6703 Melrose Avenue occupies a rather historic location in L.A. restaurant lore. Citrus and Hatfield’s both called this property home during their illustrious runs. And now, Auburn, the newest incarnation within this space, opens with a gorgeous new build-out. With Chef Eric Bost heading up the kitchen, fresh from his stint as Executive Chef of République, Auburn offers an ambitious new tasting menu format experience focused on presenting the bounty of California.
Reservations: Auburn can seat up to 105 customers. But during its first month, there are only limited covers made available so as to ease the kitchen into paced service, which is a smart move.
Parking: Valet and street parking (Pro-tip: Try parking on Highland).
Décor: Light wooden tones, with leanings to the stark side. The chairs are comfortable, while the tablecloth fastened to the tabletop by magnetic forces. Fancy.
And now, onto the food!
There are options for four courses ($75pp), six courses ($105pp), or nine courses ($150pp) from the 12-item menu on any given night. I chose the (off-the-beaten-path) OOE (one of each) menu (hey, a guy gets hungry waiting for build-outs to occur, you know!)… Pro-tip: The bar menu items are also available for as an additional a la carte order after completing a tasting menu!
Mocktail: Gardenia, with seedlip garden, miso, honey, pineapple, lime… Inventive and refreshing!
Amuse #1: Puffed pig ear “chicharron’, with salt & vinegar… Pleasant, but not as pungent a bite as I would have expected.
Amuse #2: Red beet & wheat galette… Again, I think I see the concept, but perhaps it proved to be a bit too lofty as I bit into the galette. Also, the whole thing sat on a bed of smoked crispy rice, which flummoxed me: Was I supposed to eat it separately? Drizzle it over the red beet?
Amuse #3: Yellow beet & kumquat tartlet… Very enjoyable as an appetite whetter! The tang from the citrus pops out on first bite, but shortly after meets its match in the evenness of the beet.
English peas, with Santa Barbara sea urchin, celtuce sweet lemon… I love peas, so this was almost like offering me a bribe. Overall I felt this to be a lovely green medley, with reasonably good (though not great) uni. However, in Auburn’s defense, the California uni harvest of late has been rather weak.
Avocado butter, with fines herbes & country bread… Wonderful bread, and a passable (albeit quite fresh) avocado spread.
Hiramasa crudo, with minterbrook oysters, finger lime, purple radish & oxalis… The yellowtail amberjack figured prominently, as it should, but what happened to the oyster profile?
Ridgeback prawns, with almond, green garlic & pickled peppers… Wow! This bar menu item needs to migrate over to the dinner menu, pronto. The prawns were thoughtfully prepared so that eating the tail offered a completely different experience than devouring its head. Delicious!
Asparagus, with razor clams, bone marrow, fava & green garlic… Another winner! The bone marrow brought out another level of umami from within the fava. The only issue I had with this dish was that the razor clam was diced up too small - Razor clams adductors are best featured when cooked intact, in all their lengthy glory. Pro-tip: Save some country bread to sop up all the great juices from this dish!
Turnip, with Spanish mackerel, & allium, in aged pork broth… I loved Chef Bost’s way of juxtaposing the dense and unapologetically savory mackerel with the light yet crunchy turnip, all sharing a dip in the pork bone broth. This was a very thoughtful presentation.
Scallop, with chanterelle mushrooms & trotter sorrel… I initially though it was all a tad too foamy (is that a description?). But after the second bite, I gotta admit, the chanterelle mushrooms absolutely saved this dish. Quite nice.
Cabbage, with leeks, celery root aligot & onion essence… My server said this was one of her favorite bites, and I can sorta see why. Smokiness in vegetables offers really intriguing bites, especially with the cabbage.
Sonoma duck, with farro, black garlic, chicória rossa & amaranth… Perfectly cooked duck alert! Just scrumptious.
Look at that beauty!
Ribeye, with artichoke, smoked plums, orach, in resting juices… After the triumph that was the duck, this ribeye was a letdown. Simply put, the beef was well-fired, but under-seasoned.
Dessert time!!!
Yogurt, with mushroom caramel… Another server/runner swoons on and on about this plate. I thought the strength of the yogurt was countered by the caramel, which packed its own punch. Well that’s all fine, but what gets lost in all this scuffle is finesse. They need to tool with the balance of flavors in this dessert a bit more.
Apple tart, with vanilla cream… Bravo! Deconstruction yields genius, in the case of this tarte tatin. The skillfully baked, wafer-thin apple tart is meant to be taken by hand, and dipped in the vanilla cream. The result was simply superb.
Salt-baked orange, with burnt honey… Fantastic - The whole preparation renders the orange pulp just bitter enough to make its bite (with honey) super-interesting, all while retaining its citric origins.
Sauternes, 1989 Château Suduiraut… The sweetest dessert course! Extremely pleasurable lingering finish.
Mignardises #1: Candied coconut & shiso leaf… Deceivingly good and rich, despite its fragile appearance!
Mignardises #2: Candied rhubarb… Yum.
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had…
Auburn just opened, and it shows much art and skill. Yes, there were a few minor quibbles along the way, but mostly my dinner was well-prepared and served with courtesy and poise by my servers. Highlights included the ridgeback prawn, turnip with Spanish mackerel, and deconstructed apple tart. It’s apparent that Chef Eric Bost is already running a tight ship here, and has the tools to continue innovating. It will be a joy to return to Auburn.
RECOMMENDED.
Auburn
6703 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
323.486.6703
auburnla.com