With a menu created by a Michelin-starred chef and a retro vibe thanks to its location in the renovated 60-year-old mid-century-style City Center hotel, Chef Philip Pretty’s highly anticipated second Long Beach restaurant Olive & Rose opened its doors this month.
And the chef, who earned Long Beach’s first Michelin star in 2023 for his seasonal tasting-menu driven restaurant Heritage, says this menu is filled with some of the best dishes he’s ever cooked.
“I feel like this is a culmination of the last 20 years of my career. It’s things I’ve fallen in love with and really liked throughout that process,” said Pretty, who opened the spot with his sister and business partner Lauren Pretty on Oct. 2.
Named after the chef’s daughters, the 32-seat minimally decorated restaurant sports soft colors with light wood tables and green bench chairs and overlooks the newly renovated hotel and pool. While it’s a retro-cool look, all of the attention will be on the menu with food Pretty describes as coming from a neo-bistro menu, meaning its his take on a French bistro with California influences.
Here are some of three must-have dishes at Olive & Rose.
Octopus with potato and pimento
This gorgeous looking and surprisingly filling dish features an unbelievably tender octopus mixed with hearty and creamy potato, a crunchy celery, smoked almonds and pimento, which adds a perfect bit of spice. It’s all sprinkled with a bit of garlic aioli which the chef says binds all the ingredients together. “The octopus is definitely something that’s near and dear to my heart. I’ve cooked thousands over my career,” Pretty said.
Roast Chicken with foraged mushroom and jus
As far as Pretty is concerned, a bistro must have an outstanding chicken dish, and this one is as outstanding as it gets. “With the chicken dish we had to make sure it was perfect because everybody grades you on your chicken in a French bistro,” Pretty said. The chef uses the high end Jidori chicken breast…
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