After living just a few blocks away from BLD for the past 2 years, I finally made a stop in and had a delightful meal with an old college friend.  What they serve is in their name: breakfast, lunch and dinner (get it?).  Daniel and I caught up over a very delicious dinner.

One loop around the block with no street parking to be found, we caved and valeted.  Bonus points for $1 valet parking for restaurant patrons (most definitely beats the usual two-figure parking stands that have become staples to this lovely city).  From the outside, the restaurant looked so dark inside, it might as well have been closed down for the night.  Luckily, BLD is just conserving some energy:)

Once our eyes had adjusted, I realized my pictures weren’t going to turn out all that well.  Thanks to iPhoto, I was able to salvage 2 of 3.  The restaurant itself is thoughtfully, minimally and unpretentiously decorated.  It doesn’t try too hard.  The fellow diners as well as the staff are equally laid back and welcoming.

A few minutes (or maybe more…) of mulling over the menu, I decided to take the adventurous route off the standard menu and ordered seared duck breast from that day’s menu.  The poultry was served with forbidden black rice, sauteed green beans and hearts of palm, sweet & sour cabbage and a coconut curry sauce:

It was fantastic.  Seriously, the only thing wrong with the dish was that I misheard the waiter, and thought he said it’s served medium rare.  Turns out, it’s served medium well.  A little on the tough side for me (I like my meat oozing red), but the coconut curry sauce more than made up for the too-cooked bird.  I was scooping up every last bit of the sauce when I had finished my plate clean.

You can’t really tell much from the picture, but Daniel ordered the beef short ribs, served with horseradish mashed potatoes, roasted beets, watercress, chive crème and beef jus:

His review?  ”The beets are tender, but I’ve had better.  Rose Cafe [in Venice] has a to-die-for beet salad.”  I had a bit of his short ribs, and they were quite tasty, and were so tender, I just needed the side of my fork to cut it.  It was also my first time trying beets (I was always put off by the color…) and I can now say I’m definitely a fan.  Will have to try this “to-die-for” beet salad next time I make it over to the west side.

The finishing touch was an über rich s’mores pie, with a graham cracker crust, milk chocolate mousse served atop a generous helping of toffee sauce.  The light, fluffy texture of the mousse and marshmallow creme are incredibly deceiving.  Between the two of us, we couldn’t even get through one slice of the pie.  But it’s so good, that even when you start feeling sick from the inordinate amount of sugar, you can’t. stop. eating.

The verdict: Parking–cheap and accessible.  Reservations–easy to get a decent time.  Restaurant–lovely and not overdone.  Service–welcoming.  Fellow diners–friendly (our neighbors even offered up some suggestions:))  Food–unpretentious and most importantly, delicious.  All in all, I’m in L-O-V-E with BLD.

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