So you’re thinking “oo? Urban farm cuisine? That sounds nice, and hip, and healthy like… but what does it mean exactly…” Here’s Industriel’s very clever, very sassy answer for you:
“Urban Farm Cuisine /ˈɜrbən fɑrm kwɪˈzin/: the style of cuisine served up by your grandmother in her farmhouse in Provence, France, with one little twist: Your grandmother has sleeve tattoos.
In the unlikely event that you don’t have a tattooed French grandmother, however, we’ll be happy to cook for you so you can experience Urban Farm Cuisine. We serve simple, pure, flavorful dishes with roots in the Provençal tradition, but with modern LA attitude. Think mussels in an absinthe-spiked bouillabaisse, local watercress and roasted beet salad with goat cheese made in-house, and chocolate caramel pretzel tarts with tonka bean ice cream.
Also, our ingredients have never seen the inside of a supermarket. Anything we can make in our kitchen, we do. As Carl Sagan famously said, ‘If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.’
Mr. Sagan, if we could, we would.”
If I hadn’t already been to Industriel I would have wanted to go solely based off of this little diddy, I mean, we’re basically kindred sarcastic spirits, I smell what their cookin’ if you will. If you can poke fun at “urban farm cuisine” (which, let’s be honest, can sound a little foofy) but at the same time totally make “urban farm cuisine” sound fun and fuckin cool? You’re good in my dine book.
Moving on to the real point here, I went to Industriel a few weeks ago with my blogger counterparts F Bombs & Cupcakes for a little light food affair in a hip Downtown LA destination. We’re headed to NY Fashion Week in a few weeks and fortunately but unfortunately we’re in the throes of punishing ourselves for the damage done over Christmas and working on quick fixes to help feel our best for our NYFW debuts. As many of us have been experiencing this month, if we’ve gotta go out for dinner, we’d preferably like to choose the healthiest option we can find without having to sacrifice taste, ambiance, decor, and alcohol (which tends to happen with “healthy” spots!). That’s a tall order and Industriel fit the bill perfectly.
The interior is superbly decorated with an updated take on French Countryside chic; weird honey bear jars installations, gorgeous wallpaper, pops of color, interesting utensil paintings and all. But of course what stood out was feeling that wonderful sense of relief looking at their menu to find I wasn’t going to instantaneously gain 100 lbs or walk out rummaging through my purse for Tums. The menu really is very farm inspired – pickled veggies, fresh salads, free range chicken, fish, rib eye, roasted veggies, and much much more. We found the Charred Romaine Heart salad and the Moroccan Chili to be the winning dishes that night but there’s plenty I’m ready to come back for and try. Namely that Baked Goat Cheese (that was hard not to order).
As with many “farm fresh” inspired restaurants, I appreciate that Industriel takes risks on making special “in season” dishes AND cocktails. Cocktails?! Yes, we were fortunate enough that night to try their very own homemade “beet infused” vodka beverage and as strange as that concoction may sound, it was positively delicious. Where else will you ever be able to try stuff like that? If you’re Downtown and in need of a light (yet interesting and tasty) lunch/dinner, head over to Industriel. It’s a healthy and unique dining experience where for the price of veggies and protein you wont have to sacrifice upscale ambiance, an excellent wait staff, or a well crafted cocktail menu.
Leave a Reply