This year's dineLA is pretty exceptional. Spago, Melisse and Providence all participated in this event. I have yet to try Providence, so I took the opportunity to take guai lo to providence for his birthday.
They have a choice between the dineLA menu and the signature menu, which signature menu has a couple more courses. We picked the dineLA menu and ordered a few other sides. It was an exceptional dining experience. Everything was perfect and the service was impeccable.
Amuse Bouche
Four amuse bouche total.
Pisco Sour - Peruvian cocktail in a jelly form, delicious.
Some grains wrapped in some kind of leaf (didn't quite catch it when the waiter explained it to me)- very light and earthy
Mussel bruschetta and soup - Crunchy toast with flavorful mussel on top, and buttery broth
Something extra
We ordered the uni egg and half dozen oyster on top of the dineLA menu.
Uni Egg - sea urchin, champagne beurre blanc, brioche croutons
oft boiled egg mixed with sea urchin and the sauce is just AMAZING. It is on the menu since they open and is never taken off the menu (for good reason!).
Oyster on the half shell - shigokou(wa), kumamoto (wa), naked cowboy (ny), traditional mignonette, cocktail sauce comsomme
Oyster is super fresh and the sauce is light so that you can still taste the oyster.
Appetizers
Black bass sashimi - pomegranate, ruby red grapefruit, ume
Loved the freshness and acidity from the fruit, perfect on the fish.
Nancy's day boat sea scallop - buckwheat, parsnip, pepitas
Very well cooked scallop, and the seasoning was not overpowering. The nuts were great addition to the texture.
House-made bread
There were three types of bread: seaweed bread, white bun and brioche. They were all very good and the brioche was my favorite.
Main course
Liberty farms duck - celery root, pear, chamomile
Best duck I have ever had. Nice crust, moist and warm inside.
Thai Snapper - black truffle, carrots, peas, parsnip
ery nice crust, slight softened by the sauce but still good. I loved the seasoning, but the duck was a clear winner.
Desserts
Fallen Branch - parsnip, champagne anglaise, illanka
It was.... interesting. Interesting combination of flavors, not my favorite dessert but I love the presentation! Fallen Branch!
Kawa-ishi - kinako, black sesame
I loved this dessert! Green tea, chocolate and black sesame are perfect match together. Also love the combination of soft ice-cream and crunchy flakes.
Petit fours - peppermint macaron, lychee coconut candy and truffle with hazelnut crust
Never a big fan of peppermint, and still not. I like the lychee coconut flavor candy and truffle, but they are slightly sweet and heavy at the end.
Take-home breakfast - Brioche muffin
Soft brioche with sweet filling. t was really nice to have something to take home, and it was delicious as well.
This is the best dineLA I have ever had. I was very skeptical at first, because the dineLA menu is often not as good as the normal menu of the restaurant and is usually disappointing. Providence did a great job with dineLA, and it was very nice to be able to have that kind of quality for a much cheaper price. I really hope they do it again!