David Myers developed a reputation as an inventive chef with his anything-goes tasting menus at Sona, a fine-dining establishment on La Cienega’s Restaurant Row. Given his clout in the culinary community, Angelenos were curious to see what Myers would do for an encore. In 2006, he secured the Noura Cafe space, a prized location around the corner from Sona in a neighborhood that already housed high-quality restaurants Lucques and Bastide. There was talk he would partner with Chef Kazunori Nozawa, the so-called Studio City “sushi Nazi.” Instead, Nozawa intends to open a seafood restaurant called Sugarfish in Marina del Rey and Myers went with this modern brasserie. Incredibly, Los Angeles didn’t previously have a standout brasserie. Thanks to David Myers and former Sona sous chef Michael David, that’s no longer the case.

The naturally lit brasserie features a black and white color palette, with a litany of chalkboards, including a chalkboard hallway scrawled with this cow, dolphins, quotes and a recipe for bouillabaisse.

To start, we received a warm baguette cradled in butcher paper, served with dish of soft pepper-dusted butter.

MD’s Charcuterie Plate ($14) featured four meats that were dry cured off premises: spicy chorizo, salty sheets of chewy lomo, silky prosciutto and peppery salami. There were also twin slabs of house-made pork terrine and a dish of rillette, pork belly whipped with duck fat. As if pork belly couldn’t get any richer. It came with some excellent accompaniments: crostini, whole grain Dijon mustard, and a dish of pickled vegetables - white and yellow cauliflower florets, cornichons and cippollini onions.

Duck Confit ($24) was luscious, thigh and leg meat surrounded by crisp, salt-cured skin that practically melted when it hit my tongue. That’s because the bird is poached in its own fat. The fowl was plated on tangy red wine braised cabbage and browned squiggles of spaetzle.

Moules Frites ($22) featured a generous portion of plump black mussels, submerged in an addictive Pernod broth scattered with thyme, tarragon and garlic slivers. After the mussels were gone, I made sure to run baguette through the broth.

A cone of crispy frites and a dish of aioli accompanied the shellfish.

Though Comme Ca hasn’t been open very long, they’ve already earned a lauded reputation for their cocktails. There were four cocktails on the menu, and they all sounded good, but I opted for Dealer’s Choice ($14). A “dealer” visited our table and asked what I like. I asked him to make a drink he’s been working on that he’s particularly excited about. He gave me the Biscotti Star – a mix of Italian biscotti-flavored liqueur called Faretti, fresh lime juice and African rum. A lime wedge came floating in the glass. With rum, the drink could have been too sweet, but the lime helped balance it out. Delicious.

After the meal, I spoke with another bartender, Julian Cox, who’s been with Comme Ca for three months. He previously bartended downtown, at Roy’s. He said the Comme Ca bar is making pre-Prohibition style cocktails. The goal is to make drinks as good as the food, “an art form.” If it’s not fresh, they don’t use it. They don’t buy grenadine; they make it fresh from pomegranates and add sweetener. He showed me bins of fresh raspberries, strawberries and mint.

The bar was lined with bottles of Angostura and Peychaud bitters, plus glass pitchers of jasmine liqueur, violet liqueur, honey, squeezed ginger, lemon juice, simple syrup and lime juice. He said jasmine and violet liqueurs go especially well with gin, helping to pick up the floral notes. An aficionado of Southern style sweet tea, I’m intimately familiar with simple syrup. Julian said that in summer, he makes a drink called an Ice Pick – vodka with iced tea and simple syrup. Good to know.

With limited brasserie experience, it’s unclear whether Comme Ca is a traditional example of the form, but there’s no doubt that Chefs Myers and David are producing flavorful French comfort food (and drinks) in an inviting setting.

Related Posts

1. Sona – West Hollywood, CA – November 12, 2009
2. Chateau Marmont – West Hollywood, CA – Wednesday, December 3, 2008
3. Red Seven – West Hollywood, CA – February 1, 2008
4. Citrus at Social – Hollywood, CA – Wednesday, October 22, 2008 [CLOSED]
5. BLT Steak - West Hollywood, CA - February 2, 2009

This entry is filed under California, French, Los Angeles, Southern California, Westside.