Second City Bistro

What I had for lunch:

Pork tenderloin spinach salad, with roasted beets, gorgonzola, granny smith apples & carmelized apple vinagrette from Second City Bistro in El Segundo.

What I would have done differently:

1. Cook the pork a la minute - Pork just isn't good cold. Especially the tenderloin that can dry out pretty easily. It isn't like beef that can be served rare, marinating in it's juices while it cools.

Let rest for 10 minutes at least before slicing

2. Use golden & red beets for livelier presentation - Golden beets also turn slightly pink when their flesh comes in contact with the red beets, so a combination varieties always makes for such pretty amalgamation of colors. I would also have sliced them with a mandolin instead of cutting them up with quarters for easier eating.

3. Same with the Granny smith apples - a julienned cut after being sliced from the mandolin would make piercing the food with a fork easier, instead of having larger, chunkier slices.

4. Crush the roasted hazelnuts, to sprinkle over salad - have you ever tried to pierce a whole roasted hazelnut? This brings me back to point 2 & 3, where I firmly believe a well composed dish not only contains elements that come together well, but that are able to be savored together in one bite. The thing that annoyed me most about this salad was that I would take my fork and stick it into the salad, and all i would get was spinach leaves. Then, I'd have to knife a slice of beets, or scope a hazelnut into my fork to eat them separately.

Why force a deconstruction from a composed dish?

5. Since I also suggested serving the pork a la minute, I'd say to also say to serve the apples & beets at room temperature

Overall, it was a good salad - the flavors were well thought out and married well. Would I make it? Yes - with all the changes above!

Second City Bistro is located in El Segundo's Old Town, just outside LAX, and is open for Lunch Mon-Fru from 11:30am - 2:00pm, and for Dinner Mon-Sat from 5pm.