Fig Love

We went to Fig to celebrate the Oros' birthdays. Mr. and Mrs. Oro were born just a few weeks apart!

What a celebration! Fig is my current favorite mid-priced restaurant on the Westside.

A fruity amuse bouche to whet our appetites.

The blood orange awakened our taste buds just in time for...

...a warm loaf of bread for each of us, accompanied by arugula butter.

Each of our loaves disappeared almost in a matter of seconds. Man, what a start!

But that was just the bread. We hadn't even gotten to the real starters.

Foie gras and chicken liver parfait, fig marmalade, grilled baguette ($11).

Adored the fig marmalade paired with the foie. Rich and smooth and sweet.

Bacon-wrapped bacon, tomatoes, arugula, cocktail avocado ($14).

It's bacon! In bacon! Like a super-duper gourmet BLT.

Three onion soup gratinee, crouton, Comté ($11).

Browned cheesy good times.

Coq au vin, crimini mushrooms, lardon, pee wee potatoes ($25).

Fall-off-the-bone tender and juicy chicken with awesome porky flavor. Mrs. Oro loved it to pieces. I savored the drumette she so kindly gave me!

Braised lamb, peacock kale, pomegranate gremolata ($26).

Mr. Oro and I each enjoyed this immensely. Big and meaty and paired surprisingly well with pomegranate seeds.

Short rib and pancetta meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots, broccoli ($25).

Wowzers. Winning entree of the night. These are times when I'm thrilled that Mr. Monkey and I always trade halfway. So freaking yummy, and I don't even really like meatloaf.

Scorched Brussels sprouts with bacon and vinegar ($9).

Mrs. Oro is a huge fan of Brussels sprouts, and these put a big smile on her face. These made us all very happy.

Nutella and chocolate tart, candied hazelnuts, marshmallow cream ($9).

I had a tiny bite of the Nutella and chocolate tart -- extremely decadent. The singed marshmallow cream delighted us, but the hazelnuts stole the show. We all chased them around the plate!

FIG bars, Greek yogurt ice cream ($8).

Upon my first bite, I closed my eyes and sighed, "Now this is something special." When I opened my eyes, everybody else was laughing at me. But I had the last laugh. I had most of this. My personal fave dessert. Warm, not too sweet, and wonderfully accompanied by slightly tart creaminess.

Churros ($8).

The rest of the table went loco for churros. So warm, so sugary, so melt-in-your-mouth marvelous. Dip them into hot chocolate, and you achieve sweet sweet Nirvana.

We all agreed that Fig ruled. Mr. Monkey and I were so happy that we got to share the experience with the Oros!

I was so smitten with Fig that I suggested it for brunch when my Evil Twin was in town.

Sitting on the covered patio is lovely even in the winter.

Can you believe this is what February looks like?

I love L.A.! I love Fig!

Corned beef hash, poached eggs, Hollandaise, crispy potato strings ($16).

Evil Twin ate this up pretty quickly. Lucky for me, I didn't just look at the scrumptious cast-iron offering. I had a few great bites before Evil Twin polished it off. Good stuff.

Bacon waffle a la mode, Trockenbeerenauslese bacon syrup, bacon ice cream ($16).


Before I met Evil Twin for brunch, I perused the menu online at home and knew exactly what I was going to order. When we sat down, I informed Evil Twin of my crispy pig-laden plan, and he said sadly, "I gave up bacon for Lent!"

Well, as you can see, I picked bacon over my Evil Twin.

And it was so worth it.

Evil Twin has already declared that he is getting this the next time he comes.