“OK, OK, OK,” I mutter. I know it’s coming up. There’s Bluebird Café, a sign warning drivers of a red-light camera ahead, the actual traffic camera, and then…there! I slam the brakes as I quickly scan the curb for a parking spot. Horns shriek in displeasure, of course. Goodness gracious. My third time and I still can’t manage to find The Point gracefully.
The restaurant isn’t that unassuming. After all, its huge orange insignia blazes atop a sleek concrete building. See, The Point can only be accessed as you’re heading eastbound on what behaves like a two-lane highway. There’s little time or room to amble along the right shoulder; and if you happen to speed right on by, there’s no immediate way—illegal or otherwise—to double back. It’s quite frustrating.
The Point hits on two of the year’s biggest trends: the pricey gourmet cafeteria in the vein of Joan’s on Third, and the expansion of chef empires (see, Comme Ca and Katsuya). To the latter…er…point, the new space joins the chef-dom of Kazuto Matsusaka and wife Vicki Fan who pretty much put Culver City on the dining map when Beacon opened to rave reviews and packed seating in 2004.
Travel and destination drama aside, a Matsusaka-Fan enterprise is a quality food affair. The menu offers something for every part of the day: pastries and omelets for breakfast; sandwiches and salads for lunch; take-home, microwaveable meals for dinner; sweets, snacks and coffee from Intelligentsia for always. Here’s my little sampling:
Mom’s meatloaf: Fancy disposal-ware houses two all-beef slices with a side of green beans and mash. A laser-printed sticker instructs high-voltage nuking for two minutes. The meatloaf is tender and well-seasoned, without an offensive streak of ketchup. The potato is aromatic, which probably has something to do with the roasted sprig of rosemary, sage and garlic clove that jauntily sit in the smooth pool of starch. Does the meatloaf beat Mom’s recipe? Sure, it could, but Mommy would never charge $9.50 for hers.
Custom-crafted salads: Grab a mini clipboard and start ticking away. Just putting a tiny eraser-capped golf pencil to paper starts you off at $7.50 with a choice of salad mix and three ingredients. Every protein option costs extra—even tofu is an additional two bucks. My selection of poached tuna, roasted tomatoes and olives comes out to a staggering $11.25. But the gimmick is effective: I find I’m drawn to the extra menu that sits at my desk, already pondering the combination I would get on a return visit.
Verdict, or the desserts: This is an unscientific observation, but success or failure in this particular genre of gourmet mart seems heavily reliant on the fabulousness of the desserts. (The awesome baked goods at Clementine and Auntie Em’s Kitchen are prime examples.) And The Point, surprisingly enough, has sweet things in spades: a fine carrot cake and a pucker-ific key lime pie. And while the much-buzzed-about butterscotch pudding is truly worthy, my eye-fluttering moment came with the first bite into the peanut butter cookie sandwich with extra peanut butter in between. Yes, I hope The Point sticks around forever.
Jiyeon Yoo is Restaurants editor for Metromix Los Angeles.
Sampling: The Point
Getting there is half the build-a-salad fun
By Jiyeon Yoo, Metromix
November 28, 2007
(Credit: Jiyeon Yoo)
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