Grace Restaurant: Mmmmmmmmmmm Doughnuts

June 5 was "National Doughnut Day". I'm not sure exactly who designated it as such, but Grace Restaurant - the original Beverly Blvd. dining destination - got into the spirit with a special "Doughnut Tasting Menu" for $18 with a $15 wine pairing in which I of course partook.

Every meal I've ever had at Grace has been fantastic, and the Doughnut Tasting Menu was no exception. Pastry chef Mariah Swan has quite the affinity for the oft-humble cop staple -- every Wednesday night at Grace is "Doughnut night" -- and the doughnuts she made for the tasting menu were unbelievably delicious. To quote one of my dining companions, they were "shut your eyes good."

The first course was the hands-down favorite: Salted Caramel Doughnuts with Bourbon Pecan ice cream and strawberries paired with a glass of Moscato d'Asti. I thought about licking my plate to ensure that none of the Salted Carmel went to waste, but I settled for scraping it into my mouth with a fork. That's right folks. My impeccable manners were on full display.

The second course was a Pistachio Doughnut with Chocolate Buttermilk marble ice cream and Dried Cherries paired with a seriously good a Croft 10 year tawny port. This was the Grace version of a jelly doughnut -- a round sugared pillow of dough housing creamy pistachio filling. The dried cherries put it over the top, and even the pistachio-hater at the table ate his share.

For the finale, we had Buttermilk Brown Butter Glazed Doughnuts and warm rum-spiced milk, paired with a 1998 Chateau La Grave Sainte Croix du Mont from Bordeaux. These doughnuts were a close second to the Salted Carmel doughnuts (and one person's favorite), and I'm sure I would sleep a lot better if I drank a mug of the rum-spiced milk every night before bed.

And in case you were interested in what we ate before the doughnuts, here are some pics:

The Spread

Ricotta and Fresh Mozzarella-Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Grilled Calamari with Pickled Watermelon and Mint

Roasted Beet Salad with Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese, Pistachios and Grilled Radicchio

Butter Lettuce Salad with Buttermilk Blue Cheese,

Cherry Tomatoes, Smoked Bacon and Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

The Indiscreet Harlequin enjoying his dinner with 5 skirts

Territory BBQ & Records

Territory BBQ + Records is an only-in-Silverlake (adjacent) spot serving up BBQ and rare vinyl. The owners (pictured below) should be on lookatthisfuckinghipster.com (or a PSA for chewing tobacco), but they serve up a decent plate of 'Q.

The menu is straightforward. Sandwiches + 1 side for $8, entrees + 2 sides for $11, and ribs + 2 sides (dinner only) for $15.

Things were a little hectic when we arrived. Some sort of leak had occurred, and they were out of biscuits and mac n' cheese. However, they made more mac after we arrived, and although they said it would take an extra 15 minutes to make it, the mac came at the same time as the rest of the food.

Territory is BYOB, in the strictest sense. No bottle openers and no cups. Clearly the place to bring a 6-pack of beer, but I was determined to have some vino on my Friday night so we grabbed a few wine glasses from my friend's place to use. There are serve-yourself sodas for $1.50, and a refrigerator on the patio advertised free freezer pops.

The pulled pork is North Carolina style -- cooked in a smoker and served dry (i.e. sans sauce). Fairly nondescript, but tasty doused in some of the table-side BBQ sauce. The fried catfish sandwich, however, was spot on. A nice crispy cornmeal crust, with some extra snap from the coleslaw on the bun. Given the biscuit shortage, we only had two sides: mac n' cheese and collard greens. The collard greens were done right. Very savory, but not boiled into oblivion. The mac n' cheese was of the velveeta variety, but that didn't stop me from eating it. Processed cheese + pasta = what's not to like.

The verdict: Territory certinaly isn't a BBQ destination, but it is a cool spot to walk to if you live in the neighborhood and want to dig through some rare funk on vinyl after eating a plate of ribs. Male skinny jeans and black frame glasses are optional, but highly recommended.