Thirty years ago, Peter Garland founded Porta Via as a takeout deli counter with four seats along Canon Drive in Beverly Hills. In the three decades since, Porta Via has survived, thrived and expanded. Today, contemporary California bistro and bar Porta Via serves the Southland from its original Beverly Hills location as well as from locations in the Pacific Palisades, Calabasas, and Palm Desert. Porta Via restaurants serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week, offering Italian-inspired cuisine honoring proprietor Garland’s cooking philosophy: “combine the best seasonal, organic ingredients and prepare them simply.” His menu is designed to be both classic and creative, with just the right amount of imagination to give patrons the feeling they’re at a “special” place.
And this week is one that diners especially want to feel special, what with Valentine’s Day and its companion Palentine’s and Galentine’s Day celebrations. The three Los Angeles restaurants will offer an $85 per person prix fixe program all day Tuesday, February 13 and Wednesday, February 14.
The prix fixe menu offers guests the following: for the first course potato leek soup and chive garnish; or shaved Brussels sprout salad with Granny Smith apples, dried cranberries, shaved Parmigiano, and honey mustard vinaigrette.
For the second course, guests can choose either grass-fed filet mignon accompanied by Parmigiano truffle fries and green peppercorn sauce; butternut squash tortellini with organic arugula and white wine sage cream sauce; or miso-glazed black cod with roasted baby Bok choy, jasmine rice, toasted sesame, and scallions.
For dessert, Porta Via offers a duo of Porta Via’s sweets: black out chocolate cake – dark chocolate layer cake filled with chocolate mousse and topped with dark chocolate; and coconut crème brûlée – toasted coconut custard topped with crunchy caramelized sugar.
In 2023, a year that saw the closure of so many restaurants, Garland and Porta Via must be doing something right. Asked about his “secret,” Garland concludes, “I show up every day and do my very best, no matter what the day before was like. I try to develop relationships with as many of my customers as I can. We become part of the community as well as a destination.” Friends and lovers will find Porta Via a particularly welcoming destination in the days ahead.
Porta Via Beverly Hills, 424 N Canon Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210; (310) 274-6534
Porta Via Calabasas, 4799 Commons Way, Unit J, Calabasas, CA 91302; (818) 746-2400
Porta Via Pacific Palisades, 1063 N Swarthmore Ave, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272; (310) 499-2989
Reservations at portaviarestaurants.com or resy.com
