"...L.A.'S BEST RESTAURANTS" - by Jonathan Gold for Los Angeles Times
"...once you`ve passed
through the carved wooden doorway, the staff exudes friendliness and
charm. (The Little Door also boasts more age diversity than other hip
spots-many diners are actually over 30.) This is hands down the city`s
most romantic restaurant, a secret hideaway..." - by Colleen Dunn Bates
for BON APPETIT
THE LITTLE DOOR'S CUISINE-LIKE ITS CLIENTELE-IS BEAUTIFUL...
Of the many, many surreal restaurants in town, perhaps the most popular
is the Little Door, a heaving tropical fantasy...The food is often pretty
arranged here, a glossy magazine layout on a plate. Seared tuna, almost
raw, is smooth and cool under a paste of crushed green olives. Honeyed
duck breast--rare but crisp-skinned, glazed with honey and garnished
with stewed figs and couscous--tastes like a house specialty and may be
the best dish the Little Door serves.
- by Jonathan Gold for LOS ANGELES TIMES
MEDITERRANEAN MOOD
Inside, the restaurants feel like a rambling, down-at-the-heels
country house. Several rooms serve as dining space, and French doors
open onto the courtyard. The windowsills are painted the same bright
blue of doors and shutters all over Province. There’s a piano with a
guitar resting on top of it in one room. In the back room is a
waist-high hearth, where a fire burns under a tiled hood. The long wood
tables could come from an old farmhouse. Candles in rustic iron sconces
and French canning jars burn everywhere, bathing the rooms in warm
light.
We
sit in the rear dining room, the one with the fireplace, where we can
glimpse the kitchen through the opening framed by café curtains. As we
sip our wine (the entire list is available by the glass, from a St.
Tropez rosé at $5 to a premier cru Chablis at $20), we find ourselves
caught up in the recorded music: haunting North African ballads and the
great Mali singer Salif Keita mixed with world beat and dance tunes.
The menu -a dozen appetizers and about the same number of main
courses-changes almost daily, depending on what the chef finds at the
farmers’ market. To start, grilled vegetable terrine is a colorful
layering of grilled eggplant, sweet red peppers and zucchini that has
set long enough for the flavors to meld beautifully. It’s served with a
dab of tapenade."
– by S. Irene Virbila for LOS ANGELES TIMES MAGAZINE
"... WE LET OUR GRACIOUS AND KNOWLEDGEABLE WAITER Eric decide for us. He recommended we start with the Moroccan salad, an
ensemble of four vegetable salads each highlighted by its own
interesting and complex flavors, a blend of fish and potato that were
so light, and fluffy they melted in the mouth.
For entrees he
suggested the lamb shank with apricot sauce and the filet with
Roquefort. The apricot sauce was a wonderful complement to the lamb,
giving it a subtle, sweet flavor. Of course if you love a medium-rare
filet, and you love Roquefort, this is a delectable combination."
- LARCHMONT CHRONICLE
"WITH DUSKY CHANDELIERS suspended over heavy wooden table that are often covered with the
finest assortment of French cheeses and aged wines, The Little Door
feels like old provincial Europe. The charming warmth of The Little
Door is reflected in entrees that are both pastoral and elegantly
presented by the resident chef, who selects organic ingredients daily
from the local Farmer?s market. The Menu is printed afresh every
evening in accordance with his findings, such as the leeks used in the
braised leek, thyme and Gruyere cheese tart, or the cilantro and mint
that flavors the charmoula-grilled ahi tuna. Desserts are listed on
chalkboard, and they too change according to what?s in season. The
fruit tarts are delicious when accompanied by the Moroccan mint tea."
- by Donna Quesada for CIRCLE
