Two LA dining experiences

This was one of those weeks when dinner invitations seem to pop up unexpectedly. I had dinner on Wednesday with a couple of designer friends at Whist Restaurant in the Viceroy Hotel. The restaurant is just to the right as you enter the hotel lobby. The hotel is designed by Kelly Wearstler who has made quite a name for herself with her distinctive flair for hospitality design and the decor is very dramatic and interesting. A small lounge area near the dining room looks like a great place for drinks and happy hour. The menu is fairly eclectic, with a selection of small plates, seafood and pastas.We shared a crispy potato appetizer and figs with burrata. Both were well done. For my main, I had the black sea bass. The sauce had a mild curry flavour to it, which set off the fish nicely. The dessert was a standout. We had the pear tart tatin with goat cheese ice cream and kumquat preserves. The crust on the tart tatin was not great but the pears were perfect. The goat cheese ice cream was quite an interesting flavour and texture combination on the tongue and the kumquat preserves had a nice sourness to it, but it was when all of the flavours were combined that the dessert really came together. Each flavour brought out something in the others that weren't apparent before. The service was fine but not exceptional.

On Thursday, I had what may have been the best all around meal that I've ever had in my life at Providence. This restaurant is one of the few in LA with Michelin stars (receiving 2 in 2009) and I think I now understand what kind of experience is expected at such an establishment. The restaurant is located in an out of the way part of LA, a mostly residential neighbourhood east of La Brea. The interior is a nice dark taupe colour with interesting shell and flower decorations on the walls. The specialty of the house is seafood. They feature several versions of tasting menus as well as an a la carte menu. We ate off the a la carte. We started by sharing the cold dungeness crab appetizer and the Santa Barbara spot prawns. Before we get our appetizers, the server brings out an amuse bouche for each of us, consisting of parsnip soup with a port reduction and parmesan foam. Wow, what an amazing little taste. First you get the essence of parmesan via the foam, then the sweetness of the parsnip soup followed by the wallop of intensely concentrated port sauce. Great way to start the meal!

The crab came layered with grapefruit, pine nuts and cilantro with a sheet of jellied grapefruit on top, all of the flavours just sparkling off the tongue. The prawns arrive at the table via serving cart, in a copper pan and covered in salt (so just their antennas are poking out). The server brushes the salt off of the giant prawns, cuts the heads off of each, slices the bodies and heads in half and arranges them prettily on the plate. The freshness and slightly salty flavour, bringing out the sweetness of the prawns is amazing. Yes, I tried a little of the head.

For my main entree, I had duck (not really seafood, but they do swim). They serve it medium rare (this should be mandatory, really). It comes with braised cabbage, chanterelles and bacon. The acidity of the cabbage really sets off the fat of the duck, and the chanterelles and bacon add agreat texture. Our first dessert was a beautiful chocolate mousse with gingerbread crumbs and an amazing sauce. The second one was a combination of peanut butter, banana and jalapeno, the heat of the pepper just enough to bring out the flavours of the other components. Again with both of these dishes, the whole was much greater than the parts. Before receiving our cheque, the server brought out three small confections to end the meal-beet sugar macaron, chipotle chocolate marshmallow and thai jelly. My favourite was the marshmallow.

Although the food is clearly exceptional here, what really makes this restaurant stand out is the service. There is a main server who describes the menu and takes your order. There were at least 2 or 3 other servers who brought dishes out, supplied bread if you wanted it, cleared plates. One gentleman handled all of the prawn preparations. The sommelier suggested an insanely good red wine from Umbria, which was decanted at the table, and he continued to keep the glasses filled throughout the night (no one else touched the wine, and our glasses were never empty). Service was professional, subtle and at a level I've personally never experienced.

This is definitely a place to go for special occasions and I'd love to be able to try the chef's tasting menu some day-just leave yourself in his capable hands. There is an option to have a wine pairing with all of the tasting menus (2 oz pours of each wine) and they also have a dessert tasting menu.