Los Angeles, CA 90067
(310) 279-4180
http://www.craftrestaurant.com/
Craft 2.0- We had come last time for the DineLA menu. There were some highs (brussel sprouts, mushroom medley) and some lows (pretty much everything else). But we had three $10 coupons that were set to expire soon so we figured we give Colicchio's establishment another shot.
1. amuse - cool cucumber soup with fennel - A summery type dish. Cool palate cleanser. Cucumber and fennel were pickled, but the soup wasn't noticibly acidic.
2. kumamoto oysters - Some of the worse Kumamotos we've had. Pretty flavorless. Lacked the usual sweetness you get with these little shells.
3. wagyu beef tongue - Not sure how these were prepared, as we couldn't decide whether they were cooked or uncooked. It was served with a mild horseradish sauce underneath, with went very well with the tender tongue. Four thumbs up.
4. yorkshire pudding - accompanied the wagyu beef tongue - Not sure what the point of this was. Only yorkshire pudding we'd had before was at Lawry's. This was nothing close to that. It was dense and not very tasty. And how it compliments the beef tongue is anyone's guess.
5. chicory salad with farm fresh egg - Bleh. We thought we'd try something new. Chicory is not something we'd ever order again. Very bitter. Without the egg and/or anchovies, it would have been inedible. We got through about half this dish.
6. hen of the woods - Not quite as good as the version we had at Per Se. There was an unpleasant earthiness to this fungus. It still has a cool name though.
7. braised fennel - We decided that it tasted like sausages. Not in the sense that it tasted like meat, but having had fennel only as a component of sausages before this dish, eating it in it's original form, reminded us of eating sausages.
8. berkshire pork with kumquats - This was a very tasty dish. The kumquats worked well with this white meat. The only negative was that there were various pieces of twine left on. Some of which i chewed into. The waiter and manager both came by and apologized. Although we both understood that mistakes happen, you typically wouldn't expect that type of mistake to be made at a restaurant of this caliber.
9. pre-dessert, panna cotta with prune puree - The highlight of the night. The best panna cotta we've ever had. I thought the prune puree worked well with the dessert, but D found it unnecessary. Compliments to the pastry chef!
10. beignets - Light and airy. Sweet tufts of fried goodness. The chocolate was a better compliment than the honey.
11. mignardises, caramel popcorn, shortbread with black pepper, homemade chocolate
We were comped our desserts, coffee and after dinner wine for the twine we found in the pork. Were it not for the pork and the panna cotta, we'd likely never return. But given the attentiveness of the wait staff, we might give Craft a third go-round.