Dinner at FEED Body & Soul

Sept. 8, 2013

People who live in Venice always say that they don’t travel North of Lincoln Blvd. It’s not that they are snobs, they just have their own little microcosm, or slice of paradise on Abbot Kinney Blvd. This is the land of lovely, the land of all things beautiful and fashionable.

So much has changed. My dear cousin Lydia used to live on Palm in the heart of Venice, Abbot Kinney. She has since moved to Oakland, CA. When she lived in Venice I would keep my bike at her house and bicycle around the neighborhood on my way to the beach. Back then it had a hipster vibe, but was missing some urban touches.

I walked around the neighborhood before my tasting and noticed so many upscale retail stores and restaurants; I was astonished about how this area has gone uber cool and upscale. During my stroll I noticed the one thing that the street needed was a spacious, swanky new place to eat. Feed body and soul is all that and more. It is casual and health conscious with all the requisite menu items needed for a special dining experience.

My server Ashley, came from a music background, and added just the right touch of knowledge and social graces. She knew her stuff and also made you feel like you were eating in her living room. Along with manager Blue ‘s further guidance…let’s just say I knew I was in the lap of luxury. Keeping me company in my huge booth, she selected the wines that completely enhanced my meal.

DeeAnna, who is the owner, originated the concept of a passionate lifestyle with integrity of ingredients, which drives this restaurant. DeeAnna Staats and the Feed team are pioneering a unique and contemporary concept for the food-service industry: forging relationships through food, conversations, and social responsibility.

Feed’s mission is based on quality ingredients, simple preparation, a comfortable atmosphere, and a service experience that supports the principles of a modern and clean lifestyle. They care about the health of their guests, their local community, and the global community as a whole. Feed Body & Soul is about eating well, feeling good, and doing good.

Chef Dickson’s thoughtful menu features only natural, organic, and sustainable ingredients that are seasonally sourced for availability from local markets. All dishes are carefully composed with minimal oil and no refined sugars or flours to offer diners a delicious, yet nourishing meal. Feed’s all-organic beverage program, curated by Los Angeles cocktail guru Marcos Tello, features natural mixers and farmers’ market fresh ingredients. The restaurant also serves a succinct list of local, organic wines and beers, as well as all-natural sodas and juices.

They are going to be switching their cooking technology to Sous Vide, which means cooked under pressure, in vacuum-sealed bags. This is one big reason to come here and eat! Sous-vide (/suːˈviːd/; French for “under vacuum”) is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath for longer than normal cooking times—72 hours in some cases—at an accurately regulated temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 55 °C (131 °F) to 60 °C (140 °F) for meats and higher for vegetables. The intention is to cook the item evenly, and not overcook the outside while still keeping the inside at the same “doneness”, which makes the food juicier.

Here’s what I tried:
Farmers Market Soups, Salads, Spreads:

Farmers Market Spread, red pepper, mushroom and humus. They give you pita and home made flat bread that were as delicious as the spreads themselves. The mushroom was full of bold mushroom flavor and the red pepper was tangy and sweet, very pungent.

Marinated ‘Dried’ Bean Salad with shaved celery, shallot, endive, and pickled peppers. This salad is packed with all kind of beans, and the vegetable adds a nice earthy quality. It has some nice sour vinegar essence going on as well.

Lemon and Fennel Cured Scottish Salmon with shaved sunchoke, celery root, Meyer lemon and an avocado. This great dish is all about the Meyers lemon, each bite had great lemon flavor. The flat bread is equally delicious, good choice for a starter.

Roasted Cauliflower and Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad Baby mustard green, roasted chili dressing. Watch out, this is spicy, but healthy and delicious.

Crab Cake Salad, three crab cakes on mixed greens with avocado and lemon and spicy Aioli. So many cakes add to the delight of this wonderful salad.

Compressed Watermelon Salad with olive tapenade, macadamia nuts, cheese, pickles and watermelon. This salad rocked my world. It is just so delectable; the different flavors marry so well. This is an amazing creation…A+++++.

Heirloom tomato salad, with edible flowers, shallots, basil oil, lemon vinaigrette. The tomatoes are so juicy and flavorful, simply done, but terrific.

Turkey Soup, with great cubed vegetables, add a lot to this home-style recipe. It is light, with nice bright turkey flavors, with delicate lentils, kind of like Jewish penicillin, but with more excitement.

Entrée:

Rotisserie Half ‘Mary’s’ Chicken with Meyer Lemon, chicken jus, whole-wheat fregula, spring onion, baby carrots. This portion is tremendous, the chicken is moist and tender, a winner all the way around.

New York Strip, with cauliflower-quinoa “mash” Kabocha squash, red onions, baby heirloom tomatoes, apple and zucchini. The steak is delicious and the quinoa mash is the best.

Alaskan Halibut with asparagus ribbons, chanterelle mushrooms, melon and asparagus puree. The asparagus ribbons form a nice little cake that the crispy delicious halibut rests on. The melon on the top is the icing on the cake. What a creative, wonderful rendition of this some time boring dish.

Dessert:

Chocolate Strawberry Cake, triple layer chocolate cake filled with chocolate “buttercream” and fresh strawberries. OK so there is no sugar, and it is gluten free, but you would never know it. What an accomplishment!

Cup of Acai with Fresh Seasonal Fruit
Fresh and frozen fruits with acai, banana, and raw agave. This is used as a palate cleanser, very refreshing and light.

Cocktails:
Moscow Mule with Blue Ice Vodka, Ginger-Coco Nectar Syrup, organic lime juice, mineral water. What a refreshing cocktail, with a nice effervescent effect.

Margarita with 123 Tequila Blanco, Marian Farms Biodynamic Curacao, organic agave nectar, organic lime juice. This is a very well balanced margarita, with just the right amount of sweet and sour.

Wines:
Tangent, Albarino (Edna Valley, California, 2011) Aromatic, vibrant, tropical, stone fruit and minerals. This wine if very fruity, it paired well with the vegetable spreads.

Gruner Veltliner (Edna Valley, California, 2011) Palate cleansing acidity, steely mineralogy, white pepper and melon. I liked this wine with the salmon dish, just the right amount of acidity to round out the Meyer lemons.

Russian River Chardonnay Sonoma, CA 2011 – Fleshy peach, baked apples, and light oak. Hands down a winner with the halibut, loved this wine!

Long Meadow Ranch, Sauvignon Blanc Napa, California, 2011 – Floral, tropical and herbaceous. This wine was good with the crab cakes and the watermelon salad. It doesn’t have much oak so it is very smooth.

Murphy Goode Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 Sonoma, CA. Juice ripe plum, blackberry, cider, and coffee notes.

Snoqualmie, Syrah Columbia, WA 2008 – Dark fruity, smoky, herbal finish. A great pair with the chicken dish, especially with all of the nicely roasted root vegetable.

Tablas Creek, Patelln de Tablas, Syrah, Grenache, Mourvvedre, Counoise Paso Robles 2011 Spice, dark fruit, and fresh acidity. Truly a no-brainer, New York strip steak with this wine.

The interior is so nicely balanced. It is extremely open, with a marble bar, and wood hanging fixture over the bar. The open kitchen lends itself to watching all of the goodness being created by the chef. Very high ceilings with nicely stained dark wood floors. The outside patio has lights strewn on the ceiling, the floor reminiscent of floors in an Italian Duomo. Heat lamps will keep you warm at night.

Nothing here disappoints. The original trussed ceilings, and then there is a very large soffit with an I-beam in the middle of it in the bar area. All of the walls in the main dining area have a hand painted Cryptic Tibetan language on them that means, “Jewel within the lotus flower.” The music is very eclectic, kind of 60’s adult contemporary to slower bluesy funk.

The water is filtered by reverse osmosis infused with minerals. They use their water for cooking, coffee, and it is free for drinking, To put this kind of filtration system into a tap water type situation is very expensive, so this is a huge plus and it tastes great! They also carbonate it for your sparkling water experience

Coupled with the fact that you are getting very healthy fare and great service, FEED Body and Soul delivers heart felt glorious cuisine. There is nothing here to feel guilty about; it is all pleasure…free and clear!