At Marvin, the neighborhood bistro adds some sex appeal - Review - Los Angeles - The Infatuation
"Anyone who lives near Beverly and Crescent Heights knows about Marvin. They might have even been once this week and are going back on Saturday. This is the Cheers of Beverly Grove with extra libido: a low-lit French-ish spot where people go to feel hot, drink Gamay while discussing Eve Babitz, and eat unfussy bistro food that’s less French and more French-adjacent. Hanging around for an hour after dessert is an inevitability. Much like a rushed postal worker, the menu at Marvin doesn’t worry about labels. It’s a pan-Euro grab bag with potato chips and jamon iberico, gougéres, a caesar salad, and a dish called Spaghetti Jean-Paul Belmondo. The steak frites come with ketchup. And guess what? No one cares. Because the food is fantastic, and exactly what you want to be eating while sipping a red you can’t pronounce and listening to a longtime crush talk about their crush. Gooey bar burgers were built for such moments. photo credit: Jakob Layman Aesthetically, Marvin falls along the lines of a college professor’s attic after a sabbatical in the Burgundy countryside. Rows of empty tin cans hang from the ceiling with twinkling Christmas lights. Old wooden tables and rickety chairs dot the dining room. It’d all be a bit twee, if it weren’t for the young, messy crowd of Raya dates and trash-talking roommates that turn this place into a West Coast Dimes Square nightly. We once saw a girl on the sidewalk put a cigarette out into her chicken parm—and still get it boxed up. Bring this energy to Marvin. And at least two pieces of hot gossip. photo credit: Jakob Layman Food Rundown Toasts Heading to Marvin for a glass of wine and a few pieces of toast is encouraged behavior. The toppings look simple—salami, burrata and honey, jamon and tomato—but the flavors are not. These are perfectly constructed tartines that, no matter how hard you try, are not replicable at home. We’ve tried. photo credit: Jessie Clapp Caesar Salad We’re going to say something bold: The darker the lighting at a restaurant, the better the caesar. There’s no science behind this theory, but 9pm at Marvin feels like a farmhouse with the power out. So naturally the parmesan-covered caesar is excellent. photo credit: Jessie Clapp Rigatoni Bolognese This is the sort of decadent homey pasta that you eat at some random dinner party, then afterward harass your friend until they email you the recipe. At Marvin, it’s the must-order. photo credit: Jessie Clapp Steak Frites Here’s why Marvin’s steak frites are special. For $69 (nice), you get a massive 12-ounce New York strip and a heap of crispy fries that two adults will struggle to finish. It’s also just a great steak, nicely charred on both sides, pink medium-rare, and topped with a fat nugget of parsley butter that arrives half-melted. photo credit: Jessie Clapp Marvin Cheeseburger Not the greatest cheeseburger of all time, but a solid lettuce, onion, and mayo situation that’ll appease anyone that showed up thinking, “this place has a burger on the menu, right?” photo credit: Jessie Clapp Chicken Parmesan The last time we ordered this massive chicken parm someone at our table asked how many chickens it took to make it. A valid question. The reasonably crisp cutlet is pounded thin but not too thin, and smothered end-to-end in marinara and gooey leopard-spotted baked mozzarella. photo credit: Jessie Clapp" - Brant Cox
