Top indie trends
Octopus carpaccio
While many raw preparations include beef carpaccio or a crudo of fish, Gibsons Italia (No. 24) lists an octopus carpaccio on its antipasti menu. The $21 dish includes basil aioli, pickled red and white pearl onions, chive and a sunchoke chip.
Top indie trends
Shrimp Bolognese linguine
Bolognese isn’t just for beef and pork. Listed on its menu as The Best Pasta, the shrimp Bolognese linguine from Paradise Cove Beach Cafe (No. 82) is made with onions, garlic, lemon, tarragon, fennel, red chile flakes, tomatoes and Pernod.
Urban Farmer (No. 100) in Portland, Ore., wants to make sure its guests have as much information about their food as possible. Instead of simply putting “beef tartare” on the menu, the tartare listing specifies that it is grass-fed tenderloin tartare. For its steaks, not only does the menu list the ranch and state each cut was sourced from, but it also lists the animals’ feed. Some descriptions indicate grass-fed, while others list corn-fed or grain-finished.
Called out in a box on its menu, Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse (Nos. 7, 30, 32) lists a selection of Gibsons Grassfed Australian Steak options. The three options—New York strip, bone-in fillet and ribeye—are “sourced from the top 5% of all grass-fed cattle produced in Australia in terms of marbling, flavor and animal welfare.” These steaks are also aged a minimum of 75 days.
Castaway Burbank (No. 80) named its summertime and brunch cocktails its most successful menu adds of 2018. For the morning meal, the indie offers a selection of bottomless mimosas—including on-trend options such as cucumber-mint and lavender-activated charcoal lemonade—punches that include both individual and large-format shareable options, and a selection of “spiked milks” flavored like popular breakfast cereals.