Fooding around in LA with Laurent Quenioux at Starry Kitchen (Los Angeles)

There is probably hardly anybody who wouldn’t agree that music, art, books or food are an important part of our life and that everybody is enjoying it in one way or the other. We all like to listen to music or read a book to relax, visit a museum or gallery to look at paintings or remember fondly certain dishes made by our parents when we were younger. But once you start asking different people what are their true favorite bands, artists or restaurants there will hardly be any agreement and everybody has their favorite band or restaurant often based on certain memories or connections they feel to them. Over the years we have visited many different restaurants and often came repeatedly back to some because we like them so much. But if anybody would ask us what was our favorite restaurant over the last 1-2 years our answer would be without doubt – Bistro LQ.

It is always hard to describe what makes for us a good dish to become special or a chef to stand out, but with Chef Laurent we felt from the very first visit at Bistro LQ a unique connection/resonance how he interprets food, creativity and execution which is very close to our idea of a perfect meal. Rooted in French cooking techniques and preparations he hasn’t limited himself to any style or country anymore and takes ingredients, flavors and conceptions from anywhere and combines them in his own, unique way. He constantly challenges common notions which flavors and ingredients shouldn’t work together and every dish tells its own story, and it is quite stimulating for us to try to come up with our own interpretation which is part of the appeal of Bistro LQ. And so it is no surprise that Bistro LQ became our second “living room” on our frequent trips to LA and that GM Eric Bouty even mentioned to us that we were among the most frequent guests of the restaurant. Unfortunately excellent cooking and good reviews don’t guarantee success especially if you are cooking far away from the mainstream in a style that might be better fitting with restaurants in San Francisco. This together with issues with the landlord led to the closing of Bistro LQ in March of this year – a very sad day for us.

After a very short time Chef Laurent appeared back on the culinary scene as Executive Chef at Vertical Wine Bistro in Pasadena, at collaborations with Chef Walter Manzke, and perhaps most interesting with a pop-up like concept LQ Fooding Around in LA at Starry Kitchen.

What appears at first as an odd combination is actual a nicely matching one. Not unlike Laurent Quenioux the owners of Starry Kitchen, Thi and Nguyen Tran, took an unconventional approach to realize their ideas. Starry Kitchen originally started in their Hollywood apartment in which they served home cooked meals. Once their home restaurant became too successful it got shut down by the health inspection for not having a commercial kitchen. Despite this setback they didn’t give up but decided in the beginning of 2010 to open their “official” restaurant in Downtown LA. Starry Kitchen serves lunch throughout the week but only dinner on Thursdays and Fridays, and so it was a perfect match to have a Bistro LQ pop up from Sundays to Wednesdays. And it was no question for us to visit LQ Fooding as soon as we had heard about it.

Starry Kitchen is located in downtown LA at the California Plaza

The restaurant has more a feel of a lunch place, but the team around Nguyen did a great job to make it a very welcoming and relaxing place for dinner as well.

Starry Kitchen has a partly open kitchen and you could see Chef Laurent and his staff busy at work.

A few items like the water glasses seemed to have come from Bistro LQ as well as their signature cucumber-lemon water.

The bread from Bread Lounge was perhaps the weakest part of the meal but good enough to sop up some of the sauces throughout the night. It was served with good olive oil instead of the more common butter.

Amuse Bouche: Sea snail, soy butter

French meals often start with escargots, but the whole dinner had Asian influences and so it was just fitting to serve a sea snail as a starter and accentuating it by pairing it with soy butter instead of garlic butter. The sea snail had a slight rubbery texture not unlike geoduck and tasted sweet and was faintly reminiscent of the ocean.

1st Course: Summer vegetables, hamachi, lemon miso curd, black sesame soil, yuzu kosho, herbs and sea weeds

The hamachi had an impressive marbeling and a smooth and buttery taste. At first the summer vegetables, like peas, corn, fava beans, seemed like an unusual pairing but with their natural sweetness and the tartness of the lemon miso curd and yuzu kosho the whole dish was perfectly balanced. The sea weed added an interesting textural crunch to the dish which reminded us of a spring dish.

2nd Course: Carlsbad oysters and mussels, kimchi sabayon, Chinese celery, cauliflower

Both the mussels and oysters were very tender and had a similar consistency as the cauliflower. The kimchi sabayon had a slightly sour flavor but also some hidden spicyness which kicked in after a short while. The fried Chinese celery leaves added an unexpected flavor which brightened up the dish.

3rd Course: Mu shu foie gras

Mu shu is a staple of Chinese restaurants in the US which are heavily Westernized. It often consists of shredded pork and vegetables wrapped in a pancake. In Laurent’s playful interpretation, the pork was replaced by a perfectly seared piece of foie gras. Foie gras is often paired with strong sweet or savory flavors to counterbalance its richness but in this dish the subtle flavors of the vegetables and the hoisin sauces created a nice balance so that the foie gras was always noticeable in every bite but it never overpowered the other ingredients. We easily could have eaten several of these wraps.

4th Course: Squab, veal feet, ginger cone boudin noir, mashed potatoes, apple

This dish featured two ingredients Chef Laurent used regularly at Bistro LQ – squab and boudin noir. The outstanding boudin noir was always a highlight and this was no exception. Served in a cone with mashed potatoes and apple puree it reminded us on dishes from Alsace. The squab which can easily be dry and tough was cooked perfectly. Both main ingredients were brought together by the veal feet which were small morsels of gelatinous meatiness.

5th Course: Rhubarb, hazelnut soil, curacao cubes, sour cream sorbet

Rhubarb has often a very tart flavor but here it was cooked until tender with spices like cardamom and was in itself already tasty. The sour cream sorbet mellowed the tartness even more and proved to be the right balance - a strong finish for the tasting menu.

Tasting menus at Bistro LQ always provided rollercoaster rides through the culinary world with its different flavors, and this pop up incarnation was no difference. You often read the menu and wonder how these flavors could work together but once you taste the dish it becomes clear and obvious and you wonder why nobody else might have thought about that before. It’s not very often that we have a tasting menu in which every single dish worked, and after every single course we talk about that we wish we could get a second portion. Before this event we were curious if a pop up of Bistro LQ would change anything how Chef Laurent would cook, but beside a bit more Asian influences than before, perhaps as an homage to his hosts, the pop-up concept was an extension of his regular Bistro LQ. The ambience and service was even more relaxed and laid back than before but was always professional and fitting for the occasion. It was interesting to see the energy of Nguyen while he talked with every guest and explained different dishes, and hopefully even once LQ Fooding around LA stops at Starry Kitchen Nguyen will continue do similar concepts in the future as he, his team and the location seem to be a good match for such events. He definitely made us curious to stop by at Starry Kitchen itself in the near future.

It was great to eat dishes from Chef Laurent after the painfully long break since March, and we realized how much we missed it that we seriously considered to ask for a place on the patio of the restaurant for the sold out second seating at that night to start the menu over once more. Not unlike as with your favorite band it’s nice to listen to a single to remind yourself why you like them but what you are really interested in is to be able to listen to a complete LP/CD to be able to really dive into the music. Restaurants are no different and pop up events are a welcoming “snack” but what we really hope for is to have the possibility to again taste full blown tasting menus with Chef Laurent, and it was great to hear from him after dinner in the kitchen that he is planning to open a restaurant in Pasadena. We can’t wait for that to happen and will be among his first guests !

LQ Fooding around in LA at Starry Kitchen

350 S Grand Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90071

(213) 617-3474

Petrossian (Los Angeles) – Eight Course Tasting Menu or the Night we had our own private Chef

Eating a great meal in a newly found restaurant is one of the ultimate pleasures of being a foodie and in the end it is what foodies strive for. For us it is not only the restaurant visit itself we are looking for but also the search for the gems, might it be an unusual high end restaurant or a hole in the wall. There are of course many different sources for good information about all kinds of restaurants starting from professional reviews, well known web pages as Chowhound or eGullet, discussions with other foodies to the ubiquitous foodblogs. There are rarely restaurants or chefs which get only positive reviews and posts but there are a few exceptions like Ludo Lefebvre with his pop-up restaurant concept LudoBites. Most recently a more unexpected restaurant appeared to get high marks from nearly everybody – Petrossian in West Hollywood with Chef Benjamin Bailly.

Petrossian has been well known for close to a century as a great source for many high-end food specialities, and in particular caviar. The company was founded in 1920 in Paris by the Armenian brothers Melkoum and Mouchegh Petrossian, who were born on the Iranian side of the Caspian Sea but were raised in Moscow, as a way to earn some money after they had to flee from the Russian Revolution in 1917. The business idea turned out to be successful early on also thanks to a large population of Russian emigrants. But the Petrossians were also pivotal to establish caviar as a delicacy in the gastronomy world with the 1929 World Exposition in Paris as a key event. Petrossian still remains to this day one of the largest players in the world of caviar importer but has started over the years to expand their offerings of high-end products like truffles, foie gras, smoked fish, teas, and coffee. As a consequence of the Iranian revolution and the dwindling Iranian caviar imports in 1980 Petrossian established a US subsidiary in New York followed in 2001 by a boutique in Los Angeles. For a long time the company saw their restaurants more as a marketing tool to make the Petrossian brand known to the public but didn’t put too much emphasis on it. This approach recently changed in Los Angeles with the remodeling of Petrossian Paris Boutique & Café which also included hiring new Chef Benjamin Bailly.

Benjamin Baill, born in Valenciennes in northeastern France, comes with an impressive background: After graduating from cooking school in Aulnoye-Aymeries he moved to London to work at the Sheraton Park Tower before working for Alain Ducasse at Spoon at the Hotel Byblos in Saint-Tropez. He stayed for a year before starting to work in 2004 in the Robuchon restaurant empire for the next five years in increasingly responsible roles beginning as Commis de Cuisine at Restaurant Joel Robuchon in Monaco, Chef de Partie at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Paris and finally as Sous Chef at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas before moving to Los Angeles.

This combination of high reputation of Chef Bailly, excellent ingredients from Petrossian and numerous good reviews put this restaurant on top of our list and we finally contacted them to arrange some kind of tasting menu to get the best experience. After a few brief discussions we agreed that an eight course tasting menu at Petrossian would be a great way to get to know their cuisine.



Petrossian is located on a quiet part of Robinson Avenue and has more the feeling of a small café than a restaurant with several tables outside on the walkway.



The interior is kept in light colors and was nicely complemented with brightly colored flowers. We were quite surprised when we arrived on a Saturday night that besides us only one table outside was occupied which left soon after. We expected that more customers would come throughout the night but it turned out that we were the only guests that night and for the first time we had our own private chef in a way.



Cosmopolitan – Vodka, Patron Citronage, lemon twist. Hibiscus Champagne – Champagne, rhubarb syrup, hibiscus. We started the night with some cocktails. The cosmopolitan was a rather classical approach and had a nice balance between the alcohol and the lemon. Their signature hibiscus champagne had a similarly nice balance between the dryness of the champagne and the sweetness of the rhubarb syrup.



1st Course: Blinis with crème fraiche and three kind of roes (sturgeon, trout and salmon)

A great way to start a tasting menu at Petrossian with a classical presentation of tastings of different roes. Very good blinis served as the foundation for the interplay of tartness of the crème fraiche and the saltiness of the roes. It was interesting to taste the differences in saltiness and fishiness of the three different roes with trout being the mildest of the three.



2nd Course: Chilled borscht with caviar

Even though Petrossian is a French company it has due to its caviar business strong connections to Russia. And so it is no surprise to see a classical Russian dish on the menu – borscht. Chef Bailly’s variation is served chilled and much less rustic than what you would get it in Russia. It has a very smooth consistency not unlike Gazpacho with a nice earthyness from the beets and other blended vegetables. The caviar adds some saltiness and completes this light and refreshing course.



3rd Course: Cauliflower panna cotta with caviar

Another very strong dish – Nice balance between the sweetness of the panna cotta, which had a very slight cauliflower/vegetable aftertaste, and the saltiness of the caviar. The “popping” texture of the caviar also added some textural diversity.



4th Course: Steak tartare, caviar, quail egg, crostini

The ultimate “surf’n’turf” – Hand sliced hanger steak tartare topped with caviar and a fried quail egg. When we got this course we weren’t really sure if steak tartare and caviar would work together but after the first bite we were convinced. The meat and the caviar are a great match and the dish is perfected by the running yolk of the quail egg. It will be hard to ever again eat a regular steak tartare. At this point our excellent waitress mentioned that she can’t remember when Chef Bailly last time used such amounts of caviar in one tasting menu. And the caviar layer was indeed as thick as the meat layer.



5th Course: Crispy egg, cippolini onion soubise, caviar

Soubise is a bechamel based sauce but here it had more the consistency of a puree. Once you cracked the panko crusted egg the egg yolk mixed with the soubise and formed a smooth but slightly acidic foundation for the egg. And again the saltiness of the caviar really brought the dish together.



6th Course: Seared foie gras, strawberries, pistachio

A simple but successful variation on seared foie gras. Foie gras is normally accompanied by something sweet to counterbalance the richness of the foie gras. Often chefs use jams or fruit reductions which can be too sweet. Chef Bailly used instead the natural sweetness of ripe strawberries which just add the right amount of sweetness. The pistachios add some nice texture to the course.



7th Course: Halibut, lardon, english peas

Very moist fish with fresh peas which had a wonderful sweetness. The lardon was a good addition to the dish.



8th Course: Gianduja parfait, vanilla mascarpone and vanilla panna cotta, mango, pop rocks

Very rich parfait with great hazelnut flavor. The vanilla panna cotta was also excellent and very light. The pop rocks added an unusual twist.



Espresso to end the tasting menu



On the way out our waitress also gave us a small box of truffles which we later ate and they continued the high quality of everything served at Petrossian.

We had quite high expectations when we came to Petrossian and Chef Bailly easily met and exceeded them. It is impressive to see with which ease he combines often just a few ingredients and creates outstanding dishes. Especially considering that he is somehow limited by what he can use as key ingredients to reflect Petrossian’s business. We had caviar before at different restaurants but it never impressed us as a noteworthy ingredient, but the night we ate at Petrossian we started to love caviar. Just looking at the picture one could get the impression that the tasting menu was a caviar overkill but every single dish was perfectly balanced and had just the right amount of caviar.

We were first a little bit wary that being the only customers on that night would lead to a rushed and uninspired tasting menu but it became very clear from the beginning that everybody at Petrossian was just interested to provide us with the best possible experience. Therefore it is even more disappointing to see how empty Petrossian was on a Saturday night knowing that many restaurants around serve less impressive food but are packed. There is no doubt for us to return to Petrossian soon but hopefully more people will have found out that the hype around chef Benjamin Bailly is more than justified.


Petrossian Paris Boutique & Cafe
321 N Robertson Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90048-2415
(310) 271-6300

Hatfield's (Los Angeles) - First Chef's Tasting Menu at Melrose Ave

On our recent visit to the reopened Hatfield’s a few weeks ago (last month's post) we had the chance to get a first glimpse at the new location and prix fixe menu. We were overall very satisfied with our first impressions of the new, bigger location and the first dishes we experienced from the kitchen. Since this first visit was just two weeks after the reopening the restaurant was still in the process of ironing out small kinks and didn’t offer a true chef’s tasting menu. Even though you can always choose from the regular menu of any good restaurant and have a good meal we also believe that often only a chef’s tasting menu tends to give you the chance to really experience the talent of a great chef.

Over the last few weeks the Quinn’s started slowly to perfect their vision of the new and “upgraded” Hatfield’s by first starting to offer lunch and very recently also a chef’s spontanée tasting menu. After hearing this news we knew it was time to go back to Hatfield’s and see if their chef’s tasting menu which was the highlight for us at their old location traveled over well to Melrose Ave.

The restaurant has an interesting large stone resembling an apple outside at the entrance which is a nice touch for a restaurant.

One of the new improvements of Hatfield’s is their new bar. This might be a great place for a late night drink and some upscale bar food. This picture was taken very late in the evening just before we left – this is the reason it does not look more busy at the bar.

When we made the reservation we mentioned that we were planning to go for the chef’s tasting menu and we are not sure if this “labeled” us as foodies but we were very happy that they gave us the best “foodie” table in the restaurant – directly next to the large window of the open kitchen. From here you have a great view of the whole back of the restaurant.

But most importantly you have a perfect view of the whole action in the kitchen. It was fascinating to see the different workflows in the kitchen throughout the night and how concentrated everybody was working starting from Chef Quinn to the Chef de Cuisine Brian Best and the 8-10 line cooks but also how, as the night progressed and less orders came in, the tension eased and quite a lot of talking and joking happened. A perfect table if you are interested in cooking and restaurants.

We started the night with some cocktails. Pimm’s Cup – Pimm’s, gin, cucmber, lemon, Bundaberg ginger beer. Classical approach to a Pimm’s cup with a strong ginger beer taste. Early Spring Bellini – Prosecco frizzante and rhubarb puree. A repeat from the last visit which shows how much we liked this cocktail.

Amuse Bouche: House-cured salmon with celery root slaw. Before we started with our 9-course tasting menu the kitchen started the evening with a nice amuse bouche which reminded us that celery root is often underappreciated and pairs good with the salmon.

1st Course: Sashimi Aji with marinated fennel, apple-shiso sauce and crispy duck cracklings.

The apple sauce was an interesting part of this dish but worked nicely with the delicate aji and the fennel. The crispy duck cracklings gave good textural contrast.

2nd Course: Foie Gras Terrine, Brioche and pineapple-muscat reduction

Unusual presentation by incorporating the foie gras in the cut out slice of brioche. The sweet pineapple sauce was a good counterbalance to the richness of the foie gras but close to being too sweet and overwhelming the dish. Since we didn’t plan to do a wine pairing this evening (we just had one extensive wine pairing the night before) we asked our excellent server Timothy for a recommendation and his choice was a very good Riesling which had some residual sugars to go with the foie gras.

3rd Course: Butternut squash custard, mushroom broth, coconut soup and crispy sweetbreads.

If you just see the cup with the coconut froth at the top one expects nothing unusual but this dish turned out to be very complex and one of the highlights of the evening. Here we have a three layered soup – at the bottom some earthiness from the butternut squash custard, the second layer full of umami from mushroom broth with small mushrooms and on the top some sweetness from the coconut soup. When eaten together all flavors work perfectly together and build a strong foundation for the sweetbreads. At this point Peter Birmingham, sommelier of Hatfield’s, came to our table with a bottle of Vinhas Velhas Luis Pato 07 Bieras and mentioned that he doesn’t think that this course would go well with our Riesling and that he had a little bit left in his bottle and we should try it. This was of course a very generous offer but more importantly it gave us the chance to strike up a conversation with him and it is rare to meet somebody with such passion, enthusiasm and knowledge for wines. His recommended very unusual wine was a perfect pairing for this complex dish and we decided spontaneously to not miss this chance and let him pair all our remaining courses – a decision we definitely didn’t regret.

4th Course: Salmon Roulade and salsify carbonara

Very interesting and successful idea of using salsify as replacement for pasta in this carbonara variation. Pairing: Maranges “Le Croix Moines” 06 Camile Giroud – supple with light raspberry and cherry.

5th Course: Roasted squab breast, oat grains, carrots, ginger, squab jus and oat chip.

Very tender meat with slight, favorable gaminess. The oat grains and carrots gave this dish a rustic foundation. Pairing: Pinot Noir Estate 05, Hallcrest Vineyards – some spicyness and herbal fruit having the right balance to not overwhelm the squab.

6th Course: Braised pork belly, Beluga lentils, Meyer Lemon confit, baby arugula salad.

In a tasting menu of many highlights this dish was still good but overall the weakest course. The pork belly could have been more tender and was quite dried out. The lentil and especially the lemon confit accompanied the meat nicely. Pairing: Cidre Greniers Brut Julien Fremont 08 – You don’t see cidre very often as part of wine pairings but here it really “saved” the dish for us. Not too sweet, subtle fruit, perfect pairing.

7th Course: Pan roasted NY Steak, crispy spaetzle, soy glazed longbeans, béarnaise.

This dish is a good example of the food at Hatfield’s where different cuisines, e.g German (spaetzle), French (béarnaise) and Chinese (soy glazed longbeans) are perfectly combined. Pairing: Clarendon Hills Baker’s Gully 04 – Very strong, rich wine with some blackberry fruit which holds up against the steak.

8th Course: Passionfruit Pavlova with pineapple

Very refreshing passionfruit ice to this meringue-based dessert.

9th Course A: Chocolate soufflé with mousse

The last dessert course was the only course where we each got a different dish. The chocolate soufflé was a good end to the tasting menu. Pairing: Brachetto d’Acqui Il Saulino 08 – light, delicate and raspberry flavored.

9th Course B: Chocolate Napoleon, “inverse” affogato

Very good napoleon (or mille-feuille) but the affogato was the surprising part of this dessert. Instead of having the vanilla flavor in the ice cream and the coffee taste in the liquid this dessert consisted of coffee granite and vanilla cream. Pairing: Dark Stout with Dawny Port – nice play on an Irish Car Bomb with Dawny Port instead of the whiskey.

Mignardies: Chocolate-hazelnut pralines

Reminded us on Kit-Kat but way better.

We came to Hatfield’s with great hopes to have a similar fantastic experience with their tasting menu as in their old location. At the same time we had just the night before an outstanding chef’s tasting menu at Bistro LQ and were wondering if Hatfield’s could hold up against it but we are happy to report that Hatfield’s didn’t disappoint and very fast starts to establish itself also in the new location as one of the top spots for creative high-end dining in LA. But it is also interesting to see how Laurent Quenioux at Bistro LQ and Quinn Hatfield at Hatfield’s are some of the most creative chefs in LA but have very different approaches. Bistro LQ uses often strongly contrasting flavors and ingredients to create dishes with a lot of culinary “tension” whereas Hatfield’s tends to create new dishes with “nearby” flavors which are unique and left you wondering afterwards why nobody else thought about it before, e.g. butternut squash custard with coconut soup or salsify carbonara.

It is great to have Hatfield’s (and their chef’s tasting menu) back on the culinary scene in LA and we will soon be back.

Hatfield's

6703 Melrose Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 935-2977

Animal (Los Angeles): Two Dudes - One Restaurant

Many restaurant names often have a meaning, like names of the owner or their place of origin but rarely does a restaurant name so clearly reflect the food you will experience: Animal in West Hollywood is one of these exceptions. From the very beginning this name makes it very clear that all kinds of animal protein will be the main focus of every dish – but everything else on the plate won’t disappoint either.

Animal was started in the spring of 2008 by chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo. Both met in 1999 at culinary school at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and decided from there on to tackle the challenges of the culinary world together. After finishing their culinary education they worked together in numerous restaurants in Florida such as The Strand, Mark’s and The River House before moving to the Wildflower restaurant at the Lodge in Vail. They then finally decided to move to Los Angeles to work under chefs Govind Armstrong and Ben Ford at the Chadwick Restaurant before opening their own catering service – Caramelized Productions. The catering service was also part of the short-lived Food Network series “Two Dudes Catering”. Having experienced once how it is to work as their own bosses they decided to open their own restaurant – Animal.

Animal is located on Fairfax Ave. in a non-descriptive building next to the Schwartz Bakery and a few buildings up from Canters.

The interior has a very rustic, bare-bones and minimalistic look. It is a single large room with a bar at one end and several wooden tables. But similar to the food at Animal the first look might indicate a very bold and straight feel but if you look at bit closer you will find many small details like bare filament light bulbs and few pictures which make everything comfy and welcoming. The service at Animal is always professional but at the same time personal – at which restaurants do you experience waiters who recognize you and greet you with a handshake when you come into the restaurant?

Animal has an interesting list of wines with some more unusual finds like some Italians, e.g. Negramoro or Coste della Sesia. At a recent visit we decided to order a few beers including a Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale which had a malty start with a long sweet finish and an Abita Amber which is a nice smooth beer pairs nicely with the food at Animal.

You can easily only just focus on several of the small plates of Animal to get a full meal but we tend to share a few of them before switching to the entrees (but not forgetting the desserts either).

Small Plate 1: Chicken liver toast

We really like chicken liver in all of its renditions. The night before we had the chicken liver toast at Pizzeria Mozza which has a more coarse structure whereas the Animal variation is very smooth with balsamic drippings on top.

Small Plate 2: Rabbit loin, parsnip, pear mostarda and benton’s bacon

This plate has some ingredients you unfortunately don’t see often on menus – rabbit which had a delicate taste between chicken and game wrapped in bacon which helped to keep it moist and parsnip which has a nice earth flavor. The pear mostarda (an Italian condiment made out of candies fruit and mustard flavored syrup) gave a good balance with its mix of sweetness and slight spicyness from the mustard oil.

Small Plate 3: Duck confit, apple, pecans, dates and arugula

Rather classic version of duck confit with carefully chosen sides – bitter greens, sweet dates, sour apples - which helped to cut through the richness of the meat. Perhaps not the best version of duck confit we ever had but definitely a very enjoyable one.

Small Plate 4: Barbeque pork belly sandwiches and slaw.

As certified pork belly addicts it is hard for us to see pork belly on a menu and not order it. Animal has several dishes on rotation and this time we chose the pork belly sandwiches – wonderfully tender meat with a not too overwhelming sauce and slaw on a tasty bun. Unfortunately only one sandwich for each of us.

Entrée 1: Flat iron steak, sunchoke hash and truffle parmesan fondue

Very tender and perfectly cooked steak with an unusual but balanced sauce of truffles and parmesan which is quite addicting. The potatoes and sunchokes had a good smooth consistency.

Entrée 2: Veal breast, polenta, savoy cabbage and prosciutto

An Italian inspired dish which worked best if you tried to taste all the components at the same time.

Dessert 1: Tres leches and dulce de leche

Animal has only a few desserts and we tend to end up with the same two desserts – An outstanding tres leches cake which even though it is quite rich is at the same time very light. The dulce de leche adds a interesting caramel-like flavor.

Dessert 2: Bacon chocolate crunch bar and s&p anglaise

Animal’s signature dessert – not unlike a Kit-Kat bar but with added saltiness from the bacon which could have been a bit more pronounced. You mainly taste the good chocolate-nut combination.

We have yet to have a disappointing evening at Animal. The restaurant is a great addition to the many restaurants in this area with a very strong focus on excellent food and less formality. The ever changing menu – even dishes which are on the menu for a longer time often get different sides or flavor changing variations – makes every visit an unique experience.

Animal

435 N. Fairfax Ave

Los Angeles. CA 90036

(323) 782-9225