Did a bunch of DineLA meals and the highlights were Redbird, PF and Wine (see vegan thread), Yapa and Auburn.
It was a $29 four course set menu for DineLA at Yapa, but the dishes were thoughtfully composed and complemented one another.
Drink: “Palo Mine” | palo santo vermouth, pisco, bergamot $12
Food: Yellowtail Causa; Seasonal Vegetable Tiradito; Braised Pork Belly Over Rice Stew; Sorbet with Meringue
Looking forward to going back, definitely a welcome addition.
Had a total of 7 courses at Auburn on Melrose.
Four Savory courses and drink (Chapel Down Brut sparkling wine included with $99 DineLA menu) - Amuse - Puffed Pork Ears and Parsnip purée tartlet; warm sourdough bread with avocado butter; 1) Persimmons; 2) Japanese Sea Bream; 3) Beets; and 4) Koji aged Sonoma duck. The manager asked me which was my favorite and I told him the sea bream — he mentioned the fermented finger lime used in the dish was a 6 month project.
The use of fermented components in the savories was a bit too pervasive for me, but I’ll try Auburn for brunch in a few months and maybe try the tasting menu again in a year. Love the space and the front of the house hospitality was very pleasant.
Three desserts: 1) Yogurt mushroom caramel; 2) Apple chantilly and 3) off menu Baba soaked in gin; mignardise of earl grey meringue with avocado creme. Enjoyed all desserts, but it was the Baba which brought me in — I saw it listed a week ago on the bar menu posted on their website, but by the time I went to Auburn Sunday the 26th, it was already removed from the bar menu. However, when I mentioned to my server I was hoping to try the Baba dessert, the server checked with the pastry chef, Dyan Ng who offered to make one just for me. Score!
I read that the pastry chef trained with Alain Ducasse and it certainly showed. I had a traditional Rum Baba flambeed tableside at Ducasse’s Benoit in NYC a few years ago and was curious how Auburn’s version would turn out. While it wasn’t served with pyrotechnics, the textures were perfect and I thought the use of gin instead of rum was ingenious for it echoed the overall woodsy notes of savories and sweets of the restaurant’s menu.
Not sure why the baba dessert was taken off Auburn’s menu. Trois Mec initially listed a rum baba dessert on their December menu, but when I went in late December with a friend, the host explained they took it off (supposedly wasn’t popular with a family member?!?) and I also saw that Pasjoli has removed rum baba from its menu as well. Too bad because I’ve definitely been a fan of this type of dessert from my college days of living in Tokyo.
Decided to go out with a bang this month and started a 21 day elimination diet yesterday so I won’t be dining out for a while.
PS: Auburn’s DineLA dinner consists of five courses and I ordered an additional two courses.