Wednesday Is the Chef’s Special Night in Kitchen at Campanile

At just over 10 years old, Campanile keeps reinventing itself. A couple of years ago owner-chefs Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton introduced family nights on Mondays, when the restaurant offers a festive three-course meal for the entire table, a different theme each week at just $30 per person, well under the normal tariff for dinner there.

Then pastry chef extraordinaire Silverton got the yen for grilled cheese sandwiches and brought in her Italian sandwich press and began turning out 10 or so different sandwiches at the bar on Thursday nights. Served with a swatch of salad and a heap of terrific fries, the choices include an irresistible classic version made with good Gruyere stocked next door at La Brea Bakery.

Both these moves have introduced a younger and more casual crowd to this consistently excellent California-Mediterranean. The good news is that they’re coming in on other nights, too. The restaurant hasn’t felt this lively since the early days when Campanile was the hottest reservation in town.

Now Peel is getting into the act with a chef’s tasting menu on Wednesdays, which gives him the opportunity to do some more elaborate cooking. It’s usually five or six courses (the menu is available a couple of days ahead). Since he cooks every dish himself and generally only prepares for only 20 orders, it’s a good idea to reserve ahead.

A recent game menu began with a lovely sweet pea soup swirled with two essences, one of chervil and one of mint. Our waiter told us Peel had stayed late in the kitchen the night before to prepare the next course: terrine of Scottish wood pigeon. Served in an individual porcelain terrine, it was wonderful, especially when you got a little of the complex gelee on top, made from a reduction of Huet’s marvelous “Cuvee Constance” Vouvray from the Loire Valley, in each bite. Roast saddle of wild hare tasted as wild and gamey as a game lover could wish, and it’s a brilliant match with some of the big reds on Campanile’s wine list. He followed that with a light cheese course, a beautiful Bibb lettuce salad paired with a special tomme from Campanile’s cheese case. Dessert was Pavlova, a mound of meringue topped with cassis compote and purple stained cassis ice, named for the Russian ballerina.

All in all, a wonderfully appealing Wednesday night chef’s menu at Campanile.

BE THERE

Campanile, 624 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 938-1447. Chef’s menu, Wednesdays only, $60 to $70. (The regular menu is also served that night.) Reservations advised. Valet parking.