Cube Cafe and Marketplace

During a recent night out of eating and drinking, my friend and I were able to cross off two items from our must-try list, those being the truffle burger at Cube Cafe and artisinal cocktails from celebrated mixologist Matt Biancaniello at the Hollywood Roosevelt Library Bar. Our plan was simple: grab some friends and meet at Cube in West Hollywood for dinner, then take the short drive up La Brea avenue to the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel to satisfy our thirst.

With the plan in motion, I pull up to Cube Cafe on a chilly Wednesday night for a 7:30pm reservation. It's not a large place by any means with just a dozen or so tables and a wrap-around bar. Gourmet packaged foods such as pastas and olive oils fill the shelves along the north wall and are available for purchase.

Selection of imported pastas, olive oils, spices and other goodies make up the marketplace portion of Cube.

Table setting.

Dinner menu.

Cube has a fantastic wine list but I stuck to beer for my dinner, Birra Moretti in this case.

My two dining companions--Linda and Stephanie--arrive and after salivating over the menu for few moments, we decide to start things off with ordering the maple braised bacon with celery root puree and cipollini onions:


The super-thick bacon is delicious, smokey, and gushing with maple and pork fat flavors. The bacon's richness is tamed by the creamy celery root puree, and the minuscule cipollini onions add interest and texture. I love the presentation with the bacon sitting tight in the puree, surrounded by a maple and bacon sauce. It's not a large portion but this dish is deceivingly heavy--it's bacon after all!

Next we have the braised baby octopus:


Both my dining companions thought this was a bit burnt, but I didn't mind the charred taste and texture. In fact the preparation made me think this was flame-grilled rather than braised. Nonetheless I enjoyed every bite of the octopus; the taste was similar to calamari but less fishy. Note the presentation with the expansive white plate separated the chef's artistry from the distractions around it; this reminded me of the expansive platings at Rivera.

Our next plate arrives and it's the mac and cheese with crispy shallots and balsamic glaze:


I love a good mac and cheese and Cube's version put a big smile on our faces. I would have never thought to order this, but Stephanie wasted no time in selecting this as her choice of appetizer (and I'm really glad she did!) The interplay with the creamy macaroni and crunchy shallots was nice, in fact the shallot topping was a welcomed departure from the usual bread-crumb topping I've had at so many other places. Linda explains to me that the best mac and cheese happens to be the jalapeno variety served at the nearby Citizen Smith. I believe a trip there is in order.

Now on to the truffle burger on house brioche, blue cheese, charred shallots, crispy potatoes, chipotle ketchup. This very burger is the main reason why we wanted to try Cube. Having seen pictures of this burger in other blogs, I was expected greatness, something that just might dethrone my current champion of burgers, the Father's Office burger. Instead what I got was something that was merely average.


Starting with the done-ness, it's overcooked. I asked for medium rare and mine was served almost medium-well, which made for a dry burger with a slightly crumbly texture. And although I do like toasted buns (who doesn't?), these buns were clearly charred to a point where all I could taste was the char. With a properly cooked patty and a bun that isn't blackened, this would have been much better. Father's Office need not worry about its burger being dethroned anytime soon. All of us enjoyed the skinny fries, however, as they were nicely cooked and served with a side of smokey, chipotle ketchup.

It's time for desserts and first up is the cobbler duo with Tahitian vanilla gelato, strawberry rhubarb, frutti di bosco:


I loved the contrast in flavors with the tartness of the rhubarb cobbler and the sweetness of the frutti di bosco. Both were equally good, but a bit messy to eat given the minuscule ramekins in which they were served. Trying to scoop some of the gelato with each bite of the cobbler proved to be more work than it should have been. The gelato was delicious with a prominent vanilla flavor, but for some reason it melted rather quickly.

Our second dessert is a ricotta cheesecake with fresh strawberries:


From the picture you might be thinking this was served in a paper cup, but that's just the texture of the cheesecake. It's much lighter in taste and texture than your typical cheesecake. I completely devoured this and would order it again in a heartbeat.

The service at Cube was good with our waiter checking on us from time to time without being invasive. Our dishes arrived with ample time to enjoy the previous dish; I never felt rushed to finish a plate. Also, complimentary bottled water is provided and is served from a large jug--a nice touch. Overall this was a fine dinner and I will definitely keep this place in mind if I'm ever in this area.

After dinner we carpooled up along La Brea avenue to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Street parking on this Wednesday night was ample and I was able to find a spot just steps from the hotel's lobby entrance, right on Hollywood boulevard. Ah the benefit of partying on a school night :). Built in 1927, this 300-room hotel is is filled with historic significance; the first Academy Awards presentation took place here, and Marilyn Monroe was a resident during the early part of her career. A bar attached the lobby goes by the name Library Bar and was our final destination for the night.

Serving our drinks was non other than famed mixologist Matt Biancaniello, who was the topic of a recent LA Times article. I can't recall the names of our drinks and in fact Daniel K.'s drink had no name because Matt custom made the drink for Daniel K.'s taste. And with that, I'll leave you with pictures of our Library Bar outing.

Library Bar.

Drink menu

Matt in action. Note the emu egg on the right.

I think this was Linda's drink; I can't recall what it was, but it tasted good.

Daniel K.'s drink, which Matt custom made for him.

I've read that Library Bar gets extremely crowded on Friday and Saturday nights, with wait times of up to 30-minutes just to get the opportunity to order a cocktail. When we went, there were maybe 10 people in the bar, though it became more lively and interesting as the night went on. If it weren't for the drive, I could see myself coming here often to try more of Matt's creations.



Cube Cafe and Marketplace
615 N La Brea Ave
Los Angeles CA 90036


Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
7000 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood CA, 90028