Step off the Corporate Treadmill: The Strand House @ Manhattan Beach, CA

Long awaited, finally open Thursday 8/10, The Strand House in Manhattan Beach at the site of the old Beaches is Fantastic! Went on opening night with a friend. This place is owned by same guy who owns Shade Hotel, Mucho's, Rock N Fish, and Brewco.

The view is amazing. At first, they had the shades down, but once open it was best view I've seen in Manhattan Beach. Finally someone got it right. We got there right at 5pm and still couldn't get into the small upstairs bar. Eventually they gave us a small table in the upstairs bar and given it was a raised floor, we had the best view. There are so many windows that the place is just very well lit and beachy feeling.

They were only offering half the menu during the opening weeks and there are several things I will definitely come back to order. We had the Heirloom Tomato Salad, Forest Mushroom Pizza, Lobster Cavatelli, Anaheim Chiles, Pate, and their signature Butterscotch Donuts. To me, the pizza and tomato salad were the highlights; although the pizza was burnt on the bottom. They were suppose to space out what we ordered and they did not at all. We felt very rushed and the table was just too small for more than one dish. I would have thought the lobster pasta would be a favorite, but it was not that flavorful and not that warm.

The donuts were good, but the chef is using Tapioca Flour to the extreme. Putting this powder with anything will essentially make the powder taste like the ingredient you want. So in this case, bacon powder, but I've seen peanut butter powder and browned butter powder. The donuts come with the bacon powder all around like powdered sugar. They were good but just overkill with the bacon.

The downstairs bar isn't serving a full menu for food or drinks. And on the entry floor there is a wine case where you can self pour -- you can buy your own card and then can buy 2 ounce shots of various wines that you can only get on that floor. A treat if you are waiting for a table.

They are still working out the kinks but all in all, very good. I will definitely be going here for many sunsets.