Buffalo meat is cooked over a wood fire at Saddle Peak Lodge.
After a soothing ride up the canyon with the sunroof wide open to the evening sky, four of us are seated outside on the upper terrace at Saddle Peak Lodge in Calabasas. It's heaven looking up at the trees, reveling in the soft breeze and the sound of a stream tumbling over rocks. Never mind that this last is a man-made water feature or that across the road, a complex of grandiose houses is going up; we're in the midst of nature -- nature with valet parking.
The rustic stone and timber lodge, built in 1920 and enlarged in 1983, has the same look it did in the '30s and '40s when Hollywood swells pointed their shiny new cars up Malibu Canyon Road for a romantic dinner with their latest conquest. The decor of rawhide-wrapped pillars, massive old lanterns and paintings of fleshy nymphs with doves hovering in front of their racier parts was kitschy then. It's kitschy now. But those big bent willow armchairs are awfully comfortable, and the candlelight seems to flatter everybody. The mood is jovial, as if we're all guests at some fantastical lodge in the mountains where the bookcases overflow with novels you might have liked to read 50 years ago.
-- S. Irene Virbila Times Restaurant Critic Aug. 3, 2005
alexlos angeles, Ca
Me and my wife had dinner there last week after the holidays season on a friday night... AMAZING! it was a trek but it was worth it. we both had the chefs tasting menu and the wild boar saddle, which is now one of my favorite cuts of meat. the wine list is impressive as well. We will come back.
January 11, 2007
MichaelValencia, CA
We dined at our favorite resturant on the 5th of January. As always, service, food and atmosphere was wonderful. I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone can find fault with Saddlepeak Lodge. My partner had the Elk, again, and I tried the Pork Chop for the first time. Amazing, sublime! I have never had such a moist and flavorfull chop. Save room for dessert too, try the sampler, decadent.
January 2, 2007
Joan RyanMinnetonka, MN
Our party of 11 was directed to a table for 5-6 with FOLDING CHAIRS. A dirty ice bucket, left from an earlier party, remained with us all evening.
The service was non-existant, the food substandard. After waiting 2 1/2 hours our food arrived cold.
The "management" was a zombie-like hostess who claimed she had no authority to take any compensatory action.
The finale to our evening was finding the valet's family asleep in a car next to his station.
Rustic stone and timber hunting lodge turned restaurant with minuscule bar, kitschy but romantic lighting/atmosphere and the requisite game trophies mounted overhead.
Best dishes
Buffalo roulade, grilled quail with mascarpone polenta, roasted elk tenderloin, buffalo "cooked on the range," pecan pie, cinnamon baked apple. Brunch: eggs Benedict, BLT, pulled Kurobuta pork sandwich.
Best table
A table for two on the upstairs terrace.
Night Life
Food Served
,
Outdoor Patio
Payment
American Express
,
MasterCard
,
Visa
Prices
Appetizers, $12-$21; main courses, $28-$42; desserts, $7-$19; tasting menu, $65 per person; brunch items, $12-$18.
