Our server, Brandon was charming, informative and very down to earth. The other servers that brought in the food were also professional. Since our voucher was good for the 6 course meal, all Brandon had to know was any food restrictions or allergies.
We were started with this one roll, their house bread with the herb butter. This was no ordinary roll. It was sour dough, crunchy and chewy at the same time and just wonderful. It had sea salt sprinkled all over so it was sour and salty at the same time. It was unfortunate that we had to split the little roll. Oh well, we thought we don't really need the bread as there were more things to come. They brought us a tiny glass with Mussel on a skewer and below it was a refreshing lime juice. At the bottom of the glass was uni and an avocado mousse. We were instructed to eat the mussel first, drink the juice and scoop the uni and avocado mousse the last. It was very good. Sandi who doesn't like mussels, asked me what that was and was surprised when I told her it was a mussel. She agreed it was delicious. There is hope for her.
The next dish was Braised Pork Belly with a Raw Oyster with a spritz of lemon juice, sprinkled with sea salt, topped with coconut broth and dried chamomile flowers. We both picked them up and popped them in our mouths. I love oysters and Sandi only likes them fried but even she liked this one. The oysters were followed by beautiful Prawns with onions and a cabbage puree and pistachios. This had a bit of a sour flavor but oh so good!
The next surprise was a work of art. It was Cauliflower of all colors including dehydrated ones with pickled onions and sea salt. It looked like it had a dressing which I forgot to ask our server what it could have been. I almost turned vegetarian as I could eat this everyday! The final dish was the Hanger Steak with broccoli, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms in a bed of potato puree. I could not believe our luck as everything was wonderful.
Just as Brandon brought us our dessert which was Dark Belgian Chocolate on a pecan brittle with raspberry and salted whipped cream, I asked him if I could have another roll as I still had some wine to finish. He happily said yes...and he took the dessert away to keep it cold while we consumed the roll. Now that's flexibility and service. The dessert was great. I asked him who the pastry chef was and it turned out to by the wife of the chef. After we inhaled our desserts, intuitive Brandon must have sensed we could have something else so he brought us (on him) a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream with Dehydrated Vegetables. Sounds horrible, what a way to ruin an ice cream BUT OMG......it was soooooo gooooooood!!!! Unbelievable, again, I could easily have turned vegetarian. Just as he took the dish away, he managed to ask us if we had room for a slice of the Caramel Popcorn. We were too full by this time but this sounded intriguing and I could not let it pass. Out came the slice of the cake. We both thought it was way too sweet. We should have stopped after the ice cream. Serves us right for not knowing when to stop.
The restaurant is named Scratch Bar because everything is fresh and made from Scratch. We loved this restaurant. The servers are not pretentious, they know their stuff, the ambiance is informal. The food is very good. I commend Chef Phillip Frankland Lee and his wife, Pastry Chef Margarita Lee. They have a good thing going. Scratch Bar has a Chef's Counter wherein you can make a reservation to eat inside the kitchen while Chef Phillip cooks a 14 course dinner for $140 per person. They are located at 111 N. La Cienega Blvd. in Beverly Hills. They are next to Matsuhisa and across Lawry's.
I thank Erik for this wonderful Christmas present.
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