RESTAURANT REVIEW: Saddle Peak Lodge

419 Cold Canyon Rd. | Calabasas, CA 91302 | 818-222-3888 | saddlepeaklodge.com | Price: $$$$

By MICHAEL AUSHENKER | Contributing Writer

Enter Saddle Peak Lodge and you enter a different world, a different epoch.

The theme: rustic. The interior is replete with fireplaces, woodsy cabin-style walls with mounted deer and elk heads, glass showcases of stuffed pheasant, plenty of mallards (both stuffed and as crafty lamp bases), replicas of schooners, the works! The 1963-founded restaurant specializes in fine prepared game that might be alien to the casual diner.

That said, the meat here is strictly delicious.

Currently in the spotlight is a terrific new $35 Monday-through-Thursday supper menu featuring an array of entrees that will be new to regulars. Of course, we had to try it.

We started with Roasted Fennel & Leek Soup, with chunks of avocado and Cara Cara orange wedges wallowing in a fresh-tasting vegetable bath with Spanish olive oil. The dish also made for a wonderful appetizer.

Yet the best starter on the menu, bar none, is Cannelloni Beitola, a masterful cheese-lovers’ delight: a flat pasta noodle baptized in melt-y Swiss chard, ricotta cheese and Mornay sauce that visually and on a tactile level resembles a mini-lasagna or -manicotti dish. There are not enough exclamation marks to emphasize how much of a must-try this savory delight is.

The entrees under the umbrella of Chef Christopher Kufek’s new menu are also impressive. The lightest here: Idaho Rainbow Trout, a perfectly cooked fish. Its soft, white meat and crispy skin are made even more scrumptious by a lemon-caper butter sauce.

Filet Mignon Medallions deliver moist, medium-cooked morsels of steak within a bevy of healthy tasting sautéed vegetables (Bloomsdale spinach, mushrooms Bordelaise, baby carrots and potatoes). If you’re looking for something heavy in cooked veggies, this meal has just the right amount of meat incorporated into the proceedings.

Saddle Peak also makes an impressively Southern plate of soul food. Fried Jidari Chicken comes with a buttery fluffy biscuit covered in house-made gravy, a fulfilling side of cheese-kissed macaroni elbows and collard greens. Of course, if you’re a big fan of poultry, this dish delivers, but if you’re with a friend who is less adventurous meat-wise and wants to stick to the very basics, this may be the perfect platter.

Included with your meal: a choice of desserts. Try Mango Panna Cotta, a nice, light pudding incorporating chile caramel, passionfruit, chiffon bits and white chocolate. French Beignets may not resemble any you’ve seen in New Orleans but these five little fried doughballs come with a crème Anglaise dipping sauce and hot diced pears…and they’re worth every bite.

At $35 a meal, the above spread is a terrific deal.

And yet, every first-time eater here should partake in Chef’s Game Trio ($58), a magnificent Saddle Peak 101 sampler featuring a trifecta of meat from Google-worthy animals that I’ve mostly never enjoyed before: braised buffalo short-ribs, New Zealand elk and Australian emu.

No need for clichés here: I’m not going to say the emu “tasted kind of game-y” or the elk “tasted like chicken.” The truth is, the way the meat is prepared here, all three tasted moist, tender and flavorful.

The Amaroo Farms emu flat-iron strips were on the sweeter side with apple-wood bacon, broccoli rabe and corn fricassee while the elk tenderloin came replete with brandied cherries and vanilla-butternut squash, baby portabella and cipollini. The braised buffalo, served on a cushion of house-made mashed potatoes surrounded by cooked Bloomsdale spinach and globe carrots, may be the most recognizable to your palate. All three dishes are served on a large plate with an aesthetically pleasing presentation of cooked vegetables and aioli dabs and drizzles.

Libations are yummy here. The most delicious of Saddle Peak’s Spring Cocktails ($15) menu: One Night in Chiang Mai, a straight-forward shotgun of tequila, grapefruit, lemongrass, lime and ginger beer with chili and jalapenos floating around inside.

For something darker and rum-mier in tone and texture, A House in New Orleans structures a framework of rhubarb, George Dickel Rye whiskey, Peychaud’s Bitters and Ras el Hanout syrup.

Searching for a fruity potion? Theres Kaz’s Meyer Lemonade, fusing Meyer Lemon Infused Vodka with Bitter Truth Golden Falernum rum, sugar syrup and mint. For a stiff one, there’s the El Chapo, a Mexican-style mix of El Silencio Espadin Mezcal, Bitter Truth Orange Bitters (alcohol-macerated orange peels with herbs and spices), Drambuie scotch, elderflower and lime.

Thinking outside the box of what myself and our photographer enjoy, I have to throw out one major caveat for a certain contingent of diner. What I enjoyed about Saddle Peak Lodge is that it’s almost a throwback kind of establishment to an earlier, simpler time when food choices weren’t so complicated and didn’t come freighted with attendant issues, agendas and concerns.

In other words, this Lodge, beautifully nestled off-road in an enchanting, nature-kissed Calabasas oasis, would never fly in Venice or even Santa Monica. This is not the setting to bring your progressive vegetarian pals or militant vegan friends. The interior showcases all manner of taxidermy, after all.

Otherwise, Saddle Peak is a big “GO” in capital letters. Conceptually, there are two big ideas here: fine game cuisine and the ultimate lodge setting. As Saddle Peak convincingly proves, both are worth experiencing.