Town Hall

Town Hall Restaurant Review:

The happy hour revelers and business brokers filling this restaurant's spacious, glass-window-lined dining room do not come for a wild foray into the gastronomic unknown. Town Hall's food is familiar and satisfying, as inviting and classy as its atmosphere. The kitchen puts a premium on execution, rolling out California-style riffs on classics hailing from the American South. With cornbread, pork-accented seafood, okra and green tomatoes making appearances, the menu reads like an Interstate 10 blitz from the Golden State all the way to Florida. A few detours pop up along the way. Dishes name-drop St. Louis ribs, Texas-style barbecue sauce, Smithfield ham and Alabama catfish. Jalapeño bits stud the cornbread. Bacon-topped fried oysters couched in shells and slicked with spinach purée are striking, likewise a springy filet of halibut with amaranth, morels and peas. Desserts stand out, too, particularly warm beignets with espresso ice cream and chicory streusel --- a nod to New Orleans --- and a puckery, lovely rhubarb and strawberry tart with pink peppercorn shortbread and olive oil ice cream. Be sure to start things off with a cocktail --- perhaps the Sazerac, or a fizzy, acidic Dorothy Parker. Chef-owners Mitchell and Steven Rosenthal, along with business partner Doug Washington, also own the nearby restaurants Salt House and Anchor & Hope.