We had originally planned on having a casual dinner at a newly opened ramen place in the area but on my drive home from work, I had an overwhelming hankering for baby back ribs. The only option was either Houstons’s in El Segundo or Hillstone in Santa Monica. To my chagrin, the Houston’s in the South Bay had no reservations available. The Santa Monica location appeared to have a 9:30 availability. However, when I arrived home, a unicorn reservation for 8 p.m. appeared on Resy which I immediately accepted. We arrived exactly on time and from entrance to exit, the entire dinner experience took 40 minutes.
Having frequented the establishment many times over in the past decade or so, we had our regular dishes in mind. We ordered our Titos martini and Titos Moscow mule to start. For our appetizer, we ordered the savory, crispy, cheese toasts which were absolutely divine.
Then we had the Thai jungle salad with filet mignon. The noodles were al dente, the chunks of filet were tender and juicy. The portion size could have easily been an option for a main entree.
However, we had other plans for our actual meals. My husband ordered the half chicken with black rice and beans. It looked to be moist and perfectly prepared, juicy, not greasy, with the perfect concoction of seasonings and spices.
The reason for our trip was my entree: the full rack of baby back ribs. I omitted the cole slaw in favor of a double order of fries. The ribs were so moist, juicy, flavorful that I nearly ate the entire rack. Realizing my gluttony, I stopped short with two ribs left to go.
Houstons/Hillstone has been a love of mine for nearly two decades. Their recipes at every location has remained tried and true and consistent throughout. That cannot be said of even some of the more famous steakhouses like Mastros or Del Frisco’s. I could easily recommend this chain and not fear any inconsistency in service of quality.
Hillstone
202 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
https://hillstonerestaurant.com/locations/santamonica/
4 USDA prime filet mignon
4 tablespoons of organic virgin coconut oil
Organic black pepper
Mediterranean Sea salt
7 cloves of organic garlic, skins removed, chopped in mini food processor
Organic white mushroom, stems removed, hand shredded
Organic baby spinach
1. Take the filet out of the fridge and let rest in room temperature for 30-45 minutes.
2. Set the pan on the stove and heat on high.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to the pan and swirl to completely coat the pan.
4. Season the filet with salt and pepper on all sides and add to sizzling hot pan.
5. Cook all 4 sides, letting each side sear for about 5 minutes.
6. Add shredded mushrooms to the pan.
7. Remove the filet and let them rest of a cutting board.
8. Finish sautéing the mushrooms in the pan.
9. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and place on the cutting board or a plate.
10. Add 2 more tablespoons of coconut oil in the pan.
11. Once melted, add garlic and scrape off the filet drippings from the bottom of the pan, mixing with the garlic.
12. Add the spinach and sauté.
13. Remove spinach from the pan.
14. Slice the filet against the grain on the cutting board. If the meat is too pink, place back in the pan to cook for another minute or two on each side.
15. To serve, add the spinach on the plate first, place the slices of filet and sprinkle the mushrooms around the filet.
Note: For this recipe, I only had 5 mushrooms left and didn’t have time to sauté more spinach but to have even servings to go with the 4 filets, I suggest 15 mushrooms and repeating the stovetop spinach sauté twice more.
Grace Gambin
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