You see the term “breaking all the rules” slapped on all kinds of things, but here’s a restaurant-cocktail-lounge combo that’s genuinely doing some rule-breaking.
By Craig Outhier | Photo by Patrik Matheson
Opened: February 2024
You see the term “breaking all the rules” lazily and wishfully slapped on all kinds of things, but here’s a restaurant-cocktail-lounge combo that’s genuinely doing some rule-breaking, to delicious and endearing effect. The first time I visited this Roosevelt Row newcomer from Killer Whale Sex Club owners Sam Olguin and Brenon Stuart, I was disarmed by a Moulard duck carpaccio ($30) made toro-tender by virtue of chef Marcelino Ramos’s hybrid poaching and confit technique, with tangy garnishes of preserved plum and pickled ginger to complete the symphony. Also terrific: braised octopus tostadas ($23) swiped with a mole-like black sesame salsa macha. On my second visit, Pretty Penny’s usual 12-item small-plate menu was AWOL, replaced by a special weekend menu of fairly priced Caribbean dinner plates. Was I off-put? Hell, no! Valley dining could use more curveballs like this, and my curry oxtail ($18), served with a side salad and a hearty helping of red beans and rice, was wolf-it-down delish. On both visits, I dived into Pretty Penny’s revelatory house oysters ($4 each), the plump Pacific bivalves uplifted with green apple and frosty gusts of citrusy, sorbet-like granita. Did I mention there’s a marquee menu featuring a “break-even” tin of Ossetra caviar ($40) and, oddly, cacio e pepe ($18)? The place seems to be in a perpetual state of soft-opening, and that’s kind of great, right?
Wild-Card: Olguin and Stuart’s outré-cocktail background achieves apotheosis with the brown butter paloma ($15), a lip-smacking umami ride made with toasty butter-washed blanco tequila.
504 E. Roosevelt Rd.
