The Gist: http://www.alma-la.com/
The Why: Truthfully, prior to the Kings announcing their game I didn’t even know Alma was an official restaurant rather than the Ari Taymor’s pop-up I’d read about months earlier when planning a previous visit to the city of angels, yet the moment I started looking into the scene I couldn’t help but come across the former Water + Flower chef’s restaurant as perhaps ‘the’ place to go in Los Angeles today. From Gold’s gushing review to strong words of praise from friends I trust (some who’d been, some who’d only been to the pop up, and some who hadn’t been at all) it seemed that whatever Taymor was doing in his new downtown location was enough to get Los Angeles diners excited – something I realize happens frequently only to have the restaurant disappear half-a-year later – but here it seemed different, like whatever was happening was a legitimate change to the dining scene…I immediately did my research and put it at the top of my short list – a spot it never departed in my week of planning.
The Reservation: A hot spot with limited seating in downtown LA I knew there was a chance that such a last-minute trip would leave me locked out of Alma for this trip and appearing to be completely booked via Opentable with phones down on the Sunday when the Kings game was announced I opted to e-mail and within four hours received a response from a woman named Ashleigh who not only confirmed that they could fit me in, but that they’d be happy to do so for the tasting menu at the chef’s counter – right at the pass – and I gladly accepted, 1 diner at 6:00pm.
The Setting: Familiar with Los Angeles in the global sprawling sense but less so in the downtown area I triangulated my parking to make Staples, Industriel, Nickel Diner, and Alma all an easy walk and yet if I didn’t have an address or GPS I’d have walked right past Alma; to say the least it is a small spot. Featuring a wooden exterior reminding me of something in Chicago’s Fulton Market I walked through the doors to find the space equally subtle; a blonde wood hostess podium and chairs with a white countertop and tables beneath elegant but restrained lighting – Spartan and clean without that ‘trying to hard’ minimalism feel. With a solid selection of quiet-Alt/Indie including xx and Placebo playing from a speaker near the kitchen (and my seat right at the counter,) my view for the 2 hours I was there featured the four chefs, two servers, and a dishwasher working largely in silence turning out plate after plate for a steady-but-never-full-house crowd.
The Service: In my experience it is hard to receive bad service when the chef is standing 2-feet from your right arm and as such I have little to note about Alma aside from a couple of oddities that comes with their pending liquor license (and thus current BYOB status) including plates sometimes lingering a little too long and the expectation that the diner pour her/his own water from the provided bottle. For the part of the individual servers, everyone from the hostess to the chefs presented plates and descriptions were thorough, requests granted, and feedback sought (if you get bread with your tasting menu when you go, that was me.) Equally excellent, given my proximity to the kitchen, was the chance to chat with members of the team…Night + Market is now on my shortlist for next visit and had I not already had reservations at Bestia the following night I’d have placed it on my list as well.
The Food and Drink: Water, one complementary house soda, bread and butter (requested,) and 13-course tasting menu for $85.
Turmeric Soda: As I did not bring wine the chef suggested I try a house soda and sent out this; a spicy and complex drink with fine carbonation much like a champagne but really quite overwhelming until the ice melted to dilute. Not something I’d seek out or order the drink definitely fit the scene and provided a great palate cleanse between courses.
Alsatian Beer Bread with Cultured Butter: I’d heard Alma had an excellent bread program and saw it on the menu yet half-way into the meal I realized it was not included in the tasting, a situation I requested to remedy by ordering some bread and although I was not charged (and it is rumored to now be included in the tasting) I’d have happily paid twice the menu price for this rich and malty bread, warmed in the oven and served with a sort of sweet/sour butter – good on its own, great at sopping up sauces…order it if you go.
Seaweed and Tofu beignet, yuzu kosho, lime: The first of three items listed as “Bites,” essentially one bite snacks or canapés, the first bite of the night was the restaurant’s signature savory beignet of seaweed served over a sweet and herbal cream with a sprits of lime, the donut a bit more dense than I’d have preferred but at the same time not a bit oily and very nicely balanced – I’d have definitely eaten a full order solo if dining a la carte.
Oyster Wrap with cilantro, Serrano, fingerlime: Another fried bite, this time a briny oyster resting atop a ham and topped with cilantro, lime, and jalapeno, was every bit as good as the first but here focusing more of the palate on salty than sweet I particularly enjoyed the touch of heat, a rarity for me, as it helped smooth out the oyster’s brine thus bringing a unique mineral note to the mix.
Shitake, cabbage, cultured cream: Clearly working the palate through these first few courses the third bit was pure umami – the obvious effect of the lightly heated mushroom but brought to a point through the use of such rich cream and house fermented cabbage plus an interesting mint-meets-spice note from the florals resting atop the composition.
Radish: If the first three plates were canapés then this one was the amuse and perhaps in an attempt to continue the trend of new tastes and sensations I think the team took a big chance here; one I respect but didn’t particularly enjoy as the bitterness of the common radish was presented in five forms. Interesting in temperature and texture as a panna cotta, ice, raw, and powdered version of the vegetable mingled with its stems the it was simply a matter of flavor – bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter, and bitter – that didn’t work for me…thankfully it would be the only miss of the night.
Dungeness Crab, Fennel, Citrus, Sourdough, Malt Vinegar: Having watched Chef Taymor peel each individual segment of the orange by hand I couldn’t help but love the care that went into this dish and with fresh picked crab, lightly cooked fennel, and a sourdough crisp all lightly dressed with malt vinegar and touch of fennel cream this was perhaps the best crab dish I’ve had since the mesmerizing soft-shell a half-year prior at Taro in DC. Two parts exquisite ingredients and one part skill and beauty of preparation this would be only the fifth most memorable course of the meal.
Sunchoke Soup, Egg Yolk, Smoked Date, Amaranth: Admitting that this is one of those courses that doesn’t *look* like much I can say without batting an eye that it was the most interesting of the trip; a thick vegetal potage poured tableside over a poached egg yolk that, when mixed, released rich campfire aromatics but when tasted was at once sweet, savory, smoky, and even slightly ‘woodsy’ – an amalgam of flavors unlike anything I’ve ever tasted and the sort of dish that leaves you reeling, at once wanting a whole crockpot full of it and also wishing you could go back and re-experience the first eye-opening bite over and over again.
Potato, Uni, Ink: For me, this dish was sabotaged by two things – or perhaps just one – and neither having to do with the dish itself, but rather that it arrived far too quickly after the soup and that it arrived after something as outstanding as the soup at all. Described as a ‘potato risotto’ but mostly just finely cut potatoes that added a bit of tooth to the otherwise creamy pudding of what I can only assume was butter, squid ink, and perhaps mascarpone the flavor was subtle but sweet, a lovely counterpoint to the exemplary urchin.
Winter Salad of Shoots, Leaves, Roots, Seeds, and Horseradish Crème Fraiche: Call me American, call me uncouth, but raw vegetables as a salad rarely wow me and although this was good it was still a salad – slightly bitter, plenty textural, and nicely complimented by the surprisingly subtle notes of horseradish.
Aged Duck Boudin Blanc, Brussels Sprouts, Apple, Green Mustard: Unabashed love of duck and game birds in general this dish came with great expectations and managed to meet them all as the creamy textured sausage wasnearly naked of spice, instead letting the duck’s characteristic notes shine while sliced cooked apples, warm Brussels sprout leaves, and a bright (and decidedly un-mustard) sauce all did their parts in highlighting the diverse flavors of the protein. On many menus this would have been the highlight of the meal, but like the soup it was just one of many truly interesting and delicious takes on an ingredient I’ve seen many times before.
Carrot, Porcini, Maitake, Bloomsdale Spinach: I don’t eat a lot of carrots – I don’t really know why aside from the fact that I like other vegetables better – but with that said, this was without doubt the dish of the night, a simple presentation of vegetables that was not at all simple on the palate. Beginning at its base with carrots of various sizes and varieties, some wood roasted and others still snappy and sweet, subsequently sautéed with mushrooms and spinach in a pan with butter, olive oil, and spices it was the sort of dish that one could overlook on the menu but as it was – earthy, sweet, bitter, and texturally complex – it was the sort of dish you eat one small bite at a time in order to savor each morsel and feel a bit despaired when you finally finish; the sort of dish that sends me back to tasting menus time and again as it was something I’d have never ordered.
Jimenez Lamb, Cabbage, Truffled Buttermilk, Hay potato: For the final savory of the evening I was admittedly feeling a bit full and tired from the long day, but the moment this pair of chops arrived I knew I’d have no trouble justifying a strong finish; particularly as the high quality chops weren’t even the highlight of the dish, but rather the crispy lamb belly and the manner in which the smooth buttermilk and – for lack of a better word – ‘country air’ subtleties of the roasted potato flooded the palate with each bite.
Grapefruit Soda: It was a palate cleanser. It was grapefruit. It was carbonated. It was fine.
Olive and Citrus: Without a dedicated pastry kitchen (and without space for one in its current format) Alma’s desserts trended towards those easily prepared from stored items and although good enough, this composition of black olive biscotti with orange segments, olive oil gelato, and tangerine sorbet certainly did not live up to the high standards of the savory courses. Slightly briny, plenty sweet, and a nice balance of textures it was not a ‘bad’ course at all, just one where I think the team could exercise a little more effort and inspiration considering the quality of the rest of the meal.
The Verdict: Minimalistic, but not to a fault, and relevant to current trend of local/seasonal ‘terroir’ driven cuisine while implementing enough technique to coax the maximum flavor out of each ingredient there really is not much I can say about Alma that isn’t captured in the dishes above but if I had to sum up what I enjoyed most about the experience it would be the honesty of the cuisine and the willingness to push each flavor to a maximum without overcomplicating the plate and losing flavors and textures in the shuffle. Admittedly not every single course ‘wowed’ me and desserts definitely need some work to catch up to the savories, but at the same time there were no wasted ingredients or misplaced plates here – the narrative was fluid and the ingredients were superior even when the chef’s palate differed from my own. A great restaurant even at such a young stage I’m truly excited to see how the space and the team mature with time and hopefully, despite Los Angeles’ fickle nature, the wait list will grow as the accolades accrue and the liquor license is granted; at $115 for tax/tip/menu all-in I’d be surprised if there is a fine dining restaurant in Los Angeles offering better value for the dollar than Alma right now, and if there is I’d love to know where…otherwise I’ll probably be seated at that bar again in a little over a month.