Hot Spot: Comme Ça in Los Angeles

Everyone knows the phrase "comme ci, comme ça" translates to "eh," as in "not great, just OK." So why would chef David Meyers name his new Melrose Avenue brasserie "just OK"? Thankfully, the place is a lot more than that.

Ambience: A true modern-day brasserie, Comme Ça features dark-paneled wainscoting, chalkboard menus and a host of mirrors on the wall.

Food: Some dishes are well prepared, like the crisp, tender duck confit with braised red cabbage and spaetzle ($24) and the delicate sole meunière with celery-root purée ($27). Others are just OK.

Service: The receptionist is snobby if you don't have a coveted reservation. The wait staff wears traditional French black and white garb, and the impeccably trained bartenders were taught by the bar chief at Manhattan's best cocktail lounge, Milk and Honey.

Drinks: It's all about bartender as artist, and every detail matters. The singapore sling is made with fresh cherry juice, lemon juice, Plymouth gin and Benedictine, topped with an egg-white froth ($14). Huge blocks of ice are whittled into big chunks that melt much slower in drinks than cubes. In French, comme ça on its own means "like that." And we do.

© 2008