TOMMY RAY'S HAS COMFORT IN MIND.Byline: Larry Lipson Restaurant Critic Tommy Ray's catches the eye. This new Studio City cafe possesses wide frontage and utilizes it with an attractive boulevard patio featuring white and red umbrellas over shiny metallic-topped tables surrounded by bright red chairs. Its hard-working kitchen, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, produces better-than-average California-accented comfort fare. Tommy Ray's dining room with a compact bar at one end continues the lively decor inside with colorful art and a portrait gallery of young children on all four walls. They represent the ``stars of the future'' and are said to be children of workers who put the restaurant together, kids from a local elementary school elementary school: see school. and those of the owners. And yes, you guessed it, two of the owners are appropriately named Tommy and Ray. Tommy, Ray and company's a la carte dinner menu lists 13 starters priced from $3.95 for a cup of a well-made du jour soup, usually a creamy vegetable recipe, to a pleasing rendition of peppercorn-crusted, sashimi-grade tuna carpaccio car·pac·cio n. Very thinly sliced raw meat or fish, especially beef or tuna, garnished with a sauce. [Italian, after Vittore Carpaccio, who favored red pigments. ($12.50). Goat cheese fanciers will like the nibblers' plate for two of Laura Chenel's good chevre ($10.50) with toasted almonds, roasted garlic, roasted peppers and crunchy crostini. Or a twosome can leisurely pull leaves from a properly grilled artichoke artichoke, name for two different plants of the family Asteraceae (aster family), both having edible parts. The French, or globe, artichoke (Cynara scolymus ($8.95) and dip them into a garlicky gar·lick·y adj. Containing, tasting of, or smelling of garlic. Adj. 1. garlicky - relating to or tasting or smelling of garlic; "garlicky sauce" mustard sauce. But Tommy Ray's cornmeal-coated, fried scallops ($11.50) would improve with a little less cooking time. As for the Caesar ($8.95) here, it's done nicely with whole romaine spears. Very refreshing. Pastas receive the attention they deserve. If you're a red wine drinker, the heartiest of four pasta offerings, rigatoni rig·a·to·ni n. Pasta in ribbed, slightly curved, large-sized tubes. [Italian, from rigato, past participle of rigare, to draw a line, from riga, line, bolognese ($13.95), comes forth boldly meaty with overtones of tomato and rosemary and a mozzarella moz·za·rel·la n. A mild white Italian cheese that has a rubbery texture and is often eaten melted, as on pizza. [Italian, diminutive of mozza, a cut, mozzarella, from mozzare, finish on noodles noo·dle 1 n. A narrow, ribbonlike strip of dried dough, usually made of flour, eggs, and water. [German Nudel. that are firm enough without being hard. The kitchen glazes its free-run, roasted half-chicken ($16.95) with a Jamaican-style jerk sauce, not real hot, just enough for some oomph. The sweet-sauced beef short ribs ($18.95) usually paired with crispy sweet potato fries, deliver homey satisfaction. Of the trio of steak entrees, the thicker grilled filet with roasted shiitakes ($24.95) seems to be the best choice. It has more tenderness and some added flavor by way of a peppercorn pep·per·corn n. 1. A dried berry of the pepper vine Piper nigrum. 2. A small or insignificant thing. peppercorn Noun the small dried berry of the pepper plant boost and an accompanying Camembert cheese toast. The Tuscan porterhouse ($25.95), promised as a full pound in weight, on the other hand, came up rather thin, drier and lacking tenderness on both sides of the bone one evening. However, endings like an old-fashioned banana split ($5.95) and a butterscotch but·ter·scotch n. 1. A syrup, sauce, candy, or flavoring made by melting butter and brown sugar together. 2. A golden or tawny brown. and malt whiskey-flavored pot-au-creme ($4.95) quickly rectify such shortcomings A shortcoming is a character flaw. Shortcomings may also be:
Tommy Ray's has the right looks and already projects the welcoming feel of a successful boulevard eating place. With a continuous policy of sensible pricing, portioning and service, it should have no problem becoming a Ventura Boulevard dining fixture. Larry Lipson, (818) 713-3668 larry.lipson@dailynews.com TOMMY RAY'S Food: Three stars - Service: Three stars - Wine: Two stars Where: 12345 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Phone: (818) 506-9410. Meals/hours: Open for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Food type: California comfort. Cost: Starters from $4 to $12.50, pastas and entrees from $14 to $26, desserts from $5 to $7.25. Credit cards: All major. Patio dining: Sidewalk cafe-style boulevard patio. Parking/valet: Valet, street and public parking lot availability. Full bar: Yes. Wine/Corkage: Two-page list contains numerous interesting wines but there are few, if any, bargains with no regular-size bottles under $27. Eighteen by-the-glass options are priced from $7.50 to $14. Corkage cork·age n. A charge exacted at a restaurant for every bottle of liquor served that was not bought on the premises. corkage Noun a charge made at a restaurant for serving wine bought elsewhere : $10. Music/entertainment: No. Takeout/delivery: Yes on both. Reservations: Taken. Won't hurt. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Executive chef Marianne Zdobysz, general manager Austin Corbet, and food and beverage F&B is a common abbreviation in the United States and Commonwealth countries, including Hong Kong. F&B is typically the widely accepted abbreviation for "Food and Beverage," which is the sector/industry that specializes in the conceptualization, the making of, and delivery of foods. director Michael Failla keep things running smoothly at the new cafe Tommy Ray's in Studio City. Evan Yee/Staff Photographer |
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