Brod’s review is exactly how i felt about this place.
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That is the perfect review for me as well.
I felt I was like in that Zoolander movie- everyone loving themselves and what they were doing and if you didn’t get it, well, you just weren’t cool enough- and with similar results.
I was fearful that this would be the result, but still, I’m pretty disappointed. It IS a beautiful room, though.
Exactly.
Yes, it is inconsistent - only 60-70% of what I have tried was very-good-to-great - and expensive. But there is a lot of very great cooking going on. And will likely improve with time.
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The impression I got on my visits to Otium is definitely more in line with Besha Rodell’s review than JGold’s (link: Otium at the Broad museum is L.A.’s most ambitious new restaurant in years )
And a pretty damning review it is… Yikes.
After reading Brod’s review, it’s possible Otium isn’t necessarily improving, but that I just look like someone that fits in there more than other reviewers so far…idk…lol
Whatever else they do, it seems they had better stop making those shitty falafels, as even Gold’s genuinely upbeat review marked them as terrible:
“At a place like Otium, you might reasonably expect the falafel to surpass the stuff you’re used to getting at places like the Hummus Bar & Grill or Kareem’s, but it is a little stodgy here.”
lol
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Rodell gave Otium 2 stars.
Which, according to the legend, means “Good”.
So what’s not good about that?
Answer: The service.
(The room/decor gets one star, and one more star goes to some of the dishes.)
I see.
So … Otium is a, um, SGV Chinese restaurant?
Kinda. Except the decor usually leads to subtraction of a star in a SGV Chinese restaurant (while the low prices/QPR allow the star to be regained)…
I wonder if the difference in the reviews is because jgold is known to the house and brod isn’t?
It’s certainly not because JGold looks hotter. 
Not sure about that one - might be a tie.
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Have a business lunch there tomorrow. Will report back.
That review makes me want to stop in for a drink if I’m nearby. Sounds like an only-in-LA experience.
If one thing can be said about Otium, I think that is pretty much true. It is very LA, just the opposite of street LA (which many more people relate to).
My kind of business!
Apparently they don’t know what some food writers/editors and even famous chefs look like either. [Edited to remove details shared in a private Facebook post, which I realize makes this comment less compelling, but oh well.]
Your link is dead?
Ah, maybe it’s private. I’ll remove it.