Steakhouse Offers a Dash of Elegance

A friend tells me that he rarely eats steak at a restaurant, but when he does, he wants only the best. Therefore he only orders steak at either Arnie Morton’s or Ruth’s Chris Steak House, both in Beverly Hills. For South Bay carnivores who don’t want to drive so far for a specialist steakhouse, the Torrance Marriott hotel has recently opened Jasmine’s.

As a steakhouse, that is. Jasmine’s has actually been a restaurant at the Marriott for years, but three weeks ago, Hawaiian-born executive chef Lee Shidaki and chef Damon Simmons, a veteran of the Century City and Scottsdale Marriotts, switched it to a steak-and-chop menu. The previous edition of Jasmine’s was an elegant Chinese restaurant, and the dining room is still all done in shades of jade and black, featuring giant Chinese vases, etched glass partitions, plush carpeting, high-backed booths and well-spaced tables. It gives the effect of the most luxurious steakhouse in Shanghai.

The stars of the menu are the first three listed: a 20-ounce Porterhouse ($19.95), a 10-ounce filet mignon ($19.95) and a 14-ounce strip steak, which is a Porterhouse minus the bone and the tenderloin ($18.95). The meat is all Angus beef, from a breed known for its fine marbling, and the steaks are rubbed with a mixture of olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, soy, Worcestershire sauce and oregano before grilling. Steaks are served with either a rosemary demi-glace or bearnaise , the classic French sauce made by reducing wine with vinegar, tarragon and shallots and enriching it with egg yolks and butter. The other meats--thick-cut lamb chops ($17.95), free range veal chops ($17.95) and center-cut pork chops ($16.95)--get the same treatment.

Jasmine’s, it turns out, is a unique blend of East and West. The breakfast menu features traditional Japanese breakfasts, the most popular being salt-cured salmon with baked eggs, rice, braised spinach, miso soup, fruit and green tea ($11.25).

At Jasmine’s, one can begin the day fueling up like a Japanese executive and end the day indulging in a juicy steak.

Jasmine’s is at 3635 Fashion Way, Torrance. (310) 316-3636. Open Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., and Tuesday through Saturday, 6 to 11 p.m.