Hidden Restaurant & Garden Lounge

Mar Yvette

Citysearch

In Short
Aside from the obvious reference to its name--yes, it's impossibly concealed behind a jungle of palm trees and the Courtyard Shops on Main Street--this outdoor/indoor eatery is an ambitious homage to diversity. The main dining room exudes old school luxury (thickly padded walls in shimmery gold brocade, tear drop chandeliers), while the patio takes a pedestrian twist on mid-century modern (shiny red plastic chairs beneath clunky heat lamps). Even the crowd--trendy young couples, friends with money and stylish 40-somethings--is a study in contrasts. And then there's the menu ... the adage of "too many cooks in the kitchen" comes to mind when you realize that each respective cuisine--Spanish, Italian, Vietnamese and Japanese--is prepared by a separate chef, but somehow they manage to pull it off. Owned by the same folks behind Via Veneto, the restaurant says it's not about fusion, but rather, bringing together cuisines. The Japanese tukuri, a juicy mound of cubed salmon and albacore lightly dressed in chili and grapeseed ponzu sauce, is a cool-to-the-tongue take on textures. Spanish potato croquetas get decent marks for flavor and crunch, and one surefire dish is the stew-like mini brasato: slowly braised beef marinated in Barolo (Italian wine) for 24 hours. Think of it as the hautest version of Dinty Moore beef stew you'll ever have.