Tar & Roses Perhaps Axl's running late

No longer just a GnR cover band fronted by the particularly charismatic skeletal remains of a wooly mammoth, Tar and Roses is now also a date-friendly bistro chock-full of marble and wood, the debut effort of lauded chef Andrew Kirschner (Joe's in Venice, Table 8, Wilshire), once named LA's Best New Chef by Angeleno.

Most likely purchased in the witch who tried to eat Hansel & Gretel's estate auction, the wood-fired oven is thankfully no longer filled with kids, instead crisping up hanger steak with duck fat potatoes and romesco, arctic char with root vegetables, plus a crispy pork knuckle with creamy farro and a pickled pear & chile salad. Smaller plates include popped corn with bacon, brown sugar and chile; charred octopus skewers with salsa verde and piquillo pepper aioli; and a beef tongue with tuna conserva and tomato jam, which, unlike a Brian Scalabrine dunk, actually exists.

To wash down all that jam they've got beer and wine, and will at some point introduce family dinners featuring huge portions of things like a standing rib rack, which is basically what that mammoth dude playing "November Rain" is anyway.