I am looking for restaurants with very unique food, that is basically distinctive to the restaurant itself.
I want places where you don’t just say “oh, it’s Italian food” or “it’s Korean food.”
The restaurants of Jordan Kahn have fit this bill for me so far (Destroyer and Meteora—haven’t been to Vespertine yet but that would obviously meet the requirements as well).
I love pasta and pizza as much as anybody, but at this point I feel like literally half the restaurants in LA are doing just that (and many are very good). And it can just be uninteresting to me (though still tasty).
I just like to see the distinct vision of a chef that isn’t tied to a specific country’s style of cooking.
Yes, Poltergeist does fit the bill! I have been there and yes, it absolutely was an individual chef’s vision. Overall, it did seem like a few of the dishes we got were a little too sweet (and I have a big sweet tooth) but I did enjoy it.
He’s not still doing the backyard service, is he? I thought he dropped that when he opened his new brick-and-mortar restaurant. His new place is Checo’s Seafood.