Summer BBQ comes to Nick + Stef's Patio on Thursdays

Skirt steak with chimichurri sauce, pasta salad and potato salad

New this summer at Nick + Stef’s in downtown LA is a summer barbeque every Thursday evening on the restaurant’s patio in which Executive Chef Megan Logan grills veggies and meats and serves up traditional summer bbq sides.

From 5:00 to 9:00 pm on Thursdays through Labor Day, she will be grilling up tri-tip for sandwiches, skirt steak, chicken, shrimp and more plus serving up sides such as potato salad and corn on the cob. The main dishes are $8 - $14 and the sides are $5 each. There is also a cocktail available for $5, a wallet friendly price in pricey downtown.

Pea and radish salad and cabbage slaw

The consensus favorite side dish among my tablemates was the potato salad as it had a good amount of flavor.  The spicy cabbage slaw was not so spicy and on the bland side.

I enjoyed the skirt steak with chimichurri sauce, which went straight from the grill to my table (a benefit of a true open kitchen - the outdoor grill) so arrived piping hot.  These Thursday night bbqs are a fun excuse to hang out outdoors in a comfortable setting and enjoy the casual food.  The timing also works perfectly to eat at Nick + Stef's before heading across the street to the Grand Performances series.

One of the best parts of the new program is the opportunity to sit outside and eat and enjoy listening to the music from a different local band each week. The series kicked off last Thursday with Black Crystal Wolf Kids and rumor has it that they will be back again before the summer is out.

There is complimentary valet parking for up to 3 hours after 5 pm in the Wells Fargo Center Parking Garage (enter on Hope Street.)

Nick + Stef's: 330 S. Hope Street, Well Fargo Center. Phone: (213) 680-0330. Website: http://www.patinagroup.com/restaurant.php?restaurants_id=6

Outdoor BBQ Coming to Drago Centro this Sunday

Drago Centro.  Photo courtesy of Food GPS

This Sunday afternoon you should head to Culver City for the Taste of the Nation fundraiser for Share our Strength.  But for a lucky (and hardy) few, that will just be the appetizer.  At Drago Centro from 5 - 9 pm on Sunday evening, the patio will be the scene of an outdoor bbq the likes few have seen before.  There will be a veritable festival of meats including a whole suckling pig, New York strip steak, lamb, baby goat, chickens and sausages.

A Noah's Ark of animals will be cooked on the grill.  Two by two the swordfish, soft shelled crabs, scallops and salmon will join the bounty of meat and seafood.  If all that protein is not enough to entice you than the variety of pastas on offer may be just the thing to scratch your summer bbq itch.

What else for dessert but homemade gelato from pastry chef Jashmine Corpuz?  The bbq is the perfect opportunity to check out the new seasonal cocktail menu from Michael Shearin and Jaymee Mandeville.

The price for this feast is $50 per person, including all food but not including beverages.  For goat, lamb and the rest of the cornucopia on offer, that is a bargain.  The only way to partake of this summer kickoff is to make a reservation by calling Drago Centro at (213) 228-8998.

Drago Centro: 525 South Flower St. (Downtown LA). Phone: (213) 228-8998. Website: dragocentro.com