Rivera

Better late than never.

It was three years ago that Rivera was recommended to me by a friend and as such things happen..it slowly dropped to the bottom of my list of must tries. Chance happened that a group of girls were looking for a place to do lunch. Tired of croque madams and benedicts, Rivera is definitely something out of their comfort zone.

The drinks. like most artisinal cocktails these days were spectacular and a feast upon the eyes. The "Balls Drop", justly named, with its heavy hand of tequilla definitely gave me a good afternoon buzz.

Of course, the homemade tortilla florales with indian butter made quite an impression with the girls. I remember the same emotions of delight on my virginal experience with tortilla florales at Playa. The "oohs" and "ahhhs" subsided as the alien-ish duck enfrijolada was set upon the table. It was by far the most ugliest creation I have seen in a while. But accompanied by a poach egg, the taste was agreeable the highlight of the meal; salty duck meat in a rich rioja chile sauce. As intuition told me, the halibut was a mistake. Dry and bland. bleh

Even with striking similarities between Rivera and Playa, I still favor Playa over the other. Playa's dishes are a touch more bold and innovative than Rivera. We'll see, very soon, how Red O contends against these Latin big boys. 

                                                                         Rivera
                                        1050 South Flower Street #102 Los Angeles, CA 90015
                                                          http://riverarestaurant.com/