Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Eva's Sunday Supper

Tender veal, simply adorned with light jus and exquisite buttery, fried potatoes


I’ve written before about my love of Sunday suppers even though I haven’t  really been a part of one since I was a kid and my grandfather Bruce would make spaghetti for the whole Southern California crew in his Placentia home. That’s the whole point though, I cherish the ritual that has rapidly become obsolete in this day and age when family and friends rarely have time to maintain a consistent tradition such as a shared meal together over a lazy early evening at the end of a week. So, I was thrilled when the Cute Gardener told me we had reservations for Sunday Supper at Eva this past weekend.

Italian chopped salad with chickpeas and salami, room temperature and slightly dressed with a creamy, tang

Many restaurants may claim to offer Sunday Suppers while really only adding a newly captioned gimmick to their menu item to get people in during slow spells but Eva went above and beyond to create an atmosphere and service that reflected something truly special. Maybe this is because Chef Mark Gold named the restaurant after his grandmother Eva who clearly impacted both his sense of cooking and hospitality.

According to his website, “Memories are made when we come together, share a bottle of wine and a couple of stories. Add to this a thoughtfully prepared meal and the memories become unforgettable. This is what inspires us at Eva.”

While we ate at the restaurant Gold made a point to frequently leave the exposed kitchen to warmly walk the room and converse with just about every customer, most of which he seemed to know by name, furthering my notion that eaters love it when they find a dining room that truly feels like home.

Although he touts himself as a Jew in a cowboy hat (with a ten gallon personality to match), on this particular Sunday he was chapeau-less and calling himself Jewish-Italiano in honor of the special menu he had created for us. Oftentimes you don’t even know what Eva will serve on Sunday until you show up but I had discovered earlier on Facebook that dinner would include chopped salad, shrimp scampi, veal and potato, lemon bars with Italian meringue and wine.

Lemon bars that passed the "tongue-smarting" test, addictive and tart

The food was tasty and the kind you would expect at home, swiveling on big platters around the lazy Susan. The wine (of which four kinds were offered in unlimited pours that the waiter constantly filled the glasses with when empty) flowed freely even though the entire cost of the meal was only $39 per person. If I lived in the neighborhood, I might make it a habit but for now it is definitely up there in the memorable moments category for me. 


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