{"id":13691,"date":"2014-03-13T18:05:25","date_gmt":"2014-03-13T18:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/?p=13691"},"modified":"2014-03-13T18:05:25","modified_gmt":"2014-03-13T18:05:25","slug":"dining-toms-urban-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/dining-toms-urban-opening\/","title":{"rendered":"DINING: TOM’S URBAN OPENING"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOM’S URBAN OPENING<\/h1>\n

<\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tom’s Urban, an eatery that’s already a success in Denver, Colorado, has opened a branch at L.A. Live, the entertainment hub downtown.\u00a0 They did their opening party in a very interesting, different way than the norm, and my pal, Roz, and I were happy to be a part of it.<\/p>\n

We arrived thinking we were attending the usual type of restaurant opening party, where we stuff our faces with passed hors d’oeuvres that we forget an hour later, and mingle with the same people we didn’t want to see to begin with.\u00a0 So we were pleasantly surprised to be treated to a sit-down “sneak peek tasting menu.”<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n

We sat in our choice of the different level booths and tables in one big sports-t.v.ed area, and the event was so organized that we each had a little menu of what we’d be trying that evening sitting right at our place setting.\u00a0 The amiable staff was ever-present, and we wanted for nothing.<\/p>\n

Tom himself made an announcement about each dish that was being served, but being a cavernous space, the acoustics were the only part of the experience that was lacking.\u00a0 But it didn’t matter because I don’t need the background of a dish to enjoy it.\u00a0 I just like to know the ingredients, and they were all kindly spelled out for us on our mini-menus.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The fabulous grilled cheese and fig jam sandwich. Photo by Karen Salkin.<\/p><\/div>\n

We sampled nine dishes in three categories of Small Plates”:\u00a0 “Traditional,” “Interesting,” and “Adventurous.”\u00a0 Roz is a vegetarian and I’m just a picky eater, but between us, we managed to try them all.\u00a0 We agreed that the grilled cheese sandwich with fig jam, on brioche, was the winner.\u00a0 (If you order it, just make sure to specify if you want the one with or without bacon, because it’s written in very small type in a dark room.)<\/p>\n

We each had one more favorite; mine was the cheeseburger slider, which was downright delicious, and Roz went wild for the white bean hummus with rosemary flatbread.\u00a0 She loved it so much that she said, “They can try to take it out of my hands,” when they cleared the table, “but they won’t succeed,” until she practically cleaned-put every last morsel.<\/p>\n

And talk about your potent potables–Roz tried two “Tom’s Libations,” (how they’re listed on the menu,) and proclaimed them “big and powerful!” \u00a0 She said the Oversized Vodka Martini was “spot-on,” and “very fresh and cold,” and deemed the Gatsby “totally refreshing.”\u00a0 I can vouch for how much she enjoyed them.<\/p>\n

\"Ginger<\/a>

Ginger chicken postickers. Photo by Karen Salkin<\/p><\/div>\n

I must give a special thank you to our spunky server, Teen, and two grown-ups, Charlie and Jennifer, whose positions I didn’t ask for, but they were wonderful to me under a special circumstance.\u00a0 I was having such a good time that I forgot\u00a0that I can’t hold a big glass of liquid with one hand so soon after three hand surgeries.\u00a0 so, as I tried to pick up a generous giant glass of Cola, I dropped the entire, filled-to-the-brim glass right in my lap.\u00a0 I, of course, was wearing my favorite white shirt and best most versatile black pants.\u00a0 I was mortified.\u00a0 But Teen and Charlie ran right over to my rescue.<\/p>\n

They gave me multiple material napkins, and showed me to the ladies room.\u00a0 They sent a glass of club soda into me in there, to soak my shirt, and unbelievably, found me a new tee-shirt!!!\u00a0 Jessica was apologizing because it was an XL, but it was exactly what I needed because I had to stuff a napkin down the front of my pants because they were soaked, and it looked like I was wearing a diaper!\u00a0 But I needn’t have worried about looks–a feature of Tom’s Urban is that it’s really dark, which is perfect for dates!\u00a0 Mr. X would love the lighting here; he hates bright places.<\/p>\n

I know you’re all waiting to hear what I thought of their versions of my reviewing specialty–desserts, but there was no time for them because another group of invitees was coming in on the heels of our A-list group.\u00a0 So, hopefully, I’ll find some time in the Spring to do a full review of them for you.\u00a0 Or, better yet, I’ll just have to plan a trip to visit my good friends in Colorado and review the flagship.\u00a0 Either way, I look forward to another fabulous meal at Tom’s Urban!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TOM’S URBAN OPENING   Tom’s Urban, an eatery that’s already a success in Denver, Colorado, has opened a branch at L.A. Live, the entertainment hub downtown.\u00a0 They did their opening party in a very interesting, different way than the norm, and my pal, Roz, and I were happy to be a part of it. We<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-los-angeles-restaurant-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13691"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13699,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13691\/revisions\/13699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}