The Divine Dish

Palate Food and Wine, Glendale

I finally was able to get a reservation at Chef Octavio Becerra’s Glendale restaurant Palate.  I ended up having to go during the week as it was booked solid for several weekends in a row.  I have heard great things about the restaurant since it opened almost a year ago.

The 70-seat restaurant offers casual dining in an open  room with butter colored walls – a bit crowded and noisy, but it is a small space.  My friend Dalbert joined me and we went to celebrate his new job as head make-up artist for NARS at Barney’s in Beverly Hills – if you need to get your face done head to over to Barney’s and say hi to Dalbert.  Here is what we sampled:

homemade bread and butter with dill and chives

Once we sat down we were served this yummy board of homemade bread and soft butter with dill and chives.

Romey Salad

We split the Romey Salad, with avocado, beets, maui onion and a red wine vinaigrette.  We both liked this starter.

Salmon with cannellini beans

Dalbert had the salmon, which came with cannelini beans, artichokes, tomato confit and sauce pistou.  I ate a few bites and it was perfectly cooked.

Pork Belly with Swiss Chard

I had the pork belly with Swiss chard and leeks, very yummy.

Chocolate Pudding

We are both suckers for chocolate pudding, so we had to get dessert.  This was our fave of the night, Valrhona bittersweet chocolate with a lovely cream topping.  We also loved the wine selection, which you can order in 2.5, 5 and 8 ounce portions in case you want to taste a bunch of different varieties, only problem is that they were quite pricey so I would opt to choose one 8 ounce for the night.  Palate is located at 933 South Brand Boulevard in Glendale, reservations at 818/662-9463.