SOMETHING TO BANK ON GOOD FOOD AND SPICY NIGHTLIFE SERVED UP A NOHO SPOT.Byline: LARRY LIPSON >RESTAURANT CRITIC In a nifty 81-year-old bank building in the revitalized NoHo district on Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, a new restaurant and supper club Noun 1. supper club - usually a small luxurious nightclub cabaret, night club, nightclub, nightspot, club - a spot that is open late at night and that provides entertainment (as singers or dancers) as well as dancing and food and drink; "don't expect a good meal at recently made its debut bearing the cutesy cute·sy adj. cute·si·er, cute·si·est Informal Deliberately or affectedly cute; precious: a cutesy boutique for children's fashions. moniker (1) A name, title or alias. See alias. (2) A COM object that is used to create instances of other objects. Monikers save programmers time when coding various types of COM-based functions such as linking one document to another (OLE). See COM and OLE. Bank Heist. Actually, the restaurant part on the first floor has been dubbed Bank, and the upstairs club portion carries the Heist name. Bank is a casual, full-service eating place serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks with somewhat of a diner look. There are no rows of booths, only a banquette ban·quette n. 1. A platform lining a trench or parapet wall on which soldiers may stand when firing. 2. also ban·kit Southern Louisiana & East Texas A raised sidewalk: spanning two walls, also counter seating, the counter possibly being where tellers once stood taking care of things financial. On the back wall behind the counter, a colorful abstract mural dominates the dining room. At lunchtime, Bank fills up as patrons sip iced tea, lemonade and the occasional glass of wine as they wait patiently for burgers, attractively thick sandwiches, soups, salads and a variety of noshes ranging from spicy hot chicken wings to fish and chips fish and chips pl.n. Fried fillets of fish and French-fried potatoes. Noun 1. fish and chips - fried fish and french-fried potatoes dish - a particular item of prepared food; "she prepared a special dish for dinner" . In the evening, the room seems less frenetic, holding a clientele with varying attire, from T-shirts and jeans on up. Some customers amble amble a slower, non-racing version of pace gait in horses. broken amble has many characteristics of the amble but there are four beats to the gait with each foot contacting the ground independently. Called also single-foot. across the floor to a short corridor leading to a low-lit cocktail lounge that features a dance floor. Others, interested more in food than drink, check out chef Jorge Gruener's incredibly tender, pan-seared venison venison (vĕn`ĭzən) [O.Fr.,=hunting], term formerly applied to the flesh of any wild beast or game hunted and used for food but now restricted to the flesh of members of the deer family. loin loin (loin) the part of the back between the thorax and pelvis. loin n. The part of the body on either side of the spinal column between the ribs and the pelvis. medallions ($26) nestling in a rich ancho an·cho n. pl. an·chos A dried poblano pepper. [American Spanish (chile) ancho, wide (chili), from Spanish, from Old Spanish, from Latin amplus; see ample.] coffee sauce, or perhaps one of his three steak offerings ($22 to $28). The venison, perhaps Gruener's best dish, overshadows a short ribs effort ($22) of longish bones in a red wine sauce accompanied by crispy sweet potato fries and green beans. The chef, previously with the Four Seasons hotel chain, roams around the world for inspiration but often moves South of the border for his spicing and seasoning. He sauces smoked chicken breast ($16) with a chipotle chi·pot·le n. A ripe jalapeño pepper that has been dried and smoked for use in cooking. [American Spanish, from Nahuatl xipotli.] Noun 1. chile and apricot mixture, enhances a rack of babybacks ($22) with a Yucatan-style marinade and crusts salmon ($19) with ancho chiles and serves it in a Southwestern mole sauce. Soup doesn't take a back seat here. The yellow split pea rendition (cup $3.50, bowl $6) reveals a welcome, creamy consistency and good flavor. There's also an untried chicken and matzo ball soup (bowl $6). From the salad list, the beet offering ($12), though tasty and refreshing, would create a greater impression with more beets, more goat cheese and less greens. As for endings, cheesecake stands out with a both the currently popular, fried version ($8), also a sugar-free one ($6) for dieters. At its best: The Bank's kitchen delivers interesting, flavorful food, usually familiar and never bland. Could be better: Orders could be a little faster out of the kitchen at lunchtime, when locals might have only an hour or less to get back to work. BANK HEIST - Three stars Details: 5303 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails, dancing and entertainment from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily, to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. (818) 780-1648. www.thebankheist.com Cost: Starters from $3.50 to $18, entrees from $16 to $29, desserts from $5 to $8. Noteworthy: Plenty of early morning and late night activity here with a big breakfast menu in the Bank and a diverse live entertainment slate in the Heist. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: A thick grilled chicken club sandwich is served at the Bank Heist, located in a converted North Hollywood bank building. JOHN McCOY>LA.COM |
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