Salt & Straw
Happy Birthday Elvis – Banana pudding ice cream, Marionberry Jam from Oregon Hill Farms along with homemade peanut butter-bacon butterfingers
Salted, Malted, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Almond Brittle with Salted Ganache
Black Olive Brittle & Goat Cheese
Located on Larchmont and imported from Portland it was largely a lack of time that prevented a visit to Salt & Straw during a late-2014 trip to Los Angeles but unwilling to repeat the mistake this time around it was just after lunch at Barrel & Ashes that I approached the equally ampersanded spot and with smiling service from the moment of entry to the very last bite it was a pleasure to find rumors of lessened quality entirely false as each of the LA Signatures, as well as the seasonal specials, shined.
Reportedly marred by increased prices and a lower quality base by those obsessed with all things Portlandia, but featuring the same satin texture and innovative flavors to my own Salt & Straw-experienced tongue it was with no less than six samples that my experience began and with both the Stumptown Coffee & Compartes Love Nuts and Santa Ynez Valley Walnut Oil proving quite exemplary the eventual choice of four flavors to fill a $10 ‘flight’ was a difficult one to say the least.
Opting to invest in options spreading the palate it was with savories progressing to intensely sweet that the tasting evolved and with the characteristic salinity of olives juxtaposing lightly funky goat cheese subtle transitioning to Almond Brittle and Salted Ganache the opening duo was almost as elegant as a plated cheese course, the follow-up of crispy cookie dough in a light vanilla base an abrupt transition to sweetness just barely reined in by the malt while “Happy Birthday Elvis” proved to be one of the most complex and delicious Ice Creams I’ve had to date – the base indistinguishable from its namesake Southern dessert with diverse textures and flavors ranging from tart berries to the briny sapor of bacon adding all sorts of intrigue until I was scraping the bowl clean.
http://saltandstraw.com/
