Bobby Milheron isn’t the sort of chef who thumps his chest so that you’ll take a seat all the way down to his meals to fully take into account that he’s one of the great.
He’s quietly graced the kitchen at West restaurant for nearly years following Quang Dang’s departure, and style is what you’ll discover on the plates: Elegant, delicate, and calmly assured food.
And if you think of West as a unique event restaurant, the three-path spring, summer season, and fall menus will change your mind on that. The seasonal dinner menus limbo all the way down to $39 ahead, and that consists of an amuse-bouche and post-dessert mignardise. A two-course seasonal lunch menu is available at $29, plus petit fours. That, you have to agree, is a hell of an Haute deal.
The seasonal prix fixe menu is likewise determined at West’s sister restaurants in Whistler (Araxi and Il Caminetto), which give 4 or 5 publications for approximately $ forty-five at some point of the shoulder seasons.
I currently attempted the summer season 3-path menu at West, presented Sunday to Thursday. On Friday and Saturday, you need to arrive between five:30 and 6 p.M. For the prix fixe. A pre-theatre dinner, maybe?
There are three picks in every path, and a few may be upgraded with higher-value add-ons. (For instance, I should have delivered a bit of pan-roasted halibut to my albacore tuna fundamental dish for $10.)
The first path of heirloom tomatoes, avocado, smoked tomato vinaigrette, and watercress turned into radiant and satisfaction to behold. The avocado wasn’t simply sliced however crafted into a dome of avocado semifreddo.
A cucumber and almond gazpacho with verjus, Marcona almonds, and dill become every other summery adorable.
My sliced albacore tuna, seared at the outside and sashimi-rare inside, turned into fresh and sensitive for mains. Chermoula (a spicy natural sauce) and grilled shishito peppers introduced colorful, assertive notes. A beaten potato and tapenade salad and black olive cracker (olive purée and tapioca starch paste are steamed, dehydrated, and fried) finished off the dish.
Biodynamic risotto becomes a shout-out to corn, now not simply from the kernels (off the cob) however from corn inventory in which the rice turned into cooked. With mascarpone cheese for creaminess, parmigiana crisps for texture, and sautéed chanterelles for umami, it turned into heavenly.
The Guanaja chocolate soufflé (an extra $6) turned into an ideal dessert — mild on the tummy and oh so enjoyable. A vanilla creme Anglaise, poured into the soufflé tableside, changed into subtly candy, and the Valrhona 70 percent cocoa gave it chocolatey heft.
A lemon tart with whipped yogurt, blueberries, and honeycomb was every other properly balanced and beautifully made dessert.
There’s no overlap between the seasonal prix fixe and à Los Angeles carte menus at West, besides some of the garnishing.
The latter menu alternatives up worldwide flavors with dishes like diver-stuck scallops and pork hock terrine with grilled cabbage and sauerkraut emulsion, and soy-sake glazed Haida Gwaii sablefish with jasmine rice, gai lan, and sesame. You’ll also discover staples including steaks with Pont Neuf potato, confit tomato, and sauce béarnaise, and salmon with overwhelmed potato, olive tapenade, and green chermoula.
On the à l. A. Carte menu, the chef says the butter-poached lobster with potato gnocchi, roasted mushroom, and sauce Americaine is too popular to cast off.
Milheron has previously cooked at Diva at the Met, Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar, (the overdue) Nu and La Brasserie. His cooking style seems to comply with to wonder-chef Alex Chen at Boulevard in his easy, vivid displays.
He can, if wanted, be ferociously aggressive and currently won the B.C. Seafood Festival Chef Challenge, besting 12 different chefs with a trio of seafood dishes in a black box competition.
Longtime eating place and wine director Owen Knowlton, one of the nice, runs the front of the residence with grace — that phrase that continues popping up on this overview — and oversees the temperature-managed “wall of wine.”
