Susan Feniger's Street

742 N Highland

Los Angeles, CA 90038
http://www.eatatstreet.com/

There's a certain joy in collecting things. Baseball cards. Postage stamps. Beanie babies. Although not in the general sense of "collections", we've started deriving a certain sense of fulfillment by collecting (i.e. eating at) "Top Chef" restaurants. Susan Feniger was a very entertaining character on this last season of Top Chef: Masters. Her lively personality plus the concept of "gourmet" street foods from around the world captured our attention. So it was only a matter of time before we made a date for Street.

1. kaya toast - toasted bread spread thick with coconut jam; served with a soft fried egg drizzled in dark soy and white pepper - The dish that got Chef Feniger eliminated. Never-the-less, this was THE dish that we wanted to try. And it lived up to expectations. The dish looks incredibly simple. However, that simplicity did not equate to a lack of depth. A range of elements were present in the kaya toast: crunchy and soft, runny and crispy, sweet and savory, creamy and fresh. All inhabiting one plate. Quite the tasty delight.

2. some kind of corn dish - Not the most visually appealling plate. There was an intermingling of multiple "mushy" textures. But this dish worked. The presence of a slightly sweet almond milk brought everything together. Many of the elements were recognizable on their own, but we've never had anything quite like this before. Surprisingly good.

3. moroccan spiced winter squash with wood roasted chestnuts, candied pepita seeds and popcorn - A bit of a contrast to the corn dish above. Many recognizable elements, but they didn't seem to plate well together. The squash would have been good were it not so overbearing. The heavy flavors should have been tempered a bit more by the cream, but it was not. The presense of the popcorn felt out of place. The chestnuts also got lost.

4. kaluha pulled pork - Excitement met with disappointment. Having had kaluha pork at a variety of Hawaiian establishments before, we were very excited to see Chef Feniger's take on the classic. However, the pork was dry and that pretty much popped our high flying expectations. From a flavor perspective, it was less attractive than some fast food places we've tried. The macaroni salad was nothing special. Rice was overcooked. A pretty big letdown.

Another hit and miss experience at a Top Chef restaurant. One great dish. One surprisingly good dish. One surprisingly bad dish and a big letdown. The service left a lot to be desired as well. As is usually the case, we were caught up in traffic and arrived late for our reservations. However, we gave the restaurant a call before our reservation time to let them know we were running late and when they should expect us. Having arrived on-time to our postponed time slot, we were left to stand around for another 15-20 minutes before we were seated. This probably wouldn't be a big deal were the hostess a little nicer about it.

The restaurant was pretty full on this particular Thursday night. It took a while for us to put in our order. The first dishes came out quickly but there was a 20-30 minute delay before we received our second course. Some food came out luke warm (kaluha pork) and dishes took a long time to get cleared. Hopefully, due to an unexpected level of clientele from her increased popularity on Top Chef: Masters. However, it's been a couple of months since the showed aired and we would think that if the demand is so high, steps would have been taken to accommodate the additional business. Overall, the kaya toast is the only reason to return. Nothing else, from our experience, would really bring us back.