PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

When you've had it with the L.A. noise and traffic, it's time to hop in the car for a leisurely drive high in the hills above Malibu to Saddle Peak Lodge, an old hunting lodge that has been converted into one of L.A.'s most popular restaurants. It looks exactly like a hunting lodge should -- a rustic, weathered ol' three-story building made of massive timbers and native rock that's been gussied up with Teddy-era antiques, a crackling fireplace, and a heady collection of stuffed game. Vegetarians beware; the menu is custom-made for meat lovers: roasted buffalo loin with wild-mushroom risotto cake and a red reduction sauce; farm-raised pheasant with sautéed porcinis; caribou chops with caramelized onions and a cherry-Banyuls vinegar reduction sauce; and the house specialty -- roasted elk tenderloin that's so tender you can cut it with a fork. You'll need a strong selection of rich reds to pair with this genre of cuisine, hence the lengthy Wine Spectator-award-winning wine list. Service is friendly and attentive, and the ambience is so romantic (no cellphone coverage to ruin the mood) that even a few ghosts have refused to leave. The restaurant also hosts a very popular Sunday brunch on the garden terrace, serving equally adventurous dishes such as rabbit or wild-boar hash and thick buffalo burgers.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Los Angeles 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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