Saddle Peak Lodge   

419 Cold Canyon Rd
Calabasas, CA 91302
818-222-3888
www.saddlepeaklodge.com

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According to legend, Saddle Peak Lodge was once a favorite stomp of Hollywood heroes Errol Flynn and Clark Gable, who shot many of their films on nearby studio lots. The original edifice is also said to have inspired the design of Charlie Chaplin and Herbert Hoover's New Mexico hunting lodges. With its upstairs library, not-too-distant waterfall and trophy animal heads, Saddle Peak Lodge has always garnered a certain mystique (was it once a bordello, as some maintain?). Either way, its rustic Las Virgenes Canyon surroundings continue to charm big-game fans, who grub on roasted elk tenderloin with Jerusalem artichokes and wild mushroom sauce, or smoked duck breast with white corn bread pudding and arugula. Dinner and decor dovetail nicely as much of what's on your plate also adorns the walls, from birds and fish to a stuffed beaver (not on the menu). A four-course prix-fixe menu varies seasonally, but might include crab salad with Haas avocado or wood fire-grilled llama with mascarpone polenta, chanterelles, roasted corn and summer truffles. When dessert rolls around, sign up for the warm banana and walnut bread pudding or the milk chocolate mousse cake with hazelnut peanut butter and espresso ice cream. A dessert sampler doles out multiple tastes including fresh berries and creme brulee. Saddle Peak Lodge has enticed Angelenos for over 100 years with its wholly unique blend of Hollywood history, mountain vistas, beastly entrees -- even lurking apparitions, depending on whom you ask and where you sit.