March 27, 2017

Meet Aaron Robins of Boneyard Bistro in Sherman Oaks and The Valley

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Robins.

Aaron, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started cooking alongside my old school, Jewish grandmother as a kid. Cooking with fire is a skill I owe to my father, and upscale European cooking is something my mother guided me towards. As a Los Angeles native, I grew up dining with my family at Dr. Holgy Wogly’s just north of The Valley. At the age of 12, I bought myself a smoker so that I could make my own beef jerky. In addition to the jerky, I used the smoker for a full turkey, and other meats until I eventually entered into BBQ territory.

After graduating high school, I started off working in the family business and when I fell out of that, I decided to attend culinary school. At the age of 21, I attended the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. I then worked at the legendary Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, The Flying Saucer in San Francisco, and Zola, a well-known Nashville restaurant in its heyday.

Following September 11, 2001, I returned to Los Angeles to help my father start a family business, before opening Boneyard Bistro in 2005.

Has it been a smooth road?
It has been a rough, challenging road to where I am today. When Boneyard Bistro first opened in 2005, we were a small, 45-seat restaurant at capacity, and constantly turned people away. At the time, no one made reservations in the Valley, so we could not have anticipated this honeymoon phase we enjoyed for the first 9-months. Our first summer after opening, cut opened and the Valley rose to 100+ degrees. No one knew that they could get into the restaurant again, and when the Recession hit in 2008/2009 the dining scene shifted. During this time, we expanded the restaurant and built the bar to what it is today.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Boneyard Bistro – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Boneyard Bistro’s multilayered approach to traditional, competition-style BBQ—incorporating Southern-, Texas-, Kansas City-, Carolina-, and Santa Maria-style—is complemented by the restaurant’s “alter ego”, the bistro, which features contemporary modern cuisine with global influences from newly appointed Executive Chef Erica Abell. As an upscale, casual BBQ joint, we use high quality meats, a J&R pit, and nice china plates to set ourselves apart from the others. In addition to BBQ, we have our famous burgers, as well as an impressive beverage program curated by General Manager Rory Snipes. We have one of the biggest reserve bottle lists in Los Angeles, 42 craft beers on tap, one of the largest whiskey collections and zinfandel lists in the country—100+ bourbons and 70+ zinfandels. While Boneyard is always in evolution, the BBQ stays constant.

What’s your favorite memory from childhood?
I’ll never forget dining at restaurants as a child. Entering the food world was an eye opening and rewarding experience. When I was 13 years old, or younger, my family went for dinner at Mon Grenier in Encino. This was the first time I had real French food, and the whole world opened up then. I remember exactly what we ordered; Dad had a Kir Royale, Bouillabaisse, and Lamb Chop. The meal was a game changer, and I began reading cookbooks and making recipes. One day I thought I was making a Pot Roast, but really it was Beef Bourguignon. Other memorable meals include The Apple Pan, Pink’s Hot Dogs, and Philippe’s when going to a Dodger’s game.

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