I guess I am in the minority as usual. I didnāt really visit Mare often. In fact, one of the first places I ever ate in LA that was āupscaleā was Greenspanās original spot called something like The Factory or something, and I recall everything except for the media-hyped grilled cheese sandwich was horrific. It didnāt surprise me at all when he opened the grilled cheese spot after closing down that original spot haha My brother always liked his grilled cheeses at the casual spot, but I never actually tried themā¦how badly can one mess up grilled cheese anyhow? Speaking of grilled cheese, have any of you read this quasi-famous rant about what counts as a grilled cheese versus a melt? It is one of my favorite pieces of food writing ever:
As for Mare, I went to Melrose when it opened and thought the location was nice and the simple concept was pleasant. The pasta and soup concept was pretty odd, mostly texturally off and awkward to eat rather than horrible taste-wise, though, but the free seeded baguetteās baked fresh seemed nice, and the skirt steak with uni butter I had was cheap, simple and pleasant. It was really affordable for the quality level in that area. However, given the previous experiences I am sure it ended up sliding downhill so I am not super surprised by reports of it being horrifically bad.
By all accounts he seems better at making sandwiches than anything else, so maybe his bizarro deli is actually good?