that corn/bottarga dish certainly looks spectacular.
I somehow misplaced these photos, and just found them. In the spirit of continuing to gratuitously post they are going up!
This was a really nice, simple meal that I enjoyed quite a bit. It almost felt traditional in a “salad, entree, dessert” kind of way, but with portions that fit my personal preferences.
I started with a smoked fish salad that utilized dill and really fresh cherry tomatoes to full effect. It was a blissful hodgepodge of acid, smoke, funk, and vegetal tang while being toned down just a bit by the creamy dressing. Really nice way to start a meal.
Then I moved on to pork belly, which is something I wish they kept on the menu. I was not prepared for anything special, but this was the second best pork belly I have ever eaten in the LA/OC area (number 1 being at Taco Maria). It was meltingly luxurious, yet still meaty, and not overly fatty. The fresh herbs, and a mint sauce underneath that was a bit spicy really elevated the whole dish beyond the sum of its parts by playing against the fat and meat in an addictive way. The skin was also a perfect chicharron; I am not sure if I’ve ever had pork skin that was so good on a piece of pork before.
Finally, strawberries and cream. The strawberry buttermilk ice cream itself and the fresh strawberries were the best thing about this dish. Just reeally clean and enveloping strawberry in the rich ice cream. Interesting candy macaron thing encasing it, but a little overly sticky (like got stuck to the roof of your mouth in a sort of annoying way). The cream was somehow horrible though, like extremely bland butter on the plate? I was sort of bewildered by it and just ate around it. I was shocked to see such a huge miss even though it was just a component of the dish.
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I eat all over the place. Often at a bar, sometimes at tables, inside, or outside…one time they let me have an entire booth to myself!
I eat late and rarely go earlier than 10 PM though.
Also, on Fri/Sat, even showing up at 10 PM it could be hard to get a table. Two Saturday’s ago I was there with someone and couldn’t even get bar seats on a Saturday at 10…that felt unusual. Maybe it’s that bad every Saturday and I just usually go on Tuesdays (I really don’t keep track typically).
But the way I live/eat makes it super easy to eat at Bestia, which is why I go so often. Without fail, no matter what time I am there, I hear people talking about how they waited 3 months for their reservations… I can’t help but chuckle a bit at that. I wonder if the average diner comes away feeling like Bestia was worth a 3 month wait?
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I know, right? If one is simply willing to dine at less-than-busy hours here, then the wait times become considerably more palatable.
I think it is fairly obvious that I eat there somewhat often, and I am not sure if I have ever actually waited to be seated haha
To be fair though, if you want to go in a group of 4 or more on a Saturday it’s much harder I guess haha. There may not be any “non-busy hours” on such days for such group sizes. I really wonder how long Bestia will sustain being so insanely popular.
Shibumi is poaching some of their exceptional talent at the moment.
My god Shibumi has a pretentious website. Here’s a choice excerpt.
“The program begins with a quest for the highest quality local, organic, sustainable and locally foraged ingredients. And it finishes with skillful arrangement on handmade ceramics atop a 400-year old cypress counter. Rare delicacies mingle with the familiar, allowing guests entry into the world of Shibumi, where traditional technique is applied to local ingredients and LA flavors.”
You been yet @Aesthete?
Yup. Walk-in, eat at bar, pay, leave.
And now with Metro Bike Share, you don’t even need to drive, or Uber. At least for the trip to Bestia.
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Yeah, I made a post.
I also went back and ate literally their entire menu 2 weeks ago, but I was with friends and they covered my meal, so I did not take photos. I bought them a nice bottle of sake though.
I think it’s a place that lends itself more to individual dining or maybe just 2 people, but the food is incredibly good for the price.
All I can say about the pretentiousness is, is it still pretentious if they back it up?
Yup, and 7 days a week, till 11 pm. Never have to wonder if it is an “off day”. I just show up, drink, eat, pay, leave. Is why it was my answer in the “comfort” thread as well. Well like half the time I stay after hours and geek out with the somm, or I meet people there and get into conversations that last a while… but in general, yeah…
Yes.
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I guess I don’t know what pretentious means then, but I don’t care what a place puts on their website if the food is absurdly good when I show up at the restaurant. I have never even seen their website to be honest, but I can’t think of a website that would keep me from eating incredible food.
Uh, if it’s intolerable, then just skip it haha
You haven’t eaten at Hatchet Hall right? You should join that cult before the Shibumi brotherhood anyway =P
FYI I tried to make a reservation 60 days in advance for 6 people. I went to open table and called on the first day reservations for September 17th were released. The only reservations I could get for a Saturday night on both open table and calling the restuarant were for 5:30pm and 9:30pm. I settled for a 4 person reservation at 7:45. Bestia is a very good restaurant but I find it crazy that I couldn’t get a reasonable reservation 60 days in advance. They must be holding these tables for other people because they have a bunch of 6 tops.
That’s because they scalp the prime time spots to reserve and table8. if you want a prime time reservation, you’ll have to pay for it.
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I love that I eat at this place so often for free more and more lol
I knew some places were doing this but I’m morally opposed to paying for a reservation. I don’t necessarily know why this is different than say paying Ticketmaster for buying/printing tickets at home but I don’t like it. Too many good choices of places to eat at where you don’t have to pay for a reservation.
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Agreed
i find it hard to parse how paying for a reservation is morally different than greasing a host to get a (better) table or tipping
the doorman on the way IN to a hotel.
or, frankly, tipping at all, if one intends to return to a restaurant and expect “better” service.
restaurants and bars sell things. a reservation is just something else to sell. i don’t find it any more morally repugnant than the ridiculous hoops some modern restaurants make you go through to even get a reservation, or god forbid, put a goddamn non refundable “deposit” on a table.
if i could get a table at a reasonable time not three light years in advance at, oh, i don’t know, let’s say…maude/trois mec/n/naka/wherever, i’m morally o.k. with doing so rather than having to call eight months prior to when i want to eat or call at a certain time during a certain moon phase whilst lying in a pit full of itchy leaves when they decide to “open” the reservations.
to each their own.
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there is no practical difference, except when you grease a host you are probably screwing someone who actually got there before you.
The more I think about it the more I see this becoming the norm. Restaurants are implementing demand/surge pricing not that dissimilar to airlines and sports teams. Better seats on busier flights and games against the most popular teams cost more money to see.
Didn’t realize this trend was gaining this much traction in LA. There are almost 100 restaurants along on Reserve. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to go to some of these restaurants on shorter notice (2-4 weeks). These are all places I’d like to go to in the future but probably won’t until I can get around the idea of paying for reservations. Old habits I guess.
Bestia
Redbird
Hinoki & the Bird
Wolf
Sushi Tjusita
Officine Berea
Rustic Canyon
Melisse
Mare