Nick and Stef's Steakhouse - Downtown Los Angeles

The husband and I are fans of restaurants owned and operated by The Patina Group. There are a few of their restaurants that we visit regularly, and the goal is to eventually visit all of them, on the left coast anyway.

To celebrate our 8th anniversary, we decided to try Nick and Stef's Steakhouse, which is named after the two sons of owner and executive chef of The Patina Group Joachim Splichal and his wife Christine. We'd heard about the restaurant some time ago and hadn't thought too much of it, because, hey, it's a steakhouse. Great, I like steakhouses, but they're just steakhouses, you know? But as we got to know Patina Group restaurants better, we figured that even as "just" a steakhouse, it would probably be a great place to go given the flair they usually add to different cuisines, and we heard from someone that it was in fact a fabulous place, so we figured an anniversary was a good reason to go.

We had reservations for 7:30 on this Tuesday evening, but with traffic and other things, I was running late getting there from work, so I didn't arrive until about 7:50pm. The husband was waiting in the bar area, and we were promptly seated.

After perusing the menu, we decided to share a starter of Spanish Bluefin Tuna Sashimi with pickled Japanese mushrooms, shaved radish and sweet onion ponzu. For an entree, I decided on the venison elk chops, and the husband chose the Sonoma lamb chops. As side dishes, we decided to split orders of crispy potato gnocchi, Reggiano and brussel sprouts with bacon and garlic. We shared bottled water, and since I'm not a big wine drinker, the husband ordered individual glasses of wine himself, white to go with the tuna and some kind of bordeaux to go with the lamb.

A bread basket was brought to the table, and I particularly liked one of the kinds of bread, which had whole grains in it. We enjoyed the atmosphere and conversation as we waited for the appetizer.

The tuna sashimi came with five very nice slices of very red fish and accompaniments around. The tuna was very good quality, very tasty and very smooth. I also liked the ponzu sauce as well as the pickled mushrooms.

The husband really enjoyed his lamb chops. He cut a piece off for me to taste, and it was delicious, very tender and flavorful. He had ordered it medium, and it was cooked quite nicely. Different restaurants seem to have a different idea of what constitutes "medium", and many tend to overcook, but we had discussed this with the server when we were ordering, and he explained what their "medium" meant.

One of the things I learned when talking to the server about the menu items is that venison doesn't mean what I thought it meant. I'd always considered venison to be just deer, but the server told me that venison is used to indicate the meat of any animal with antlers. I happen to really like venison, and I think every time I've had it, it's been deer. I have tried elk once, at White Orchid in Reno. I liked it ok, but it was actually cooked more than I normally like my red meat cooked, and it was a little "gamier" (I think I'm using that word right - I've heard people talk about this meat or that meat being gamey, but I've never quite understood what taste they've meant by it) than I was used to. Tonight, I decided to order it medium rare, as I am generally liking my meat not cooked through nowadays. I did like it better than the elk I'd had previously, but there was definitely a different taste that I couldn't quite identify but which I hadn't ever noticed before with the deer venison that I'd had. The meat was also a bit tougher and chewier than deer venison, and even though the husband's lamb chop was cooked more, the lamp was more tender than the elk. The side of the chop was encrusted with some black pepper, which gave it a nice added flavor. When I'd ordered, the server had asked if I'd wanted any sauce on it. I wasn't sure, so he said he'd bring out a red wine sauce on the side for me to try. I did dip one piece into it, but the sauce was too sweet and strong and completely overpowered the taste of the meat itself, so I didn't have any more. Since I've given elk two tries now, and found it to be ok but not captivating, I don't expect I'll order it again.

I've not necessarily been a fan of gnocchi as I generally find it to be too pasty and gooey as a pasta base. However, since the gnocchi we ordered was crispy, I really liked it a lot. It wasn't pasty or gooey at all, and the Reggiano gave it an amazing flavor, but then, I'm partial to Reggiano.

I also very much enjoyed the brussel sprouts. I know a lot of people are amazed that the husband and I both enjoy them (cooked right, not boiled past an inch of its life) since so many people seem to hate them. I never had them growing up, so I'm not sure if people just had them cooked wrong when they were kids and so learned to hate them and won't try them cooked correctly. The husband says that there is a bitterness to them (which I can kind of see, but I guess it doesn't taste that way to me), which may partly be the reason that kids don't like them and learn to say they hate them as adults. The brussel sprouts were cooked perfectly, at just the right level of crispness and retaining all of their flavor. I tend to like my brussel sprouts fairly simple - maybe cooked in just a little bit of butter. I don't like sauce on them - it just hides/detracts from the flavor. These brussel sprouts were cooked with a bit of bacon and garlic, and they added flavor to the brussel sprouts while still letting their natural flavor come through.

Both the gnocchi and brussel sprouts were served on small plates that looked like skillets, and I thought that was really cute.

For dessert, I opted for choices from their house-made ice creams and sorbets. There are three flavors of each, and you can choose any combination of three. I chose the pineapple sorbet, the coconut almond ice cream and the strawberry ice cream. The sorbet was very light but filled with pineapple flavor, and the coconut almond reminds me of Almond Joy, pretty much my favorite candy bar, so I enjoyed them both. I had been curious about the strawberry ice cream because I'm not normally a fan of strawberry ice cream as I generally find it to be very bland, but there's another restaurant we go to periodically that makes their own ice cream, and their strawberry is absolutely incredible, heavy on flavor and even with little bits of the berry in it. This strawberry ice cream wasn't quite as good (it was a little lighter in color), but it was very delicious and something I'd definitely have again. The husband chose the milk chocolate and Guinness bread pudding with Jamieson caramel and Bailey's ice cream, and he very much enjoyed that. With his dessert, he also had a glass of a port that he absolutely loves. Trader Joe's used to carry it but unfortunately has not carried it for some time, and he hasn't been able to find it at Beverages and More either, so he was happy to be able to have it there.

All in all, it was a wonderful dinner. The food was terrific, and the service was very good, attentive without being overbearing. The server (who coincidentally has the same name as a favorite server at another Patina restaurant) was very friendly and helpful when I would ask questions about various items. Towards the back of the restaurant, there's a room where the meat is aged, so it's a rather interesting sight. They also have a nice looking party room on the side of the restaurant. Complimentary three-hour validated parking is available after 4pm in the adjacent Wells Fargo parking structure, so that's very convenient.

With a number of items on the menu that look interesting to try, it's somewhere I'd definitely go back to and that I'd certainly recommend.