New Menu at Roadhouse LA with Chef Kyle Schutte

About 3 years ago, I encountered chef Kyle Schutte's cooking at Vu. He called it "progressive comfort food" and I still remember his chicken fried watermelon. He had a short stint at Corner Door and I'm glad he's finally found another home at Roadhouse - that barbecue restaurant at The Improv.

One of the favorites during my dinner was the Root beer-cured bacon, soft scrambled vanilla scented eggs ($12)

This is made with housemade root beer syrup and the thick bacon is brined for 2 days then smoked for 12 hours.

Chicken Fried watermelon with pickled rind ($6)

Yes, the dish I had at Vu made another appearance here! These are quite interesting and worth a try if you've never had it before.

I really liked the Punjabi Poutine with thick cut fries, coconut curry spinach, grilled cheese curds, queso fresco, goat meat and goat gravy ($12)

The fries are nice and I enjoyed the unique combination with curry spinach and the goat meat.

The cocktails here are great, as well. I started with The Centurion (White rum, passoa, cognac, amontillado sherry, red wine, lime, grapefruit, dons mix, soda)

Corn bread pudding, roasted jalapeno butter, citrus charcoal, tequila & cilantro jelly

A borderline dessert appetizer, I enjoyed the fun concept and flavors, especially that jalapeno butter on the corn bread.

Campfire carrots, black garlic and sesame ash, toasted thyme marshmallow, fennel pollen ($9)

Apparently this was the dish that made One More Bite happy eating carrots, and I can see why! Maybe you can get your kids to eat their carrots, too, with some toasted marshmallow ... :P

Creme brûlée Mac and cheese, bourbon, honey ($9) - decadent.

Duck Legs, sauerkraut smoked for 12 hours with caraway, red cabbage, house mustards ($17)

The duck was good but not as intriguing as the rest of the meal. 

The main entree takes more than 3 days to prepare, so if they have it available, you might want to try it. It's the Roadhouse LA brisket (grass fed beef, beer cheddar, house pickles, black BBQ, master fat-caramelized onions, kimchi coleslaw, Texas toast - $21)

The brisket is brined for 3 days, encased in beef fat and sous vide for 12 hours (in pastrami compound butter), smoked in 12 hours and rubbed in pastrami rub. The black BBQ sauce is made with squid ink. The brisket was very tender and I liked the unique bbq sauce. The beer cheddar is topped with Cheetos crust. I liked the crust but personally wanted the rest of it to be thicker and cheesier.  

The desserts are seasonal Cake Monkey pies with LA Creamery ice creams

I thought the new Roadhouse LA menu with Chef Kyle Schutte is more interesting than the previous, with shareable appetizers like the poutine and the fun sides like carrots with marshmallows. The solid cocktails are just another reason to stop by if you're heading to The Improv.

Roadhouse LA
8162 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
http://www.roadhouserestaurants.com/