THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Blue Palms

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Blue Palms Restaurant Review:

Entering the dining room at Blue Palms feels like joining a party already in progress. Friends greet each other at nearby tables, the fireplace crackles and a vocalist serenades from his bench at the baby grand. The latest incarnation for this former home of Hollywood legend Fatty Arbuckle, located on North La Cienega's restaurant row, seems to have carved a niche for itself with a clientele consisting largely of locals and a menu of serviceable California cuisine. Start with the baby spinach salad with shiitake mushrooms and warm pancetta dressing; field greens with grilled pears, Champagne-basil vinaigrette and Parmesan croutons; or beef strip loin carpaccio with mixed greens and shaved grana pandano. Main courses, served in mismatched oversized dishes with broad rims, sometimes garnished with minced herbs, include corn-crusted prawns with smoked greens and garlic-roasted thyme sauce; pan-roasted filet mignon with porcini mushroom ragoût and Gorgonzola; and roasted chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese, pine nuts and apricots served with potato Rösti. A winning dessert of deep-fried crêpe-wrapped fudge-coated bananas shines against an ordinary chocolate torte with raspberry sauce and a tart dried-cherry bread pudding. Blue Palms provides what we often want in an evening out: comfort food in the company of friends.