Counter Intelligence: MessHall

The banana cream pie is really more just banana pudding served in a Mason jar with homemade vanilla wafers. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Nov. 21, 2012 4:12 PM PT

A look at MessHall Kitchen in the Los Feliz neighborhood.

Grown-up cocktails include, from left, the Queen’s Park Swizzle, two Corpse Revivers and the Last Word. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

MessHall is on a Los Feliz Boulevard site formerly occupied by the Brown Derby and a Louise’s Trattoria. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

The “hog chop” is a center-cut pork chop with white cheddar grits, mustard greens and spicy butter. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

A fire pit on the patio is glassed in. Alas, no campfire s’mores. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

The bar at MessHall taps into the “camping is fun” feeling. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

An oyster bar serves freshly shucked kumamotos with a version of a house-made smoky ketchup and horseradish. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Grilled artichoke hearts with nubs of romanesco and pine nut gremolata. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

The Hallucinogenic Whimsies of the Banana Man cocktail. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)