Dont forget its a pandemic right now and they probably felt they had to scale back their ambitions to keep it financially viable for now.
It was suppose to be a bit of Pujol and Cosme in the high end kitchen but there was always a plan for a casual spot aka Damian.
Haven’t been to Cosme but I felt the food at Atla was quite underwhelming.
Totally… Having been to Pujol and it being one of my top dining experiences ever… I just can’t imagine the amount of kitchen staff you would need to execute that in today’s realities. It would be irresponsible.
That being said… I am actually delighting in the menu in it’s simplicity and thoughtfulness. I am not a huge seafood person, but one of my favorite things is Albacore. My father used to go on fishing trips to Baja (I get horribly sea sick… so I was always unable to tag along…) and would bring back a cooler full of delicious Albacore which then grilled. That is all the flavor you need in any taco…
Also Rompope Soft Serve… 
we are definitely getting into rompope season!
I love that Rompope is a thing now!! I make a Rompope Tres Leches every holiday. I use this recipe for the Syrup and then make a Genoise Cake from Bakewise.
I can report that the food was very good at the preview, though I can also see room for improvement in terms of adding a bit more seasoning heft and depth. At the moment it’s fairly straightforward but with solid flavorings. I would say Mirame is a tad more interesting right now, but give Damian some time and it’ll be a comparable experience.
That is a pretty substantial letdown given who’s involved here.
I mean also it’s a preview! You can’t judge a place on its first or second night and trying to do so is absurd. Also we only had a handful of dishes. What I did try was delicious and enjoyable. Mirame was just more formed at this point and had been serving a lot longer. But like I said it’ll be more comfort/familiar than groundbreaking, and as others have noted it could be due to the pandemic and the overall uncertainty.
Have you been to Cosme? It, though not quite a letdown, was never the revelation I hoped it could be. I never had a meal at Cosme (think I went there four times) that eclipsed Taco Maria.
Olvera’s US restaurants just don’t seem to be Pujol, for better or worse.
Not just his US restaurants – I ate at another restaurant of his in Mexico last month. It was it inoffensive but completely underwhelming. It is in a vacation destination and I was not expecting Pujol by any means but it fell short even of what I expected.
I agree it is no Pujol, but I had some excellent meals there. I always kind of felt like he was holding back in New York in a way he would not here, but perhaps it just is not fair to expect that level of quality in the U.S.
Elena Arzak
Anne Sofie Pic
Helene Darroze
.
.
There are so many great female chefs, that’s a little hard to swallow.
Yep, my visits were always kinda random–as in some dishes would be truly exceptional, and others would be downright mediocre. The corn husk meringue really is a showstopper, as were some of the large format dishes. I do agree they seemed to be holding back–things were never as punchy as say the dishes at Taco Maria or Broken Spanish.
I’m hopeful of Damian and will go there soon. But my expectations are sufficiently tempered.
Ha, honestly, her corn husk meringue is revelatory. The rest of the menu, not so much.
On a side note, I follow Daniela and her fiance Blaine Wetzel (of Willows Inn fame) on insta and those two seem to never ever be cooking. They are just gallivanting across the globe and what not. But if they ever do combine forces, I sure hope it’s in LA.
Considering Pujol is in his own home territory he has a familiarity with the markets, suppliers, ingredients that doesnt translate here, opening a restaurant in another country for chefs is like asking us to build a colony on another planet we may have a varying level of experience with. Everything we are use to is uprooted and different and it can take years for an organization to gain the level of confidence in its new market as it has in its original one.
Brings back great memories of our kids (Elena’s and mine) playing together in the foyer at Arzak while waiting for our seating. Chef Elena came out of the kitchen and asked abuelito Juan Mari to join us all for an impromptu aperatif and mini-tapas. #MissingAdventuringInBasqueCountry
Do you have her new cookbook? Any thoughts.
Andy Wang is en fuego.
Any reports back yet? Made a reservation next month.
