When I ate at the iconic The Oaks at Lakeside prior to the rise of Covid, I had a fine meal of Röckenwagner pretzel twists, Sriracha deviled eggs, avocado toast, a “classic” French dip, the “best” BLT and a blackened roasted filet of Atlantic salmon. Returning recently, with the pandemic (hopefully) on the wane, the options had changed to chicken Alfredo and chicken parmesan, veal scaloppine and stracciatella soup, linguine with clams and shrimp with spaghetti.
In a sea change that was both radical and perfectly acceptable, what had been a classic American restaurant has transformed into a classic Italian restaurant. The change would be worthy of a raised eyebrow — except that we knew the food pre-Covid well…and we know the cooking post-Covid just as well. And in either case, The Oaks at Lakeside continues to be… The Oaks at Lakeside — one of the finest outdoor dining destinations in the San Fernando Valley.
If the weather allows — and much of the year, it does — a seat with a view of the lake, with its waterfowl and abundance of greenery does much to soothe the soul.
The Oaks at Lakeside is a sanctuary from the world, a haven of respite, a nearly Zen experience. I wonder if there are parties who come for lunch, and wind up staying for dinner. Once you’re seated by the lake, the 24/7 worries of CNN seem to fade like the morning mists. If there were a string quartet playing in one corner, it would fit just right. (There is live music. But it’s more likely playing Beatles than Bach and Beethoven.)
These days, The Oaks at Lakeside is managed by veteran GM Donato Ricci, who has a quarter century in the restaurant business to his credit. His executive chef is Neno Mladenovic, who spent 32 years cooking Italian for an endless array of celebrities at the legendary Dan Tana’s in West Hollywood. For three decades, his pastas were devoured by the makers and shakers of Hollywood. And now, at The Oaks at Lakeside, he’s making them for the rest of us. We should be duly honored.
And, for that matter, we should be honored that right off Ventura Boulevard, we can have a meal so close to a state park that we’re essentially inside the park. Sitting on the patio at The Oaks, you gaze out upon the natural spring-fed duck pond, which is the centerpiece of Los Encinos State Historic Park — which we’re told was “until the late 19th century, the hub of human habitation in the Southern San Fernando Valley…the water of which was reputed to be so sweet that animals would come for miles to drink from it…” And so did local indigenous tribes.
Though these days, what we drink at The Oaks is bottled water, and fine wine, while listening to the ducks making happy duckish sounds.
The setting is classic, and decidedly old school — the trees overhead both cooling the space, and perfuming it with green sweetness. At The Oaks, life is good. And so is the food, even if the roots of the cooking have moved from one side of the world to the other. And sometimes, not all that much.
Show up for brunch on weekends, for instance, and the menu is less Italian than it is at dinner. There’s an Italian omelette of sausage, mozzarella and marinara sauce. But it’s served with a choice of hash browns or potatoes O’Brien. And there are lemon ricotta pancakes; ricotta is an Italian cheese after all. There’s a fine burrata salad. Eggs Florentine as well. But otherwise, this is a brunch of huevos rancheros, bagels and lox, buttermilk pancakes and a house burger — all the usual suspects.
But come for dinner, and the cooking flips from one continent to another. The appetizers run to steamed clams, mozzarella doused in marinara, fried calamari and shrimp scampi. The burrata salad — a wonderful dish, and an easy addiction — reappears, before the menu moves to the chicken Milanese and chicken marsala, the two veal scaloppine, the lobster ravioli and homemade lasagna.
There are dots next to about a third of the dishes, designating them as “crowd favorites” — a curious notion, for it suggests that the dotless dishes are without friends, and only on the menu out of a sense of pity. Frankly, I like them all — the dotted chopped salad as much as the undotted iceberg wedge…the dotted chicken parmesan as much as the undotted hunter’s chicken (with onions, mushrooms and bell peppers in marinara)…the dotted grilled portobello mushrooms as much as the undotted sautéed whitefish.
The tiramisu and caramel cheesecake are both made in-house. Obviously, the Fosselman’s ice cream isn’t — vanilla and double cappuccino. I’m sure the tiramisu is a joy. But I am weak in the presence of Fosselman’s. It’s from Alhambra. And it’s as good as anything I’ve had in Italy, where the gelato parlors offer a taste of Heaven. So does Fosselman’s. And so does The Oaks. A meal here makes me as happy as any Italian feast this side of the Atlantic
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email [email protected].
The Oaks at Lakeside
- Rating: 3 stars
- Address: 16817 Ventura Blvd., Encino
- Information: 747-217-4002, www.theoaksatlakeside.com
- Cuisine: Italian
- When: Lunch, Friday; brunch, Saturday and Sunday; dinner, every night
- Details: Full bar; reservations essential
- Atmosphere: An Encino legend, situated on a lake, with lots of outdoor seating — and a menu that’s gone from American just a few months ago, to very Italian. And very delicious too.
- Prices: About $35 per person
- On the menu (dinner): 8 Appetizers ($15-$23), 2 Soups ($12), 6 Salads ($15-$23), 5 Chicken Dishes ($31-$34), 2 Veal Dishes ($39), 7 Pastas ($24-$36), 5 Seafood Dishes ($36-$46), 3 Grilled Meat Dishes ($28-$65), 3 Vegetarian Dishes ($20-$25)
- Credit cards: MC, V
- What the stars mean: 4 (World class! Worth a trip from anywhere!), 3 (Most excellent, even exceptional. Worth a trip from anywhere in Southern California.), 2 (A good place to go for a meal. Worth a trip from anywhere in the neighborhood.) 1 (If you’re hungry, and it’s nearby, but don’t get stuck in traffic going.) 0 (Honestly, not worth writing about.)
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