You may recall that I have a work son. There’s also a work wife, a work daughter. A work sister. I claim a work baby daddy, but he hasn’t yet been told of his familial bond with the rest of us. He’s too normal, wouldn’t get our extreme connection and need to define ourselves beyond friends. As if working together eight hours each day isn’t enough, we find excuses to get together in the evenings and on the weekends. We do concerts in the park in the summers and exchange gifts for Christmas and go to karaoke. We really like each other. The work fam is surely the biggest perk at my job.
For his first birthday (as my son), I thought it important to take William (that’s work son’s name) for a special meal. Brunch. And something local, because we love the LBC. And because there are so many new restaurants to try in our fair city these days. So I picked one of the recent arrivals to Long Beach’s Retro Row, a spot called Restauration, boasting a mix of quintessential SoCal fare and freshened up diner favorites. Work sis (William’s work auntie) joined the party, making it a Sunday afternoon trio.
Since it was brunch and William was driving, I went for the bottomless mimosa. They don’t play around with this. Unlike most spots, where a waitress visits just every 25 minutes or so to pour you another slim glass of watery champagne juice, Restauration keeps you happy with pulpy fresh OJ suffused with plenty of bubbly, a thick carafe of the stuff left at the table. Surely worth the $15 I spent on it. I could definitely settle in at this place on a future visit, finding a corner to relax in on a weekend afternoon, getting my tipsy on over a book.
And a good bite to eat along with it. I tasted many a phenomenal bite over our triple date (thank goodness for sharesies). While I didn’t try my son’s BLAT (braised pork belly, bacon, watercress, avocado, and tomato), I did steal several of his fries, each of which were fried, fluffy dreams. Work sister’s pizza, the Get Shorty, sounded wonderful with short rib, peaches, watercress, and blue cheese, but I barely had enough stomach space to finish my sweetly plated huevos rancheros, especially with the mimosa and all the fries I stole, and the bread and jam we ordered just for fun. All was tasty, playfully plated, and very fresh. I’m so happy Restauration has landed on 4th Street – a definite plus for our little city.
The best discovery, however, was finding that my neighbor Robert works there. I’ll be sure to hit him up the next time I see him outside watering his lawn about his choice for best dish at Restauration. And maybe he’ll be able to hook me up with my happy weekend corner so I can enjoy my book, a carafe of mimosa, my own fries, and more huevos rancheros; and possibly the French toast, as I almost always order the French toast at brunch (don’t know why I didn’t do so this time). Whether I get my corner time or not, Restauration is sure on my return list for more eating, more celebrating with friends. It’s another wonderful example of what makes Long Beach a fabulous place for me to live, work, and dine.
Restauration
2708 E. 4th Street in Long Beach