providence

Last night I finally was able to go to Providence and experience the chef's tasting menu in all it's glory. I had been waiting for the right time, and this was it. I do not have a menu to recount exactly what we ate and drank, but it was definitely fantastic. I will say that I expected it to be the penultimate LA dining experience and it wasn't. I don't think it came close to the full experience that our night at Bastide offered.

The bright spots were the amuse bouche of mojito, greyhound, and gin and tonic raviolos. Crazy, just crazy. And delicious. The lamb course was great, as was the lobster & sweetbreads dish. I cannot remember the preparation on either, but it was fantastic. The cheese cart was good, although the one at Patina is better. And can't say I've ever thought of having celery sorbet before...

I can't remember the other dishes, but I know there was an uni w/ cauliflower mousse, pork belly, kanpachi?? Wish I asked for them to write everything down for me...

The wine pairings were all great. A lot of whites because of the amount of fish that was served, but all very good. Nothing really blew me away though.

All in all, a wonderful, wonderful night. My expectations were just a tad higher. I wanted the ultra-formal experience and it was bit more casual. The service was great and there was just a moment or two at the beginning when wine was coming out too early or too much time between courses. But it was worth the $$, about $630 total for the two of us I think. Next time I go big, I'll pick another restaurant, but I will definitely be back here for a simple a la carte dinner off the regular menu. Cannot go wrong.