Echo Park: Ostrich Farm
It was a Sunday after a particularly long weekend when I ventured to Echo Park to meet my dear friend Kelsey for brunch. I'd heard only lovely things about Ostrich Farm (and watched a particularly mouth-watering Infatuation Snapchat review of dinner there), so went in excited and open.
Do you ever walk into a space and just know you're in for a treat? That's how it felt stepping into Ostrich Farm. White walls and tables are balanced out with touches of copper and gold, and the bar is furnished with wood of a Mad Men era.
Kelsey and I sat at the bar, which is when perhaps the most striking thing about Ostrich Farm, well, struck me: Everyone who works there is uncharacteristically beautiful. I mean, in an alarming way. Not in a cheesy, "Here's my headshot," way, but in a, "I'm not wearing a trace of makeup and my face just looks like this," way. Same goes for the guys.
Over cups of French-pressed coffee, Kelsey and I dissected the trim menu (I always respect a lean, compact menu-- it shows the restaurant knows what it's doing, so it doesn't try to be anything it's not). We went for two courses of carbs because that's exactly what you should do on a Sunday morning: house-made brioche cinnamon buns and the smoked salmon tartine.
When the cinnamon rolls arrived, I wondered aloud to our handsome server, "Why do I bother ever eating anything else?" People say that even when pizza is bad it's good, because it's pizza, and cinnamon rolls to me are kind of the same way. But these were cinnamon rolls of the highest caliber. Utterly rich and decadent without being gloppy and cloyingly sweet. I ate one entire roll before moving onto the salmon tartine.
Topped with cream cheese, pickled onion, watercress and unlisted salmon roe, this was a deluxe tartine. Smoked salmon is entirely new thing to me. I've never liked it before but somehow in the past few months, I started to crave it. Absolutely insane. Anyway, this was delicious but I wish there was more smoke to the salmon.
Kelsey and I left happy and laughing, and brunch turned into shoe shopping and shoe shopping turned into grocery shopping and so on and so forth.
OVERALL: Go. It's gorgeous, the people are gorgeous and the food is good and straightforward. I'm dying to go back for dinner.
GO WHEN: You're in the mood for a girly, quiet brunch or lunch; also if you're in the mood for eye candy (and when are you not in the mood for that?!).