Tucked high into the Malibu hills, it is easy to see how so many celebrities flock to Saddle Peak Lodge for a quiet escape from the bustle of Los Angeles. It's not an easy place to find and it provides a nice retreat from prying eyes. During my dineLA press trip, we were treated to a lovely Sunday brunch at this classic location that specializes in wild game.
The brunch menu is lighter on game than the dinner menu because during the day is when the meat is gathered and prepared for the evening. As is customary and necessary with brunch, we started with a few cocktails. This bacon bloody mary provided the perfect antidote to the previous night's excursion. The thick cut bacon lended it's saltiness and smokiness to the bloody mary in a very subtle way.
Since we weren't able to get a taste of the game being prepared for the evening, we settled with a trio of game sausage ($9). On this day the sausages were duck with jalapeno, pheasant, and wild boar with cranberry. The flavors were subtle, but pleasant and we all kept coming back for more.
We also shared a plate of the house-made bacon ($5). It's thick cut, perfectly smoky, and salty.
My main course was the breakfast pizza. It was just what I needed after another evening of a few too many cocktails. The pliant crust is topped with pesto, fresh mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, a mixture of the game sausages and a perfect over-easy fried egg.
I was able to try a few bites of the rabbit confit pot pie ($15). A puff pastry vol-au-vent is piled high with a just slightly too salty rabbit confit. This would have been perfect if the salt had been dialed down a bit.
A quiche filled with goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and broccoli ($14) helped us get some much-needed vegetables.
The interior of the restaurant is dark and contains many decorations like this which may or may not make you uncomfortable about the food you are about to consume. I'm fine with it since so many places on my trip to Namibia contained similar wall pieces.
For such a young chef, Christopher Kufek has a strong command on what makes a great restaurant tick. It's easy to see why Saddle Peak Lodge has withstood the test of time.
Saddle Peak Lodge
419 Cold Canyon Road Calabasas, CA 91302
(818) 222-3888
Website
8 comments:
oh man, that looks like a stellar brunch. i'll take that pizza, and i'm not sharing :)
That brunch looks amazing!! Even though I don't eat meat, I admire the fact that they gather all of it the same day they cook it!
a plate of bacon!
why don't more places do this?
it's like the perfect paleo lunch. lol
I think I'd just have 2 serves of the bacon! And the bloody mary looks wonderful. It seems really odd to me that they cook the game same day, when so much wild meat really benefits from a day or two hanging.
Such a fabulous brunch experieince!
Oh, I've always wanted to go there -- thanks for reminding me about it!
Looks delicious- especially those game sausages. What a great brunch, maybe I will check it out when I'm back in So Cal.
You guys were SPOILED to the max on that press trip! LOVES it.
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