By Pete Allman






The Ritz Carlton has 85 hotels worldwide in 30 different countries. There are four hotels which specialize in organic cuisine, one of which is in Marina del Rey. Ryan Flannery, the Food and Beverage Manager invited me to write a review on the new Cast and Plow restaurant.


The restaurant is contemporary in design with open lounges, terrace fire pits, all of which overlook the marina. I would dare say it's the premiere place to dine and at the same moment, a gathering place for those who enjoy a relaxed, hip atmosphere.

Kimit Kaygusnz, the Executive Chef, originally from Turkey and Javier Bravo, Chef de Cuisine from Brazil believe in the slogan, "community made", as it appears underneath the Cast and Plow name. The principle here is truly Artisan cooking at its finest. What sets the new restaurant apart from others, is their dedication in preparing the finest selections of organic beef, seafood and other produce, some of which comes from the Farmers Market locally and farmers around Southern, California.

On this occasion my guests were Tom Hallick, who starred as Brad Garret on "The Young and Restless." and his wife, Jin Jiang, a concert violinist with Andrea Bucelli. Both have traveled extensively throughout the world. Tom who is also remembered as the first host of Entertainment Tonight recently stated," Cast and Plow is one of the premier dining spots that I have dined at. It's as good as it gets."

The evening of our culinary journey, we were introduced to chef, Brandon Duley, who prepared what i would call, "the supreme delight". Tom ordered a Ribeye which was aged and smoked for 32 days. It was prepared with asiago cheese potato puree in a herb salsa verde. Jin ordered the farm raised Organic Salmon, prepared with beluga lentils, guail egg, and mission fig chutney in a ham hock broth. I ordered the Halibut, which was caramelized with cauliflower, and romanesco with hazelnut butter. The dishes, of which I sampled each one, were excellent. Ah, my eyes are bigger then my stomach, as I also ordered pumpkin soup and Chef Duley's Thyme Tagliatelle. The pumpkin soup is prepared with pumpkin oil, asiago bread crostini and pumpkin seed peste. the Thyme Tagliatelle is prepared with organic spinach, preserved with meyer lemon and parmesan cream.

I would be remiss if i didn't mention that there is a large selection of wines from around the world at The Cast and Plow, along with some unique cocktails. The Blood Orange Fizz for one, is prepared with Plymouth Gin, lemon grass syrup, blood orange juice and cream whites. The Perfect Storm is prepared with Casamigos Resposado Tequila, cassis and lime juice. Those names stand up to the taste of the cocktails and everything is made fresh.

All of our entrees were accompanied with additional side dishes which included market beets, consisting of local cress with pickled mustard vinaigrette, chilled octopus, consisting of pistachio and cardamom pesto, with focaccia croutons and a kale salad with bibb lettuce, organic egg and crumb read croutons. Our deserts were prepared by pastry chef, Adina Morgan and oh it was so delicious. Chef Adina picks her own Pomelo grapefruits from her backyard in Balboa Park. The White Pomelo Pie, as it is referred to, is prepared with Italian meringue in a port reduction. The Greek yogurt with chamomile honey, blubbery and pistachio brittle was another delight and the final winner was brown sugar cake, prepared with medjool dates and salted caramel ice cream. All the deserts and ice creams are prepared by Chef Adina, The Ritz Carlton is located on 4375 Admiralty way in Marina del Rey. Reservations may be made by calling (310) 823-1700.

Celebrity Scene News highly recommends The Cast and Plow and awards 5 stars for excellent cuisine, a wonderful setting and superb service.