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Flavors of Westwood: Local favorites serve up bold flavors and strong coffee

By Kelsey Rocha and Maryrose Kulick

Jan. 14, 2014 12:00 a.m.

Napa Valley Grille: Bold flavors and personal flair

As Taylor Boudreaux and Chad Cancelosi clink their glasses together for a midday toast, a waiter passing by laughs, hailing them as “The Kings of Westwood.”

Both Executive Chef Boudreaux and General Manager Cancelosi said they believe Napa Valley Grille is one of Westwood’s more high-end dining venues, as it commonly plays host to star-studded film premiere parties and business dinners.

Despite the restaurant’s formal reputation, Napa Valley Grille attracts all kinds of people for endless purposes, from college students hitting up happy hour to groups coming together in remembrance of a recently passed relative.

“The restaurant is used for so many purposes. It’s used to celebrate and to mourn. It’s really neat to see how it touches people,” Cancelosi said. “It’s really a place to commune.”

Napa Valley Grille, an asset of the Tavistock Group, opened in Westwood in 2000. Boudreax said as a social chef he was immediately drawn to the company for its emphasis on creating an intimate dining experience.

“We firmly believe we’re giving a personal experience, and what’s more personal than food,” Boudreaux said. “There’s a ton of blind faith in the guys behind the (kitchen) counter that they’re going to do right by you before they put it down in front of you. It’s a leap of faith.”

Boudreaux said their high-class New American menu seeks to serve the needs of guests with locally sourced, farm-to-table, seasonal cuisine. Quality proteins such as roasted chicken, grilled fillet mignon and pan seared duck are among the dinner selections, while the lunch menu boasts a variety of burgers, sandwiches and salads.

For Cancelosi, he said capturing a Napa moment with the atmosphere and flavors of the food is what sets the restaurant apart in the Los Angeles area.

Both Boudreaux and Cancelosi make a daily habit of circulating through the dining room and getting to know the guests. They both agree that they spend more time in the restaurant than at home and have expanded their definitions of family to include the staff of the restaurant as well as its guests.

“(Napa Valley Grille) is an extension of your home family. In fact, I celebrated Christmas in the restaurant and brought my kids down,” Cancelosi said. “I opened the restaurant up to the staff and anyone else who wanted to come down for a glass of wine from 3-5. We’re really all in this together.”

 

Espresso Profeta: Spilling the beans to coffee success

Lauren Nipper / Daily Bruin
For Choncey Langford, the best part about working at Espresso Profeta is seeing his customers lick the coffee clean from their cups.

A quaint little cafe on Glendon Avenue in Westwood Village, Espresso Profeta began serving Italian espresso blends to fervent cup-licking customers over a decade ago. Langford helped his wife, Sam, open the shop after they made the transition from Seattle to Southern California.

“The beans we use, (which are from) Espresso Vivace, we drank … everyday,” said Langford. “When we moved to (Los Angeles) there was nothing but Coffee Beans and Starbucks’, so we thought this would probably do pretty well.”

It was first known as West Burton Coffee and Tea, after a village in England, but later the name was changed to Espresso Profeta, a reference to David Schomer. Also, who roasts the Espresso Vivace beans and has been regarded as the “prophet of coffee.” Other than the fact that the new name just sounded good in Italian, it also caused business to double, Langford said.

“Putting the Espresso sticker on the window made people who would just walk by finally decide to come in,” he said, comparing the phenomena to the conclusion of a restaurant makeover TV show.

Today, drinks such as the White Velvet, Flat White, Nico and Chai Tea are among the most popular menu items, served alongside with many pastry options, including a distinctive green-colored lemon and blueberry scone.

The baristas at Espresso Profeta specialize in embellishing their drinks with latte art, a method of combining milk with espresso to create a decorative design on foam and a skill that Langford said takes at least six months of training to master.

The espresso and the food, as well as the artistic garden setting and red brick walls of the cafe, attract a wide variety of customers, from students to professionals to everyday families, some of whom have spent years coming to the cafe.

“It’s neat watching families grow … We’ve (also) helped a lot of people through their four years of school,” said Langford, witness to studious college students becoming lawyers and silent infants becoming chatty four-year-olds.

And with this in mind, every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., the owners and employees of Espresso Profeta work diligently to provide customers with the cup-licking taste that keeps them coming back.

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