Hi @Sgee,
Thanks. 
Have you been to Californios yet? Or did you try Pujol and Quintonil?
Unfortunately never been to any of them.
The only āfancyā Mexican dinner Iāve had so far is Taco Maria. I tried to book the Pujol pop-up dinner earlier this month at Cosme, however the reservations were literally gone in 60 seconds 
I believe Californios has hosted the chefs from either Pujol and/or Quintonil for collaborative dinners in the past, and Chef Cantu has also traveled to Mexico to dine and/or collaborate there as well.
Californios has an absolutely incredible team, and they make it look so effortless throughout dinner and have fun while doing so, and appear passionate and energetic. Iāve been once or twice when Chef Cantu was not there, and the current chef de cuisine David Yoshimura is amazing at what he does (his past experience is quite impressive), in addition to the rest of the kitchen staff and chef de partida, and delievered a world class dining experience. It looks like the previous sommelier Wendy Shoemaker has left (she was awesome too). Definitely world class service; they really give you personal attention and care, and it doesnāt come across as pretentious, no stuffiness, and very very genuine. Plus their interactions are very enjoyable especially if you also engage them and try to pick their brain on wine, sourcing, techniques, pairings, flavors etc.
Pretty much most of the major Californios staff (including kitchen folks) have their wine somm certifications, so they are already thinking about how food and wine go together. That is quite an accomplishment for the restaurant.
There was one time they couldnāt get uni, so they substituted it with toro (and it was not a great piece). Glad you got Hokkaido uni, mine was Santa Barbara when it was available.
Kudos to Chef Cantu for trying to use 30 day dry aged rib eye, too bad it was too lean and chewy. When they did buffalo, squab, a very specific breed of lamb when it was in season, as the animal protein course, it blew away any A5 they tried to use before. Did you give the management feedback about the beef being too dry? We want them to improve and they would be more than happy to listen.
Looking forward to when I return again next!
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Hi @beefnoguy,
Well said! 
Yes, the service at Californios is so good; truly world-class, and not stuffy nor hovering, etc.
Yah, we ended up emailing the restaurant afterwards. That was the only miss of the night, even though it was well cooked (as you can see in the pic).
And thanks for pointing out their Chef de Cuisine, I just looked and saw that he served at Michelin 3 Star Ryugin in Tokyo (impressive), as well as Asador Etxebarri (Spain).
Thanks for the rec again.
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