Craft Los Angeles: Strong Start, Weak Finish

NYC chef Tom Colicchio of craft nyc (and attendant restaurants, plus the tv show “Top Chef”) has opened a swanky new place in the middle of los angeles, just in time to soak up business from the entertainment uber-agency CAA, which has relocated from beverly hills to century city. in spite of the “need-to-impress” aura, craft los angeles seemed worth a try and there were even chowhound sightings of tom colicchio himself here to oversee the restaurant’s launch.

HB and i trotted over at dinner to sample craft. word on the street was that the pork belly was good, but the chowhound jury was out on the entrees. after having a perfectly lovely dinner there the other night, i’d have to agree.

colicchio (chef de cuisine matthew accarino) signaled his intentions with a bold amuse bouche: a white anchovy on soft scrambled egg with a dab of pesto on toast. it was attention-getting and telegraphed to me, at least, that the fish at craft was meant to be taken as seriously as the hoofed meats. (they offer wagyu beef and aged sirloin.)

our order:

• pork belly & madras curry
• foie gras and wild strawberries
• endive and bacon salad with pistachios
• me: japanese black bream & summer truffles
• HB: heritage rack of pork and sorrel
• cucumber sorbet in summer melon dessert amuse bouche
• fig tart with fig ice cream
• lavendar marshmallow and salty dark chocolate toffee to see you out the door

i also had a raspberry and lemon verbena mojito.

the starters arrived quickly. there was maple-glazed bacon with the endive; after sampling this and the star of the evening, the pork belly, i decided that we should’ve attempted a different salad as the pork was redundant and the endive nothing earth-shaking. (the menu has numerous sides one can assemble tapas-style as well as various salads.)

the foie gras bore an expertly blackened crust, much as i imagine the charcoaled heart of vice president dick cheney must appear. as bitter and ugly as that republican organ is, our foie gras was much more pleasing: i love it carmelized so it imparts a bit of crunch in contrast to the silky interior of the unPC-induced goose liver. foie gras is the mae west of organ meats, a bad girl that nevertheless is so so good, with cholesterol that keeps purring in your throat long after the initial bite. it was paired with a drizzle of olive oil and what tasted like a dab of balsamic vinegar. the wild strawberries were also marinated in balsamic, but we were a little puzzled as the berries were more garnish than integrated into the dish. maybe if they were pureed into the balsamic dotting the olive oil? anyway, lovely, yet competently and wonderfully done as i’ve had elsewhere.

now to the standout: flash-fried pork belly that sports a savage tan and is the porky equivalent of a decadent chocolate layer cake. it’s paired with a puddle of curry and one neatly roasted quince split in two. as someone who’s never been fond of the sweet sauces that euro/american chefs pair with pork, i appreciated the restraint in keeping the quince off to the side. (i grew up with chinese ti pang, or as is colloquially known on southern california menus: “pork pump.” this long-stewed pork shoulder is seasoned with anise, ginger, soy and other delicious secret additions, with a piece of rock candy sugar thrown in for luck. BUT, no fruit in sight.)

back to the pork belly: the skin and outer portions of meat and fat are uniformly crisp. cut it open and the white meat inside is succulent, the fat layer neither excessive nor too thin. crunched together with curry, the warmth from the spices brightens the fat and perks up the otherwise plainly dressed meat. just as frosting keeps the cake moist throughout, the flash-frying seals in the meat’s moisture from layer to layer. given that little bit of extra toothsomeness required from you for the crunch, you can feel occasional bursts of fat coat your tonsils. heaven.

when our entrees arrived, we were excited. there’d been a nice tempo to the meal so far. we were hoping for a build to a dazzling meat entree.

the first letdown: the main came with no vegetable accompaniment. i don’t require it, and often it feels like an afterthought, but when it’s integral to the main the vegetables have an important job to do in soaking up whatever sauces accompany the main and releasing them back into the experience. for example, i’ve had an excellent halibut steak with lentils and morels, and the lentil and morels were key supporting players to the fish, extending and deepening the flavors. which is why it’s curious to me that colicchio/accarino underdresses the food.

the second letdown: HB’s pork was dry–there’s no other way to put it–and so minimally dressed (chopped green onions) as to be bare, as opposed to spare. (i’m well aware of the beauty of spare–one of the best steaks i’ve ever had was the grass-fed eastern washington beef at lampreia. salt, pepper, olive oil, and a searing glower from scott carsberg, and you’ve tasted sunshine on the hoof.)

third letdown: my sea bream was only good. that’s like saying “meh.” it’s a mild fish with springy flesh, and even with the half-dozen truffle shavings and accompanying truffle sauce, the fish seemed lonely on the plate. the flavors were muted… undistinguished. where was the distinctive funk of truffle? (you hardly eat at a place like craft for a bargain, but even taking the wretched excess of fine dining in los angeles as a given, it’s just wrong to pay for $30 of meh. not when you can go to my favorite joint of the moment and enjoy $1.50 of broke da mouf fish taco.)

we finished hurriedly with a delightful, not too sweet and altogether excellent fig tart in a cinnamon crust with vanilla custard. i liked the variations on the fig theme throughout this dessert: poached fig with strong vanilla notes atop the vanilla custard, the heat of cinnamon in the crust, a rummy fig sauce–and raw fig cubelets (their skins slightly tannic) with a sprinkle of brown sugar nestled under the “egg” of fig ice cream.

the upshot: i’m leery of trying the world-beater steaks. at those prices ($50, $88, $110!!, etc), i really don’t want to feel disappointed. i’d return after a bit, but put together several starters and sides–the tempting mushroom offerings, for example. the restaurant would actually be quite affordable and that’s important, as i’d go more often. in the meantime i’ll wait for the mains to settle into some sort of groove, and see if colicchio has a change of heart about his sauceless approach.

it’s a lovely space, decorated tastefully and the acoustics seem good (we had dinner at an early hour). the service is quirky (our server was charmingly sassy in a low-key way), disciplined, and efficient. there’s even free self-parking with validation if you don’t want to do the $8 valet. the “coat-check” system for one’s doggie bag is an elegant solution to one’s leftovers otherwise hanging around on the table. and the fig tart dessert is amazing. all very promising.

(cheers to the family next to us, who brought their toddler son. we may do something similar with the UN when he’s a little older, and also after we figure out a dining strategy at craft that’s not reliant on bonuses, tax refunds, lottery winnings, or other windfalls. see starters and sides strategy above.)

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