RESTAURANT REVIEW : A Chance for More Than a Cup of Joe

Highland Grounds is a coffeehouse with all the cultivated, requisite grunge of an honest-to-God coffeehouse. Owner Tom Kaplan, who roasts and sells some of the best coffee in Los Angeles, already has a small, trim, hip cafe in Caffe Latte. What he did not have was the kind of place where people could sit forever, jacked up on espresso, talking their heads off. A hangout for painters and poets, hangers-on and yak-aholics. A place where aspiring artists could display their work. A place where, in the old days, the bongos might beat late into the night.

Part of the first wave of L.A.’s recent coffeehouse explosion, Highland Grounds is not just some trendy place with an Italian espresso machine. Oh, there are some intentional design elements--a lot of fanciful wrought-iron railings and chairs, some nice pale wood tables--but when you look at the cement-tile floor especially, you’re apt to think this place needs a chemical bath.

Cafe society has not escaped the pressures of the recession and one of the economic facts these days is that it is very difficult for coffee-and-scone establishments to get by. It is not surprising, then, that Highland Grounds is now serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.

The first night I stopped in for dinner, there was an art opening going on. An industrial welder turned sculptor had hung the rubbed gold walls with bent-steel rods and holders for those religious candles you can buy at the 99 Cent Store. We took a seat outside on the patio, where palm trees grow out of the concrete floor and a fire pit filled with lava rocks gave off just enough heat to take a nip off the air. After a while, when nobody noticed us, we had to go inside and find a waiter.

Another night, a Saturday night, there was a $4 cover charge--there were to be three or four acts. The first act was a punky female soloist who sang a long song in which every line began “After an abortion. . . . “ Next was a woman with a sad, lyrical voice. “Pretend you’re on a boat . . ., “ she said. We didn’t stay for the third act.

The dinner menu is a smaller version of the lunch menu and includes mostly stews, salads and quesadillas--items that either can be reheated or easily assembled. There is a chef for breakfast and lunch, the waiter explained, but there is no chef at night, at least not until dinner catches on, and can support bringing in a dinner chef.

Initially, we were disappointed that some of the food from lunch--the pastas, at least, weren’t available at dinner. Recently at lunch, we’d enjoyed a ricotta ravioli with fresh hot chopped tomatoes and basil, and a capellini with spicy curry sauce.

Nevertheless, the food at dinner, simple and reheated as it is, is surprisingly good. So is the service, once you make that initial contact and let somebody know you’re there to eat.

The quesadillas aren’t anything fancy, just cheese and a few goodies stuffed between flour tortillas and served with a nice fresh tomato salsa. The nachos, topped with salsa and cheese, are made with blue-corn tortilla chips.

I especially liked a big plate of well-seasoned Cajun-style red beans and rice, served with a spicy Jody Maroni sausage. It’s the sort of meal you might want to grab on those nights when you’re too worn out either to cook or deal with more formal restaurant rigmarole.

Mung beans and rice are completely different from the red beans; they’re more a dal, an Indian bean soup thickened with rice with a pleasant slow-burn spiciness.

The least appealing thing was a murky stew of peppers and eggplants over rice.

The Caesar salad was a refreshing, juicy version, which I far prefer to the thicker eggier, more mustardy varieties. The spinach salad, with walnuts and eggs, was large and fresh. More unremarkable and ordinary was a chicken-sesame salad made with boring greens and uninteresting dressing.

Desserts, which are baked elsewhere, are not very good. A flourless chocolate cake, carrot cake and a raspberry-apple pastry were decidedly uninspired--this is especially disappointing for those acquainted with sister-establishment Caffe Latte’s pear gingerbread.

But Highland Grounds has a trump card: absolutely delicious coffee. A post-prandial espresso, cappuccino or caffe latte will leave a good taste in everyone’s mouth.

* Highland Grounds, 742 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 466-1507. Breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days. No alcohol. Master Card, Visa. Dinner for two, food only, $18 to $30.