Otium LA (Post #5)

4/11/2017

Welcome back to Holy-Guaca-Lola! Long time no see! A few months ago I visited a restaurant that turned my life around and made my take on food have more range and depth. I was captured by the idea of what it means to taste and how what we taste changes our perspective on food. At Otium right when I took steps into the building I was amazed by the beauty of the restaurant. Since we got to the restaurant earlier than our reservation we ordered drinks and I tried the cold brew matcha. The matcha had a deep flavor and left me smacking my chops! Although I did become very hyper! Before we sat down the pastry chef Alison noticed my excitement about the restaurant and introduced herself to me before offering to buy me one of her signature sundaes! The staff was absolutely amazing! We started off by ordering an "amber jack" which was a tangy coconut lime fish. The fish came beautifully on the plate with perfect dollops of a sweet coconut cream. We were blown away by the intensity of the flavor in such a small bite. For our next small plate, we ordered the falafel (which is better than any falafel you'll ever taste in your whole life).It had a crispy outside with a soft inside. In the dough, there was a hint of olive that complemented the spicy yogurt sauce perfectly. Next, we tried the bucantini which was lathered in a crab cream sauce with house made pasta for a good chew. I was impressed with the complexity of the dough used for the pasta and amazed by the flavor of buckwheat it gave off. Still impressed, we tried the pork pibil, this dish had a spicy and grainy mole with onions and persimmons. The pork had a beautiful blackened edge and a sweet persimmon sauce. Thanks to the incredible and generous pastry chef Alison I was presented with some incredible desserts including cream puffs with coffee cream and a maple ice cream sundae. The cream puffs were absolutely unreal with a crunchy outside and heavenly, soft whipped cream. The sundae included flavors of pecans and maple with a soft and fluffy ice cream. Our server Jonathan was amazing and such a good food advisor. At the restaurant, once they heard I wanted to write a blog post about the restaurant, I was taken on a tour of the whole kitchen and restaurant (I know right, super awesome) where I learned all about the process of creating the food. They use a stone oven and grill for preparing all of their meats and even have a rooftop garden where they grow their own micro greens to use in dishes. Overall, this restaurant blew me away and I am confident that it is the best restaurant in LA! Thanks for reading! Have a tasteful day!