Friday, April 16, 2010

LA's ORTOLAN is outstanding (4-16-10)

Upon arrival in LA last night I headed straight to ORTOLAN (8338 W.
3rd St - www.ortolanrestaurant.com) on the line between Beverly Hills
and West Hollywood (just blocks from the Beverly Center) and settled
in to my comfy chair at a spacious well-spaced table in a gorgeous
room with over a dozen drippy cut crystal chandeliers. I may have been
3 hours behind, but I was ready for a dining experience. The beautiful
antique wooden floors add to the ambience and do not make the sound
level high at all! The walls are heavily curtained and there are 6+
foot high secluded booths for those LA folks who don't want to be
seen. On the other hand, there is a large table in the front window
for those who want to be seen and watch the passersby. Each place has
a gray 12" square slate plate for the table setting and Schott Crystal
adorns each place.
I started chatting with Samantha, the sommelieuse, who actually spent
much time working in DC and knew lots of folks we know! She has been
at Ortolan for less than a year, but knows the ropes and the wines.
Her boss chef/owner Christophe EME actually came out shortly into the
meal to greet everyone. It is a great credit to him and his 5-year old
elegant establishment!
I avoided the champagne trolley (over $20 a glass for those) and
headed right to the shorter tasting menu of $85 ($50 extra with
pairings, rather than the 13-course menu for $145; $75 for wine). It
was a perfect choice and almost everything was at a level of superb
quality.
The amuses was a small tray with two large test tubes of soup with
emulsion and a straw in each: one was carrot with thyme, the other
asparagus with truffle. A medium size bowl of Eggplant Caviar Tapenade
with Aioli was superb, and you know I am not an eggplant fan. This is
meant to be shared; I gobbled up the WHOLE BOWL.
A glass of Gerard METZ 2005 Pinot Blanc from Alsace arrived and
Samantha was pouring most generously; I did not worry. The first
course was TOMATO COULIS with CELERY RAVIOLI and Yogurt Sorbet. Fresh
herbs (rosemary/lavender) adorned the plate and were infused to each
mouthful as well. I adore the fact that Chef Eme uses these herbs in
almost every dish. This was basically a tart and glorified gazpacho
that I could have every hot summer night. There was a dash of herb oil
in the deep red soup and the amazing celery-made ravioli was stuffed
with tomato tartare for a slight chunkiness. The yogurt was slightly
sweet and added a wonderful creaminess to several bites. The wine was
a brilliant pairing to this tart treat.

SCALLOP was sliced and seared and laid atop ENGLISH PEA Soup and
LENTIL GNOCCHI in a large brandy snifter-like glass; a frothy herb
emulsion floated on top. I love peas and these were my first fresh
ones of the season, so I was quite happy. The wine was a simple
grapefruit-intense WHITEHAVEN SAUVIGNON BLANC 2008 from Marlborough in
New Zealand.

LOBSTER MOUSSE was in a cylinder surrounded by Spaghetti and served
with magnificent MORELS, White ASPARAGUS and a White Asparagus Cream.
Herbs Caviar on the side looked like black lentils, but were a
gelatinous, tapioca-like chemically induced treat that were herb-
intense. A Guy BOCARD 2004 MERSUALT Vieilles Vignes was a subtle
accompaniment.

My first red was a tasty huge New Zealand PINOT NOIR from WILD ROCK
2008 "Cupid's Arrow" from Central Otago. This is as good as New
Zealand Pinot gets and was superb with my HERBS CRUSTed steamed COD
with Cauliflower Mousse (more like a cream sauce) and Roasted
Hazelnuts. I adored the tasty crust with chunky salt and herbs as
well as the paper-thin layer of Mushroom-Basil (duxelles like)
underneath making for a contrast with the light fish. Celery Tapioca
Pearls were on the side; another fun treat that Chef Eme seems to like
so much.

I asked for a long break and then came the SHORT RIBS with Winter
Vegetables, Pommes Souffle that were little crispy hollow potato
pillows and Herbs Salad. The wine was a Chateau PETIT BOCO 2005 from
Saint Estephe which was fine with the intense meat, but did not work
so well on its own. I also noticed at this point the background music
was all wonderful French cabaret-style that never was too loud or
intrusive.

The pre-dessert and my substitute dessert (I did not want the
Chocolate Ganache) arrived together. The former was a small dab of
Apple Jelly topped with LAVENDER Ice Cream and Lemon Foam and the main
dessert was STRAWBERRY CAVIAR with Vanilla PANNA COTTA and Honey. The
strawberry gelatinous pearls were served in a real caviar tin for
added fun and they covered the superb panna cotta. A ROZES Reserve
Port came with this,which I had only a couple of sips of as it was
quite heavy and intense, and I was tired (the time was not yet 10pm;
but my body said 1am!).
I know that a future trip to LA will have to include ORTOLAN!