Patina

It has been many years since I have been to Patina. The current one located just outside the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles.  I had tickets to see "Salute to Vienna" for my husband and myself and we were to have dinner at Patina after the matinee.  Since he had just had surgery, the Dr. thought it was not a good idea to go, so I ended up going with Sujata and celebrated her birthday instead.

We were very well taken care of from beginning to end.  Perry, our server was very polite, professional and knew his business.  It's funny  how he asked if we would like to hear the description of each dish or if we'd rather he skip it so we can get on our way to devouring our food.  For amuse bouche, they served us lentil soup. It was very good; smooth yet you could taste the lentils which was not overpowered by cream or any other flavor.

For our appetizer, we ordered the Fall Vegetable Salad which consisted of root vegetables and poached pears in golden balsamic. These vegetables tasted so fresh and that is because the vegetables were REALLY fresh.  They were also sliced very thin like shaves of Parmesan. As you all know, I don't get excited over salads too often but last night, I felt like a rabbit in heaven.

Sujata, my vegetarian friend was about to order the Cod till Perry explained to her that they are not fully cooked.  We appreciated the information as she didn't want fish that was not cooked all the way.  She would have been disappointed if she was not informed so she really appreciated the information. I could imagine her staring at it and it would not have been an enjoyable dinner. So, she ended up ordering an appetizer which they made into an entree. The Seasonal Glazed Vegetable Mosaic with Jus de cuisson, lemon oil.  That was an architectural work of art. It truly was a mosaic. According to her it was wonderful. Perry explained to us that the vegetables were individually cooked.

I decided on the Butter Poached Maine Lobster with Sunchokes, Treviso and Smoked Citrus Emulsion.  It was the best lobster I ever had. The softness and tenderness of it reminded me of cotton candy.  I have had very good poached lobster before in expensive restaurants but this one was truly in it's own league. I very easily could have eaten 2 of those! Oh well,  its quality not quantity.

For dessert, Sujata ordered the Butternut Squash with coffee ice cream; for the true vegetarian what else could you ask for?

I ordered the Pineapple Dessert which was fresh pineapple with Crispy Meringue and
an unusual  green ice cream.....no, not green tea which I dislike; it was Cilantro. On the side was a soy sesame reduction.  The combination of flavors worked very well.  It was another nice surprise.

At the end, Perry brought another surprise for the birthday girl. A couple of wonderful macarons.  On our way out I spoke with Mr. Kevin Welby, the general manager. I told him how very pleased we were with the food and service.  Everything came together, unlike our experience not too long ago with  Alaine Ducasse's restaurant, Mix, wherein the food was fabulous but the servers were "robotic" and didn't have any passion which took away from our dining experience.

The next time you crave quality food and want to experience the fine art of dining, visit Patina at 141 S Grand Avenue in Los Angeles and be sure to say hello to Mr. Welby (as in Marcus- for those of you old enough to remember good old Dr. Welby)