Netty's becomes reservoir, or, Here comes the charcuterie plate!

Silver Lake spawns upstream: Netty's Diner has been sold and reservoir (that's a little 'r') will take its place. (Kudos to one of LA's less food-obsessed blogs, LA Observed, for pointing this out.)

This new restaurant is the lovechild of two chefs, Gloria Felix and Elizabeth Belkind, whose resumes include AOC, Lucques, Jar, Grace and Campanile.

Now that's more like it.

Full disclosure: I never went to Netty's. I don't live in Silverlake, which may be why I never heard much about it; when I drove by the restaurant, I was put off by (as one Chowhounder aptly put it) "the gulag-like exterior of the place." (See the all-too-accurate illustration, above.) However, those CH boards are filled with praise for the old menu; the gulag poster loves Netty's pork chops in particular and "anything blackened." I hate blackened anything.

However, even with its twee punctuation and breathless PR jargon -- "fresh, seasonal ingredients," "a California rustic style menu" -- I'll definitely try reservoir.

I like tradition. If anyone tried to take over my favorite westside Mexican breakfast place, Gilbert's, you'd see me on Pico holding signs and fighting off riot cops.

But Netty's wasn't my tradition, I'm a selfish creature and, as far as I'm concerned, Los Angeles doesn't have anywhere near the number of really good restaurants that it deserves. And maybe reservoir will become a place worth adding to the chefs' impressive laundry list of employers.

(And maybe it won't. For example, I really want to like Firefly Bistro in South Pasadena, a fairly arid zone for good restaurants. The chefs' resumes include City, Border Grill, Coyote Cafe, Joe's, et. al., but here it translates to a menu that goes from gnocchi to cassoulet to pecan-coated catfish. The one thing they don't have is focus, so I've left every time thinking, "Damn.") 

Anyway, Silverlake. Its wallets are more than ready for an ambitious restaurant (or several); local home prices passed the $1 million mark a long time ago and the average place sells for more than $650K. Felix has been doing Sunday brunch at Netty's since early this year to rave reviews; a press release says reservoir will take over and continue its menu rollout in January, with a full opening in the spring after renovations, permits, etc.

In the meantime, the menu hotline at Netty's (where the slogan was, "Serving Silverlake before it was hip") says soup of the day is cream of vegetable.

Comments

[NickSantangelo]

'Gulag-like?' Uh, OK, but what about the food you never sampled? I miss the flank steak and pesto bread. I had some garlic and tomato soup something-or-other and it was amazing. My friends from OC loved the place- it was a highlight of their visit. I live in Mt Washington but the schlepp to Silverlake was always worthwhile.

Sorry to see it go. Hope the new place is a fraction as tasty.