Tonight (July 26th), Four was offering a dinner special. First off, a small bowl of salad, lightly dressed in a simple vinaigrette. (The sandwiches all come with this salad as an accompaniment unless you upgrade for a half-order of one of the entree salads.) Then came dinner itself, grilled shrimp atop lemon-y quinoa, and a fresh pesto-topped saute of haricot vert and thinly cut ribbons of zucchini. Marvelous meal for a summer evening.
Despite my initial worries, the fish burger is superb. A couple grilled pieces of mahi-mahi (not ground fish), a slice of one of those great tomatoes you can only find for a few weeks a year, and slaw, atop a light/airy/toasted bun that is as good as any you'll find in NELA (although probably most similar to the excellent burger bun at Westside Tavern).
The shrimp and fennel soup. The brandy glaze on the shrimp imparts the soup with the kinda magic that leaves a tingle on your palate that follows the initial flavor of the broth.
Mahi mango salad. Fair warning: the salads are immense. A half order is probably plenty enough for lunch, unless you're a big eater (a feastman, as DB terms such folk).
This is the bbq pork sandwich on a homemade hawaiian sweet roll. The mango bbq sauce makes the sandwich. While this sandwich might be a little on the sweet side for some, I've gone back for it twice. Be it tacos al pastor with pineapple, ribs with bbq sauce, or pig candy, pork tastes great coupled with sweet, folks. Always and forever. Hallelujah.
The steak salad. I had a full order, but neglected to take a photo until I was about 2/3rd's of the way through. I know it's hard to tell in the low-res, but that steak is perfect medium rare.
A side of beet salad. Which brings me to this: Sure, you could go to the farmer's market and get a lot of organic produce just as lovely and magnificent as what you're seeing here. But if you have the luxury of being able to eat out once in awhile, I have a theory that sandwiches always taste better when you haven't made them for yourself. The cheat around this is to make your sandwich for yourself the night before. It works wonders, I swear.
A spinach tart with edible flowers. A thin delicate crust.
The pork loin sandwich was one of their spring items I liked best. May start a petition to see if Corey and Michelle can put some variant of it on their fall menu.
I'm allergic to chocolate. But it doesn't stop me from eating dessert. Specifically, I gravitate towards fruit desserts. From pies to plum cake to poached pears, if there's cooked fruit involved, I'm usually on board, sight unseen. On a workout kick, I've only allowed myself to have Four's berry cobbler once. You know when something's so delicious, you shiver with joy? That's the case here. It's the thunderous collision of sweet and tart that does it, two freight trains colliding, and yielding 4th of July fireworks. As splendid as anything I've had at Huckleberry. Who wants to go halvsies?
Roast eggplant pita sandwich with kale, feta, and a mint yogurt sauce.
Roast eggplant pita sandwich with kale, feta, and a mint yogurt sauce.
I've had hundreds of food adventures in Los Angeles. Sawtelle. San Gabriel Valley. K-Town. Thaitown. I've rocked them through and through, and will continue to do so in the years ahead. But man oh man, isn't there something to be said for having something stellar in your own backyard that you can champion to friends and strangers alike? There sure is.
P.S. Four Cafe is working towards offering a weekend breakfast/brunch, beginning in the next couple of weeks, if not sooner. If you go to their website, you can check out a preview of the menu.
P.P.S. Some other items from the spring 2010 menu:
This was their kale, roasted chickpea and avocado salad.
