HOOK - to hook you into the restaurant and PLOW through the extensive menu

The Hook and Plow restaurant, 425 Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach  Google their menu to gawp at such as a black kale (and other stuff) salad.  It bills itself as farm to table.  They do bow to the fishing industry with various fish.

Monday, December 16th, 2019 was the December Dinner for us and Dee and Mouton, and the last of the 2019 once-a-month gatherings, largely to worship and alternately castigate the Dodgers.  I play with my phone during discussion time.    All four of us are happy especially when Dee brings a bottle of champagne.

The restaurant is very pretty in a non-rustic way.  I would estimate that the walls came from a dismantled barn; the tables are those round Big Pedestal farm dining tables, all painted white.  The main dining room is outdoors with working (and very good job they did) heat lamps.  Since it was in the mid 50s I wanted to find the warmest, most wind-saved corner inside, but the server (a beautiful Brazilian) was so convincing about the warmth generated and the pleasures of sitting on the sidewalk that we agreed to try it.  It was quite cozy!

I ordered the Bar Snacks to accompany our champagne "And put it on my bill," I told her.  They consisted of three small round steel bowls which held sugared almonds, crisp chick peas with Aleppo pepper and Castelv - something or other olives - in a herbal marinade.   As we are used to rather lush  offerings elsewhere (Dominque's Kitchen, Hudson House;) they disappointed.  $12

The three of them ordered a cup of the house clam chowder - $4 which arrived packed in the bowl with a green tracing  of something across the mountainous top of ?  Guacamole? asked Dee.  Wasabi? I asked.  None of the above,  We were told (borderline sneeringly) "Chive oil."

Our mains were:

Grass-fed beef slider with onion jam, Gorgonzola cream  $3.50  Someone's ide of a cheeseburger?

Roast pork soft tacos (corn) with white Cheddar, peach sriracha and cilantro garnish  Two for $8.   The only reason I ordered this was curiosity about the peach sriracha.  Never tasted it.  Never saw anything that could look like it.  Fought back bitter tears.

Richie complained that the beef slider was tough, all three of them complained that the slider rolls were too dry.

Consensus:  We'll we've been here, we don't have to go back.  Where shall we go in January?