Bisque and hash

Pasadena, California, April 9, 2016—

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER play: tonight, George Bernard Shaw's You Never Can Tell. (It was swell. You never can tell.) And where to eat before the theater?

I remembered we'd liked a place downtown — when I wrote about it I said, speaking of the "wild boar hash," It was a nice dish, I thought; I’d return here." So we did.

The hash was still on the menu, and it was still good. Even better, I thought, was an unusual (to me) soup: "Signature Conquistador Bisque," made with salt cod, chorizo, and manchego cheese, with a garlic crouton and rouille floating atop — a sort of Portuguese-Manchego take on good old Provençal fish soup, as my companion pointed out. It was garnished with fried cilantro, I think. A very pleasant place.

Sancerre, Domaine de la Pauline, 2012; Pinot noir, Lola (North Coast), 2011

•Green Street Tavern, 69 West Green Street, Pasadena; (626) 229-9961

☛RESTAURANTS VISITED, with information and rating: 2016
(2015 restaurants)