From a full English breakfast to fermented black cod to secret World Cup Day specials, here are the top limited-edition menus hitting local restaurants.
At Chainsaw, in the Melrose Hill neighborhood at 5022 Melrose Avenue, in celebration of the Norway vs England World Cup match, the Café, which is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., will be serving a full English breakfast, even though they might be rooting for Norway. The special will be available from 9 a.m. to sell out and will include two English bangers, UK-imported Heinz baked beans, a fried egg on toast, and salt and pepper grilled heirloom tomatoes.
If you want to watch the World Cup matches between Norway and England and Argentina and Switzerland today, one of which is guaranteed to be one of the best games of the Cup, and you need great food and beer, my recommendation is the pairing of Skyduster Beer and Estrano Verano at 1124 San Julian Street in Downtown. Estrano is Chef Diego Argoti’s sensational street food pop-up, which landed at Skyduster Beer at City Market South for the entirety of the World Cup.
Argoti has a custom live fire menu for each match, made up of traditional foods from the countries that will be facing each other on the field, which he doesn’t announce a few hours before kick-off, but is always worthwhile and only available for the day. Today’s live fire menu starts at 5 p.m. For those who want more traditional choices, Estrano always has a hot dog, a custom Nori dog, and a plain option, with a heavenly eight-ounce pub burger with house-ground short rib patty, sharp cheddar, brioche bun, pickle remoulade, and caramelized onions on the menu, with other selections.
Skyduster’s beer is very good, with the West Coast IPA being this writer’s favorite. It is a very drinkable IPA, with flavor, but not as overpowering as many IPAs are. There’s even more on the menu, but I’m trying to keep this short. My highest recommendation is that I will be there for the match, and I am looking forward with anticipation to whatever Argoti has on the menu tomorrow. You can check out the full menu here.
A relatively new pop-up in Venice, The Omlette Pan, serves nothing but omelets, cooked fresh by chef Phillip Cejudo, from 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and this week’s special is an organic egg white omelet with Manchego/aged sheep’s milk cheese, a side of berries, organic honey and sourdough wheat bread. The special runs from Wednesday until Sunday, which is coincidentally the days that ‘the Pan is open.
The regular omelet is made of whole eggs, Havarti cheese, spinach, avocado, and chili oil with a side of “power greens”, cilantro lime dressing, and seeds with baguette slices. Cejudo has some strong cold brew available for $2, and the omelets cost $13. I had last week’s special, and it is fresh and delicious. Cejudo’s pop-up is located at 512 Rose Avenue, and Wabi on Rose, the restaurant behind where The Omlette Pan is set up, allows Cejudo to use their seating before they open.
While we are talking about breakfast, Leopard Pizza Co. is taking over Sundays at Cardinale du Vin. The pizza pop-up has been holding down the Tuesday night spot at the restaurant and will now be serving breakfast pizzas for brunch from 7 a.m. to noon. The breakfast creation is a Smoked Bacon and Potato Pizza, topped with a perfectly cooked egg. But wait, that’s not all, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m, they will be serving a Thai Ground Beef & Holy Basil Pizza, finished with an egg.
Tomat, in Westchester, has a special dinner on Saturday night from 5 p.m. to close: “From Scratch” Pop-Up with Peter Barrett. Tomat says, “Peter is a celebrated writer, photographer, cook, gardener, forager, and fermenter. He published Project 258: Making Dinner at Fish & Game and the bestselling Blue Zones Kitchen: One-Pot Meals cookbook with author Dan Buettner, and is currently working on a book with famed chef Dominique Crenn.”
Reservations are available at Resy, and the dinner promises a “special, one-night-only, à la carte dinner menu using some rare and vintage ferments from Peter’s archives. Highlights include Black Cod with curry sauce & paratha, Duck with two moles, and much more.” Tomat is a very exciting restaurant, with an excellent cocktail program and good food that I have only begun to explore. The opportunity to try collaborative dishes at Tomat Chef and Co-Owner Harry Posner and Barrett, especially when it looks to have dishes that utilize fermented ingredients, is a very special dining experience. Tomat is located at 6261 W. 87th Street.
Okay, one more. Mustard’s Bagels has some great specials, which always involve a bagel topped with some really incredible ingredients. I just had one of their specials this morning, and it was everything I imagined it to be and even more. I can’t even talk about it yet. But for one day only, Mustard’s Bagels will be hosting chef Javier Ramos Jr., aka @bon_javier, who has created a new special that is smoked ruby red trout salad, Neuske’s bacon, shoestring fries & slaw on a roasted sesame bagel. Can you add an egg? Yes, you can. Is this a collaboration two years in the making? Yes, that’s what we heard. Mustard’s Bagels is located at 10850 Washington Boulevard in Culver City.
