THE DISTRICT BY HANNAH AN
When I heard that successful restaurateur, Hannah An, (of the family who owns Crustacean and Tiato,) opened her own place on West Third Street, I wanted to get in on it at the very beginning. I just had to make some time to stop in, and at least try some appetizers.
The Love You Long Time cocktail. Photo by Karen Salkin.
It’s called The District, and is in the former Duplex space in West Hollywood. (Or, depending on how far back you go, the Barefoot, or even Kathy Gallagher, space!)
They made it gorgeous, but I’ll give you more deets when I have time to do a full review, when the place is in full swing.
Hannah was kind enough to invite some of her perennial supporters in for some starters and craft cocktails earlier this week, so my pal, Alice, and I took her up on it.
Since I don’t imbibe, Alice was the one checking-out the interesting cocktail menu, and, with some help from our most pleasant server, Ian, she settled on the excellently-monikered, Love You Long Time, which featured vodka, cantaloupe, and cucumber. I’ll let her tell it: “OMG, the title is exactly what you want to do! It’s so smooth. And you get a piece of cantaloupe and a slice of cucumber on a toothpick in the glass, which is so cute and sweet. Next time, I plan to have more than one!” (Cocktail, not piece of fruit!)
The Cha Gio. Photo by Karen Salkin.
Then we each tried two starters. I chose two chicken ones. First, the District Wings were really crispy and flavorful (just ask for them to be well-done.) And my fave–the Cha Gio, which is basically several bite-sized crispy-yet-spongey (in a great way,) egg rolls. I could have eaten four orders of them; they were that good.
Alice went with the Manila Clams in a garlic-lemongrass broth which was accented with Asian Pesto. She declared it to be a “great appetizer” that’s “so tasty!”
The Lobster Salad. Photo by Alice Farinas.
She paired the clams with the Lobster Salad, which was served warm. It’s half a Maine lobster, grilled, and topped with blanched green and yellow zucchini and kale, served with a lemon-pomegranate vinaigrette. She said the duo was the perfect combo because she dipped some of the lobster in the garlic-lemongrass broth from the clams, and declared that “it was to die for!”
We didn’t get to try any of Hannah’s signature noodles or entrees, so we have something to look forward to next time. They’re getting the dessert menu together now, but we saw another table order the little round carrot cake, so we just had to copy. But, we hadn’t realized how filling the starters were, (especially Alice’s pair!,) so I brought the cake home to Mr. X, who said it was great! I’m a witness—he really enjoyed it! (I did try a dollop of the thick cream cheese frosting, and that was yummy.) We loved chatting with Tammy, the General Manager, and enjoyed meeting the cute hostess, Allison.
We finished our time at The District by having Hannah An herself show us the upstairs party space, which we loved. (It has it’s very own fireplace!) We hope to be in that space for a party ourselves very soon. Or maybe sit on the attractive patio.
No matter which area we choose, we’ll be happy to be there again, helping Hannah celebrate her first solo project. Congrats!
