WHERE:  Beverly Hills – on South Beverly.

WHEN:  Tues-Sat, 5:30PM-10PM

THE DISH:

WHAT TO KNOW:  Not to compare, but let’s compare: Maude is Curtis Stone’s version of Ludo’s Trois Mec. Named after his grandmother, Maude, each month, the restaurant focuses on a different ingredient and the chefs come up with 9 courses using said ingredient — we chose February (well we didn’t choose so much as it was our 1 year anniversary and it was the first month we could score tickets) and it was Potato Month. French fries? Mashed? Roasted? We were stoked because you can’t really go wrong with potatoes…or so we thought…

THE COURSES: Not gonna lie, we weren’t SUPES impressed considering we dropped about $200/person. The reasons the world LOVES potatoes (listed above- fries, mashed, gnocchi, etc)…. Ya we saw none of that.  We opened with the best dish of the night: the Mousseline w/ caviar & egg yolk. Die. This was deeeeelish and our only regret was not finishing it because we were trying to save room for the rest. Hi, didn’t anyone ever tell you to save the best for last? Next up was our 3rd fav dish of the night: the Potato Salad w/ horseradish, poppy seeds and chicken skin. No joke they used tweezers to individually place every herb. Talk about precision. The Dumplings w/ cheddar, potato peels and chervil were up next and this is where the meal to a dive. Needless to say we ate about 2 dumplings each. The Turbot with parsley, preserved lemon and spinach hit us next and let’s just say we had a little chat with Richard about this plate. As in what were they thinking? Bland much? They brought the Terrine with bacon and smoked oyster out next and while it was better than the previous dish, we weren’t huge fans. Not sure how you can go wrong with potato, oyster and bacon but they managed. Up next: the Cavatelli with red cabbage and onion – now this was a dish we can get behind. But you can’t really go wrong with pasta…so there’s that. Our 2nd fave dish of the night came after: the Oxtail with black truffle and bone marrow. Told you we love our truffle — perfectly cooked and melting off the bone. Cue salivation.  The Tomme de Chevre with sweet potato membrillo was their version of a cheese plate. Down for that goat cheese – we even made Richard tell us what kind it was. And lastly, the Lingonberry for dessert with chocolate and stout. Now we’re two people who looooove anything with chocolate but we sadly did not fall in love with this.

SERVICE/WHERE TO SIT: The service is on point – they sat us as soon as we arrived (A² truly appreciates promptness considering everyone is always late and we’re always too on time – the struggle is real), and there was always someone taking away our plate, filling our wine glass or bringing us more food. We sat at the bar (highly recommend unless you’re in a larger group) which was supes fun because we basically just harassed the chefs the whole time. True story: they thought we were drunk when we got there because we were so excited but we hadn’t had a sip of alc…still trying to figure out whether that means we’re naturally fun or annoying.

INSIDER’S INFO: Curtis purchased the old Mercantile Space on Sunset and is turning it into a Maude style restaurant focused on charcuterie — should be opening in the Summer. You’re welcome!

THE CHEFS: Curtis was not on sight (boooooooo) but we were very entertained by one of his sous chefs Richard – you know how chefs think they’re rockstars? This homie was no exception. Talk about live entertainment. Still trying to decide whether or not he’s hooking up with the pastry chef…DRAMA!

WHO TO BRING: Date, friend, parents – people that appreciate food. Just saying if a date scored tickets for us and surprised us with them, that’s not the only thing they would score. Just make sure you can (and WANT) to sit through a 2-3 hour meal with said person.

WHAT TO WEAR:  It’s a nice place with a vibe that makes you feel like you’re in your grandma’s house – dress the part. One of the few places in LA where Lulu’s are NOT an option.

WHO YOU’LL SEE:  Honestly everyone – and by everyone we mean people who are willing to drop some serious bills on a few plates of food. We were hoping to see Chef Curtis or his wife Lindsey, but no such luck on our night. Families, friends, dates…the cozy setup makes most scenarios an option.

PRICE POINT: Price varies pending the ingredient of the month. While we would’ve LOOOOVED to hit up November aka White Truffle Month, we couldn’t justify $360/person…ask us again when we’re celebrating our 5 year anni (a girl can dream right?? #lifegoals)! And while we initially thought potatoes, you know, life’s CHEAPEST food, would be on the lower end of the spectrum, at $125/person + tip & tax, alcohol NOT included, we’ll be eating ramen the rest of the month.  AND the wine pairing is $95 per person FYI- if you ballin’ hard (we were not).

EDDR LIFE LESSON: Sometimes the hype isn’t worth $200.  And then you’re sad BC you think of allllll the other things you could have bought with that money (a pair of new jeans, new sunnies, a plane ticket…. ughhh).

A² FINAL THOUGHT: Although all-in-all it was a successful night because we were celebrating together, considering we only REALLY liked about 3 out of the 9 courses, we’re not rushing back any time soon (not that we could afford to anyway). Glad we can check it off the list but the only month we’ll be back for are the ones that involve Truffle!

PS: Tix for April go on sale on March 1st @ 10AM.

Ok, maybe we’ll go back in search of Curtis – in the meantime, looking forward to hearing how Richard’s night ended up,

A²

Maude ↔ 212 S. Beverly Dr, BH, CA 90212 ↔ 310-859-3416