of the panna cotta was too firm and the liquid nitrogen coca cola didn't have much flavor.



Pineapple carpaccio with caramelized brioche, mint pearls, and coconut air was also not as good as I wanted it to be. The brioche was slightly bitter and the mint pearls were also lacking in flavor. I probably would have liked it more if the pineapple was on it's own.



Things turned around with the house made ice creams.



And the french toast with maple syrup ice cream, strawberry jam, and strawberry-thyme relish.



The apple tart with cherry ice cream and powdered tarragon (not pictured) was excellent, but I could have done without the powdered tarragon as once again, I didn't feel it added much to the dish. My absolute favorite dessert was the white chocolate polenta with frosted flakes and chambord-flambeed berries. I couldn't get enough of it and probably ate more of it than anyone else at the table. The polenta was crisp on the outside and lightly sweet and creamy on the inside. The berries were a perfect dipping vehicle.



Vu is a beautiful restaurant in a picturesque setting. It was definitely a nice way to spend my morning having a slightly boozy brunch while cooling down at the beach.

*All food and drinks were comped. Opinions are my own

Vu Restaurant
14160 Palawan Way
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 439-3033
http://www.vurestaurantmarinadelrey.com/