MB Post

This weekend, my mom came down to visit her family and watch the swim and dive meet versus Arizona and ASU.  Thursday morning she flew down from seattle and visited her family in the Valley.  Then, after my second practice of the day, she met me at my apartment.  After catching up for an hour or so, we made our way to Manhattan Beach.
Our reservations were for MB Post.  My mom made them months in advance, but it must be very popular because they still didn't have an available table until 8.  We decided to pass the time by shopping on Manhattan Beach Blvd.  After passing though a few cute boutiques, we decided to check out Free People (one of my favorite shops).  I've been looking for some new fall and winter clothes, with the cali weather slowly starting to change.  2 years ago I would have been disgusted with myself (thinking that 60 degrees was cold weather).  But hey, I'm a cali girl now.   I am especially in need of a big comfy sweater, and Free People always has a great selection of such items.  Although I didn't find a sweater, I did get two really cute pairs of jeans (on sale!), a long sleeve thermal, and a pair of earrings.  I knew we did some damage on the credit card when the registrar had to call the credit card company and confirm my mother was at the store (she bought some Hanukkah presents too, so I wasn't just me).

Tuscan Kale and Quinoa Salad,
roasted beets, pinenuts, tomato,
drake farm's goat cheese.

We walked to MB Post, just a block away, and were immediately seated by the hostess.  The decor had a dark modern feel, with industrial type furniture (the restaurant was the original post office of Manhattan Beach).  The waitress seated us immediately at our table for two at the booth.  I love how this restaurant has community tables, that is something I will definitely want in my own restaurant one day.  When we were seated there was an envelope on our table addressed to "Pinczower".  I assumed that it was the the name card reserving our table, but inside were our menus!  The waitress explained to us that all the menu items were meant to share, so we should order a few and then they will be brought out once ready.  We started with the kale salad, recommended by the table next to us.  I'm usually not a big fan of kale, but it was light, and the olive oil dressing almost sweetened it up.  The thin strips of the leaves made the dish less earthy tasting.  The goat cheese was creamy but not overwhelming.  I left the beets for my mom, never have liked them.

Spaghetti Squash, Garijet
Yam Puree, cider gastrique,
pecans, apple chips.

White Oak grilled skirt steak,
grilled broccolini, red
 chimichurri

Next came the spaghetti squash appetizer.  This was definitely different, but delicious.  It was a thicker item, that really packed a punch.  The squash was covered in a yam puree, that almost tasted cheesy.  My mom and I actually thought it was a cheese because of the orange color associated with it, until we looked at the menu again.  The cider gastrique (a reduction of vinegar and sugar) gave it an acidic kick, a great way to lighten it up a little.  I also loved the sweet apple chips on top.  I think I ate all of them.  I've never had an appetizer quite like this one.  It was a great way to whet our appetite while waiting for the rest of our meal.  Next came our skirt steak.  Grilled medium rare with a spicy chimichurri sauce and broccolini.  The steak was thick but fiery with the  mustard based sauce.  I definitely had to spread it thinly across each slice, if I didn't want to grab for my water every other bite.  The broccolini was a little tougher than the usual grilled vegetable, which added more crunch to the dish.

Houes made cavatelli, tomato and lamb ragout, feta, and basil.

Our final small dish was the house made cavatelli.  This pasta was similar to a gnocchi type texture with potatoes mixed in.  When it comes to normal pasta, I like it aldente, but I do also love the soft and chewy texture of gnocchi, and this cavatelli (that I was having for the first time).  It was mixed with a light lamb ragout that had the freshest tomato base.  This was definitely my favorite dish of the night.

Buttermilk panna cotta,
first of the season citrus,
almond streusel.

Now we couldn't go home without having dessert.  We ordered the buttermilk panna cotta and the house speciality.  The panna cotta wasn't my favorite.  I did like the almond streusel on top, but I wasn't a fan of the mandarin oranges mixed with the milky flavor of the dish.

The "Elvis" a wonderful
mess of chocolate pudding,
peanut butter mousse
(w/o the bacon brittle).

This dish, the house specialty, is called the "Elvis".  It's a chocolate pudding with a peanuts butter mousse and caramelized bananas.  Talk about a dream.  It usually comes with a bacon brittle, but we asked for the dish without. The chocolate pudding was rich, but because it was milk chocolate I was still able to continue spooning it into my mouth.  I loved the peanut butter mouse.  The mouse aspect made it lighter than a normal scoop of peanut butter, which complimented the pudding texture very well.  Now I want to try and caramelize my own bananas! They were the perfect sweetness and added a little more depth to the dish.  I wish we hadn't ordered two desert dishes of similar pudding like texture, because they didn't compliment each other very well (but I am glad we did order two!).  The gave us the check in a small book where we could write comments about our visits.  I left my mark: