Free Range Booth's Lunchfare At Melrose Place | LA
Free Range finds a home on Melrose Place
Melrose Place isn't merely the domain of chic boutiques and mythical television catfights anymore.
On Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., it also welcomes the Melrose Place Farmers' Market. The street's chief clucker is Jesse Fruman; his booth, Free Range, specializes in savory, free-range poultry products.
The Red Medicine bartender and former MILK sales manager accents over-easy egg tarts (pictured; $4) with fried chicken skin, chives and poppy seeds, but the standout option has to be the fried-chicken sandwich ($9). Furman tempura-batters juicy thigh meat and layers on crunchy cabbage, punchy pickled green onions, mild Fresno chiles and honey-mustard aioli before cradling everything in a soft, griddled roll.
Furman pipes sodas ($3 each), including root beer and Arnold Palmer soda made with Meyer lemons from his backyard, to order with CO2. There's a frothy egg cream, too, and you might find other seasonal concoctions that feature foraged herbs.
The caramel square ($3), the sole dessert option, resembles a gourmet Twix, combining shortbread, chewy shredded coconut, gooey caramel and chocolate ganache. It is by no means free-range, but it still tastes delectable.
Free Range also sells eggs ($8 for a dozen) from Kelley's Farm, a favorite of Red Medicine's Jordan Kahn, in shades of green, brown and white.
Free Range, Melrose Pl. & N. Croft Ave., West Hollywood; freerangela.com