St. Anne’s Restaurant in North Hollywood Has Great Plates for Your Night Out
I need to get out of my comfort zone.
I’ve been eating in many familiar places and going to similar areas because I know them. Many of the streets in Pasadena are second nature to me and I find myself commuting in a sort of autopilot throughout parts of Crenshaw. Yes I travel a bit, but when it comes to exploring restaurants in my own county, I tend to go to places I have a bit of reference to. That was the reality when an email came to dine in St. Anne’s NoHo. I don’t know the streets, the degree of traffic, and lord knows I have no idea what parking is like. If you can tell, commuting isn’t something I’m fond of. However, when I looked over the menu online and flirted with the idea of stepping outside of my food-and-city comfort zone I knew what I had to do. I avoided it, but then a week later I responded to the message, made a reservation and was in the restaurant.
Sitting across from my friend Norma, I was excited to look over the menu. I flipped from front to back and then back to front until I found a few items to settle on. Doing the same, Norma found a few favorites that were different yet complimentary to my picks. We started with the Crab Cakes ($22). A selection from Norma, I’m not the biggest advocate of crab cakes. Here or anywhere else for the matter. At St. Anne’s, the dish calls for fresh crab meat, roasted corn, red bell peppers, cabbage, avocado mousse lemon, and relish. While I didn’t eat them, I did stare at how pretty it looked. Not for long as Norma excitedly took her fork to the crab cakes, broke a piece, and smiled as she tasted it. Looked like a winner in her book!
Crab Cakes aside, I jumped at the chance of trying some of Norma’s Black Pepper Fettuccine ($14). The homemade pasta was sprinkled with chili flakes, parsley, and topped with the restaurants pork sausage and chicken stock. Spinning the flat noodles around my fork and grabbing pieces of pork led to a delicious pasta that I truly liked. Sure I didn’t order it, but thankfully the kindness in Norma let me grab a few extra forks of the pasta she requested. And if you’re wondering, I would suggest you give it a try too.
Following the first two dishes was the Rotisserie Chicken ($25). Big enough to split between two people, I actually didn’t care much for this one. The half serving of chicken came with a heaping of jalapeno mashed potatoes, butternut squash, all swimming in the restaurant’s pan jus. It was disappointing to taste a slightly crunchy squash that I wish had been cooked further as well as a set of potatoes that felt tasteless. Adding to it all, the chicken was missing a level of juiciness that could have made it all exciting. I focused less on this and quickly drew my focus to the gnocchi.
The plate out of all that came to our table that made me the happiest was the Okinawa Potato Gnocchi ($14). Beautiful in color the vibrant purple sweet potatoes turned gnocchi were served with leeks, zucchini, roasted garlic herb oil, and pecorino cheese. I immediately fell in love with the taste of the gnocchi, the texture, and the combination of the vegetables against the cheese. Not enough can be said about how great of a gnocchi this was without it sounding excessive, just know it’s worth every penny!
Dining at St. Anne’s restaurant in North Hollywood was a great reason to get out of my comfort zone. I fully enjoyed the plates I had and was so delighted to be in such good company. The restaurant has two-pages of options that should match your tastes. Definitely skip the chicken and you may want to order two of the gnocchi. I can’t say I’m familiar with North Hollywood as much as I am with other cities, but St. Anne’s has helped me get a better grip on the city and all it entails.
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Address: 11102 W. Magnolia Blvd. North Hollywood, CA 91601
Phone: (818) 806-8007
Hours: Sunday to Wednesday – 5:00pm to 11:00pm, Thursday – 5:00pm to 12:00am, and Friday and Saturday – 5:00pm to 1:00am
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