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| - I haven't had the full dinner experience, nor tried the Chef's complete tasting menu, but it sounds like others have had great experiences. It certainly isn't cheap, but Rouge has won many accolades from food critics - including landing a spot on San Pellegrino World's Best Restaurants list (2010).
I have been for lunch and dessert - both of which were delicious and accompanied by stellar service. One of the things that I enjoy the most about Rouge is their garden. Despite the location in a relatively densely popluated area of Inglewood, the A.E. Cross House is on a pretty large plot of land. The Rouge team uses the area to grow fresh vegetables and herbs as well as house their small greenhouse for tomatoes. We had the pleasure of meeting the Chef de Cuisine, JP Pedhirney, who explained their food philosophy. They take the "local" food movement to heart, and get inspiration for their food from their garden. They then source additional food from local farmers and try to keep it as close to home as possible. He was friendly, knowledgeable and passionate about food.
For lunch, I enjoyed the Braised Short Rib which was incredibly tender with a well balanced, flavorful sauce. My side salad was fairly average, although it was accompanied by deep fried chick peas which I didn't really care for. I have also tried 2 different desserts here. I may be a bit biased because I'm not a big dessert fan. The panacotta with oatmeal crisp topping was delicious and not overly sweet. We also had the chocolate chip cake with bacon. I know that deserts with bacon are all the rage right now, but I personally prefer my bacon without sugar - and this particular desert didn't convert me.
Overall, I've quite enjoyed my two experiences at Rouge. I guess I will have to come for dinner one of these days for the full experience.
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