Huckleberry and Finn

As I previously mentioned, my aunt and cousins came to see our new apartment and take us to lunch last week.

We went to a local cafe called Huckleberry, which is one of the best places to eat see and be seen in all of Santa Monica.

As tasty as my lunch was, I could hardly focus on the food because my cousin’s adorable son, Finn, had my undivided attention.  He’s so dang cute!  I know you all agree because last time he was on the blog he got more comments than the food!

But back to Huckleberry.  They offer the most delicious food, starting with their homemade artisan breads (which may become a weekly treat in the hippie household) and pastries…and then there’s the lunch menu…soups, salads, sandwiches, rotisserie chickens and deck oven flatbread pizza.  Plus, all their produce comes from the local farmer’s market, and they only use free range hormone and antibiotic-free meat, poultry and dairy. 

Because their breads are such a hot commodity you have to time your visit to make sure they have the goods you’re after (if you’re getting a full loaf that is).  Luckily they post the fresh-out-of-the-oven times for carb-a-holics like moi. 

As if the bread factor wasn’t reason enough for me to live across the street (this is hardly an exaggeration), they brew Caffe Luxxe’s gourmet coffee and offer Art of Tea loose leaf teas, too.  Bread, check!  Caffeine, check!  And I’m in heaven. 

The menu is so stacked, I had a really hard time choosing what to get.  In the end I went with the trio of prepared salads…which led to yet another impossible decision making process.  There were too many good options!  Quinoa salad, white bean dip, sautéed kale with garlic…and those are the ones I didn’t select!!

I chose the carrot salad, mixed grilled vegetables, and curry chickpea salad.

With a hunk of fresh bread on the side.  Here’s the up close of each dish:

Grilled veggies with cauliflower, eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers.  A bit greasy, but amazing nonetheless.

Carrots with WAY too much cumin.  I was shocked by this dish because I thought it was going to be my favorite.  It looked like one of my favorite salads from the WF hot bar, but (unfortunately) tasted nothing like it.  I could only stomach a few bites before deciding it was inedible.  My cousin and Kyle agreed it was a loser of a dish, but my aunt liked it, so obviously it’s a flavor preference thing.  Finn tried a bite, too…

And promptly scrunched up his nose and spit it out.  Bear in mind this kid likes everything.  Sorry Huckleberry, this dish should definitely be reworked before you serve it again.  There were spices askew, and then some.

I saved the best dish for last, though.

Curry spiced chickpea salad.  Holy deliciousness in my mouth.  This was an amazingly flavorful dish that left my taste buds wanting more.  I even used the bread to sop up every last drip drop of it’s sauce.  I need this recipe.  NEED.

All in all, I was beyond content with my meal…although it’s pretty clear which parts were my faves.

 

The rest of my dining companions all ordered off the sandwich menu, starting with Kyle’s warm turkey meatball sandwich on ciabatta.

It came with a simple side salad, too.

My aunt got the BBQ pork sandwich with house made pickles & cole slaw. 

My cousin got the tuna salad sandwich with tomato, arugula & aioli on multigrain bread.

Can you even believe this bread? 

To be honest, I can’t remember what my other cousin ordered, but it’s alright because you can’t even see the insides anyways.

We also got an orzo salad for the table to share.

I had a bite, but it tasted far too delicious to not contain butter, so I immediately withdrew my fork from contention and passed off the rest of my share to Finn. 

He was busy with his own kid’s meal though.

Cream cheese and jelly!  Finn did quite a number on this sammie.  I think 60% ended up on his face, while the remaining 40% was smeared all over the plate, the table, and the table next to us…

You can get away with making messes when you’re this cute though 🙂