This small Michelin-starred restaurant seats only 24 lucky diners per night. With a concrete floor and lots of mismatched framed illustrations, paintings and photographs hanging from the subway tiled walls, the dining room looks calm and welcoming. Before the pandemic, the monthly tasting menus were centered around a single, main ingredient, but today Chef Curtis Stone and his team have shifted the focus to highlight the best of SoCal’s fresh ingredients from sea and land.
What was the crowd like?
The Beverly Hills location attracts locals as well as Hollywood types on a date and UCLA students with their parents (and their wallets).
What should we drink?
The tasting menu can be accompanied by a “classic wine pairing” ($155) that leans toward California vintages, with a few standout wines from Rioja and the Loire Valley, or spring for a “wine from the reserve” ($255).
Each dish, which comes in the exquisite small plates you might find at your eclectic great aunt’s house, is a thoughtful and well-executed homage to the season and flavors. Offerings may include standout dishes such as ears with koshihikari rice, seaweed, and oyster mayonnaise; delicate bunuelo stuffed with blue cheese and macadamia nuts. Dessert takes place upstairs in a temperature-controlled room (essentially a wine room), which is decorated with cozy sofas, soft armchairs, and non-alcoholic toiletries. The whole experience is surprisingly great, although the only thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is the 1980s soundtrack – think Journey, Foreigner, Thompson Twins.
And how were you treated?
Since the dining room is very small, the staff makes every effort to really take care of each table. Each dish is carefully described, each wine pairing is explained, and there is the right amount of chatter to keep guests entertained.
What is the real, real thing about why we came here?
This is the place where you can take a special someone for a first date, your parents for Mother’s or Father’s Day, or a couple of your best friends for a much-needed relaxing evening.