The entrance is so discreet, you may not have noticed the new restaurant at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Ivar Street. With its windows blacked out, it appears like any other front along the boulevard. But by the night, attention, limousines and fancy wheels pull up in front Beso - "kiss" - the new restaurant "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria and Parker Boston chef Todd English.The actress has itself received a dramatic loft like space with chandeliers dangling from the ceiling heights, as earrings in diamonds and leather chairs sexy black pulled up to the table. But first, there is the bar, with a lush still lifes floating on the retro-counter showing the fruits entering the main Beso cocktails.
The kitchen is carved out of space - it is deeper than large - with whole fish, lobsters and other seafood displayed on ice. Last week, the English may be considered training of kitchen staff, but he has too many other companies to be around all the time.
Eva Longoria will probably not spend the entire night there either. Consider food as a kind of consolation prize. You can taste its recipe for tortilla soup, which is comforting and a little wimpy on the fire. Or tear in the complimentary dish served with a delicious green olive tapenade and a tomato-stained romesco sauce.
Guacamole, you expect, but perhaps not the heart of artichoke puree and shelled molcajete served in a pita with za'tar chips. There is also a yellow ginger-accented ceviche in coconut milk and a choice of tacos - including one made with plantains and black beans for vegetarians in the house - or lobster corn taquitos and moss mango slaw .
Whole grilled fish slides under the section cuts steakhouse menu, the usual steaks, but here with a choice of chimichurri Beso or barbecue sauce for meats and harissa or lemon jam for products on fishing. Paella made a grand entry with lobster and shellfish sitting on top of rice with saffron rather humid. Drunken shrimp are drowned in the tequila. Skirt steak is revved up with chile and tortilla fattoush. It is an Arabic bread salad, usually made with a dish in the Middle East, just one example of America / Middle East / Mediterranean fusion Beso happening in the kitchen. Teamwork in the kitchen and dining room can be smooth, but it is still early.
Beso has two things going for it: a room of swell and a menu that is not just an imitation of any other trendy restaurant. And for celebrities on the lam from fans or paparazzi: a room upstairs, but invisible, which allows guests to guess who is up there, or if there is someone there at all.
