Every year around this time, seemingly every publication prints or posts a round-up of the previous year’s best new restaurants. Restaurant writers are always hunting for the latest and greatest, and I’m no exception, but sometimes, it’s more satisfying to eat at restaurants that people take for granted. These are the places that have been there for years, with lines out the door, loyal followings, and kitchens that turn out consistently good food. Marston’s is just such a restaurant.
Otis Marston and wife Sally opened their eponymous restaurant just north of Old Pasadena in 1988. Marston’s cottage quickly gained traction with locals for breakfast and lunch thanks in part to their killer patio, blue awning and art-filled walls. In 2001, after working for two decades at high-end SoCal restaurants like Parkway Grill and Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, Jim McCardy bought Marston’s. Otis and Sally now run Marston Products, selling their cookbook, plus items for home cooks like candied pecans and salad dressing. Chef McCardy has pretty much kept the menu as the Marstons left it, but added dinner from Wednesday to Saturday nights, specializing in seasonal California cuisine like artichoke and ricotta ravioli, red snapper tacos and beef tenderloin stuffed with shitake mushrooms and blue cheese.
After writing my name on the waiting list, Sunday morning gospel emanating from the Memorial Park bandshell across the street serenaded us. It took 45 minutes for a table, but it was a holiday weekend, and the weather was sunny and crisp, so we took it in stride. If you hope to avoid a wait, arrive early.
After perusing the menu, it was clear that McCardy’s kitchen is cooking with confidence. The menu described Marston’s French toast as “fantastic” and the potatoes “special.” Could they back up the boasts?
To drink, the glass of fresh-squeezed O.J. was exemplary, though I could have bought two quarts of Tropicana for the same price.
The Marston’s experience certainly wasn’t enough to put me off new restaurants, but it was a welcome reminder that local classics are still viable options.
Blog Comments
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June 19, 2010 at 3:11 AM
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