Four of us were very happy campers dining at Providence a few nights ago. This is really the "ultimate" dining experience. I have been there many times and it never ceases to amaze and surprise my palate. This time, I was with my brother Gary, Sandi and Piero who was new to Providence. The lady announced that our table was ready though we had a choice to sit in the main dining room or a table by the kitchen. I was surprised by the offer since I never knew of this secluded room. It was a table away from everyone, a small private room on it's own with a full view of the kitchen. We all looked at each other and concurred we indeed wanted that table providing we don't get asked to do the dishes!
We loved this little room. I wondered why they asked us; was it because we looked like the type who would enjoy it or did we look like the type that shouldn't be seen therefore hide us from the public, ha.....that gave us something to think and laugh about.
We all settled for the 7 course Chef's Tasting Menu. The three of us old timers knew that even if the portions were small, there were a lot of extras. We also knew to limit consumption of their delicious rolls and mini brioche served with butter and sea salt. All that knowledge just went down the drain as it was hard not to have more than one of the warm and soft brioche. We were served 6 amuse-bouches before our first course. The first one was a Passion Fruit Bubble followed by Lobster Wonton with Daikon radish. The third was a Buckwheat Bellini with scallop Dijon. I only wish this blog could record our moaning and groaning and all the other sounds that came from us as we sampled these appetizers.
A Puff Pastry with Mornay cheese sauce and black truffles came next. The fifth amuse-bouche was Black Mussels chopped with lemon zest on seaweed focaccia. This was served with the mussel juice in a foam on a little shot glass. Both Sandi and Piero cringe with the mention of the word mussels but they enjoyed it. I was very proud of my little ones! (they've grown up)
I was happy to see the Cigar Wagyu which is one of my favorites. The presentation alone amuses me all the time. These Wagyu Cigars are served on a real tin cigar box. They really do look like cigars. They were nice and crisp outside and tender and juicy inside.
Our first course of Fluke Sashimi arrived. It had pomegranate, ruby red grapefruit, ume powder and fingerling limes. I didn't hear any complaints from Piero or Sandi, in fact they were back to their "uhmm" and "ahhhs". Before our second course, they brought out another surprise; Smoked Sesame Shrimp Toast on sticks which we all loved. I forgot to mention that aside from the tasting menu, they had appetizers like oysters, caviar etc. Gary and I saw the Uni which we love so we talked the 2 into trying it hoping they wouldn't like it so we could eat their portions. It was served on an egg shell that sat on a ceramic duck's webbed foot. Egg yolk was the base with herbs, champagne butter, diced tomato and croutons. After the first bite, we all had an out of body experience. We were all transported to heaven.
The second course on the menu was Abalone which was served with eggplant, turnip and kombu. By this time, we were all very full and didn't know how we could go on but we struggled and went on to the third course; Nancy's Day Boat Sea Scallops with buckwheat, parsnip and pepitas. The scallop was slightly sweet and very tender. Our fourth course was the Black Gill Rockfish with smoked butterball potato, stinging nettle and watercress. I especially loved the skin; the fish was never fishy as should be and had a delicate flavor.
For the main course, we had a choice of Swordfish, Duck or A5-11.Wagyu. The highest quality is A5-12 which is only in Japan. I have had their Wagyu before and I wanted it again. Three of us ordered it and Gary had the Duck. The Wagyu was an extra $25 which we did not mind since this steak was so tender you didn't need a knife to cut it. This was served with a squash terrine. All 4 of us did not like the squash. Oh well, everything can't be perfect.
The sixth course was Apple-Cucumber which cleansed our palate. Right after that was the main dessert; Kawa-Ishi. This was made with kinako (powder from grilled and crushed soybean), and black sesame cake. It's beyond my comprehension how all these ingredients put together can taste so unbelievably deeeelicious.
The dessert was not the end of the meal. They brought out some petits fours. I was too tired to even take a picture of the lovely assortments of truffle, jellied candy and peanut butter macaron. I almost forgot to mention that our server, Martin was excellent. He asked us if everything was satisfactory. The answer was a unanimous yes except for the squash terrine that came with the Wagyu beef. He was apologetic. He brought out the bill and told us he deducted the 3 Wagyu beefs. We were all surprised as this was totally unexpected. I can understand deducting a portion but not the whole thing! BUT.....this is the thing that sets Providence apart from other restaurants. I have been to some that would not care or would just give you a free dessert. What Martin did was above and beyond and made our experience even more memorable.
Before we left, we were handed a little bag with a treat for breakfast the following day. The experience reminds me of the song that starts out: " Oh...what a night...." It truly was some night! Providence is located at 5955 Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles.
