Foodie Heaven: The Butcher’s Daughter, Venice

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! It’s time for me to hop back into restaurant reviewing after a loooooong hiatus. I love love love to hunt for the most DELISH restaurants in town (and take food pics, obviously), but I paused on writing reviews for awhile. I couldn’t eat out for a few months while I was on a very annoying diet for my stomach, per my doctor’s orders, and continuing to write restaurant reviews during that time was too torturous. Thankfully, that diet is now DONE and I’m back to chowin’ down on whatever yummy food my heart desires.

I want to kick things off with one of my favorite new L.A. restaurants – The Butcher’s Daughter! The first time I went to the Butcher’s Daughter, I was in New York botout a year ago. I practically died from how delicious the food was. My mother and I got a juice, the spaghetti squash carbonara, the zucchini lasagna, and the best damn artichoke dip I’ve ever tried. It was divine.

Then I was blessed with what, to this day, is the BEST dessert I have ever had in my life. I’m serious. (This is a BIG deal.) The picture makes it look really basic, but it was not. The photo does not do it justice. Two gluten-free chocolate chip scones with banana-walnut ice cream in between, with a side of fresh fruit and house-made preserves. Um…NOM! It was an explosion of perfection in my mouth. I scarfed it down like a crazy person, even though it was the size of my head, and I couldn’t stop talking about it afterwards.

When I found out that The Butcher’s Daughter was opening in Venice, my socks flew off in excitement. I was desperate to get some more of that oh-so-delicious grub back in my life.

To begin, let’s talk location. The Butcher’s Daughter Venice is obviously, in Venice. Duh. But specifically, it’s on Abbot Kinney, which we all know is one of the most happenin’ streets in Los Angeles. Abbot Kinney has a ton of adorable coffee shops, stores, and great eats in general. All the cool kids are there. So many good vibes.

The Butcher’s Daughter Venice is all that I dreamed it would be. The decor is ON POINT. It’s what you imagine when you daydream about the ideal Venice restaurant. Hipster, trendy vibes, twinkly lights, and an adorable outdoor patio. Lush greenery and enchanting lanterns hanging from the ceiling. The service is always phenomenal, and the waiters look like they’re out of a mag. Even though it has that trendy L.A. vibe, it is not intimidating. Everyone is extremely friendly, and you get a homey, welcoming feeling. This isn’t a place that you need to wear a bodycon dress and heels to, but it’s also not the place to rock your sweats at either. You wanna look cute but not too overdone. It’s the perfect in-between, and it’s my go-to place if I’m in the mood for that classic “Venice” feeling.

Now let’s discuss what is most important: FOOD. First of all, HIGH QUALITY. I don’t like to eat at restaurants where I feel like the chefs might be adding hidden, questionable ingredients into my food behind the scenes. This place is anything but that. The Butcher’s Daughter buys their produce from local farms, which helps support the community and ensures the food is the absolute best quality possible. The menu is vegetarian, but most options are vegan and gluten-free. Even though the restaurant is vegetarian, I truly think anyone would enjoy the food. I like a lot of vegan restaurants in L.A., but I wouldn’t necessarily take just anyone along with me to those restaurants because I know not everyone is into that kind of food. However, I would totally suggest the Butcher’s Daughter to anybody with functioning taste buds. My roommate’s boyfriend is a classic Southern fried-chicken lover, and he loved this place.

The prices are also very reasonable, in my opinion. It’s not a cheap restaurant, obviously, but it’s not very expensive either. For how delicious and fresh the food is, I think everything is perfectly priced.

The one thing that’s tricky about The Butcher’s Daughter is the changing menu. The menu has been different every time I’ve eaten there, which means sometimes they’re not serving what I was planning on ordering. (Gossip: one waitress told me they rotate through five menus.) So if you have your heart set on a particular dish, be aware that it might not be there the day you go if the menu has switched. I’m not sure if they’re going to keep rotating the menus until they figure out what’s most popular or if they’re always going to switch up the food selection, but we’ll see.

My FAVORITE thing to get for breakfast is the Cauliflower ‘Grits.’ I’m obsessed. If you love eggs & cauli like I do, then you will not be disappointed. It’s my dream breakfast. And I’m also super into their Coconut Cardamom Chai latte. It is SO creamy and smooth. Warms my soul.

They also have AMAZING cold-pressed juices. I would highly recommend getting a juice flight so you can sample four different juices. Some of my favorites are Stalks & Leaves, Rubies in the Dust, and Golden Hour. Yummy yummy 🙂

I’ve only tried one smoothie from the Butcher’s Daughter – 7 Minutes in Heaven. And let me tell you… it was 7 minutes in Heaven (more like 2 minutes because I chugged.) All of the smoothies look amaaaazing though, so I’m determined to eventually try them all. Only prob is they currently don’t serve smoothies at dinner (for dessert), which kinda bums me out. #Dreams

When it comes to the sides and appetizers, you actually can’t go wrong. Their market vegetables are always incredible, and I especially love the roasted rainbow carrots. If they happen to be serving brussel sprouts when you go, GET THEM!!!! You will not regret it.

Their drink menu looks pretty on-point to me, but I basically never drink alcohol so I can’t tell you anything from experience. I literally just ordered the drink with the flower in it to take a cute picture for my birthday. No shame. What I can tell you is that the alcoholic beverages are damn beautiful. And the rose mint tea is FABULOUS.

My faves for dinner are the Raw Pesto Linguine, the Cauliflower T-Bone, and the Carbonara. The Raw Pesto Linguine is like the king of zoodle dishes. It has this divine cashew cheese plopped on top that makes me want to faint of happiness. The Cauliflower T-Bone recipe mysteriously changes every time I order it, but I’ve liked it every way they’ve made it so far. Veeeerrrryyyy impressive!

Lastly, my favorite part. DESSERT! I went to The Butcher’s Daughter for my 21st birthday this year, and I literally ordered every dessert on the menu. Did I get sick after? Yes. Did I regret it? NOT AT ALL. All of the desserts are vegan and gluten-free, so I was like…YAAAAAS!

The Hummingbird Cake was def my favorite. Coconut & banana in one dessert?  It’s like heaven on a plate. It’s the perfect combination of textures and flavors, and I’ve literally never tasted anything like it before. I’ve actually never even seen Hummingbird Cake on another dessert menu before. I always have a soft spot for unique dishes!

The chocolate torte is veeeerrrrrryyyy RICH. The raspberry paired with the dark chocolate is honestly incredible, but don’t underestimate how sweet this is. I was talking a big game and saying that nothing is too chocolatey for me…. I was wrong. It’s mouthwatering. I would highly recommend this if you’re a chocoholic.

I don’t like tiramisu, but the tiramisu here is the best I have ever had. One bite turned me into a tiramisu lover, but only a Butcher’s Daughter tiramisu lover. Ya feel? (Sorry I don’t have a pic, but it looked like fluffy heaven.)

The rhubarb cobbler was warm and inviting and cozy. If you like a fruity dessert, this is perfect. It’s not too sweet, which is what I look for in a cobbler. The crumble on top isn’t too hard, but also not too soft. Basically, ON POINT. Also, when do you ever get to eat rhubarb cobbler?! It’s also served with some strawberry ice cream that’s nice and light, so the two pair together flawlessly!

The warm ice cream cookie sandwich. I have mixed feelings about this. I’m pretty sure it would have been my favorite dessert if I got the chocolate chip cookies with it. Sadly, the chocolate chip cookies aren’t gluten-free, so I could only get peanut butter. Unfortunately, I don’t like peanut butter cookies, so this dessert wasn’t for me. The ice cream was BOMB, though. Super creamy and out of this world. I would definitely be down to just order the ice cream without the cookies. (Also want to start a petition for GF choco chip cookies.)

There you have it – my complete review of The Butcher’s Daughter Venice! If you’ve been there, I would love to hear what your favorite dishes are! And as always, any restaurant recommendations AT ALL are always welcome! XO