The famous Jose Andres has finally opened his tapas restaurant in Los Angeles: The Bazaar at SLS Hotel. Better late than never I was treated me there for my birthday. 😀 The menu offers both his interpretation of traditional tapas and modern (fusion) tapas, and featuring molecular gastronomy exploration. Most dishes are ‘one-bite’ size.
The beautiful, sparkling lounge.
Liquid Nitrogen Caipirinha. $20 The popular Brazilian cocktail Caipirinha (cachaça, lime juice, and sugar) is given a molecular gastronomic twist with liquid nitrogen. It has a slush-like but creamy and soft texture, and the flavor wasn’t water-down from the melting ice. A cart is wheeled to your desk and the drink is mixed in front of you. The whole presentation is delightful (and it’s delicious).
Gin & Tonic. The classic drink is enhanced with flowers and herbs. The ice globe is solid with no bubble inside, making the melting process much slower and won’t get water down. Jamon Serrano. $16 The jamon is so flavorful (got a sweet, lingering aftertaste) and won’t get salty at all. The toasted bread with tomato paste on top are very filling, so we saved them for the end of meal.
Olives. $8 You get a set of traditional stuffed olives and olive bubbles, and you tasted them one after another. The olive bubble burst into flavorful, creamy liquid once it’s inside your mouth…very lovely. In a way this dish sums up Bazaar: juxtapositions of traditional and modern.
Steamed Uni Bun with Avacado. $12 Fresh combination with a nice kick (jalapeno) but I almost thought the buns are redundant (maybe it only needed the bottom half). Japanese Baby Peaches with Burrata – A complimentary plate from the sous chef. 😉 It’s a perfect combination of freshness, sweet, milky and savory.
The much talked about Cotton Candy Foie Gras. It’s sorta like a childhood + adult dream combine in one piece of goodness. It is actually a tiny cube of foie gras terrain wrapped with cotton candy. The foie gras taste almost like chocolate truffle in a way…
Caprese. $12 The normal stringy mozzarella are in bubble form here. That allows you to taste the tomato + mozzarella bubble together in one bite. The result is amazing! The bubble burst and you mouth is filled with the smooth flavors of mozzarella, then comes the shockingly sweet heirloom tomatoes. The two flavors are truly blend together! This is my favorite dish of the night.
From the traditional side: Chiparones en su Tinti (Baby Squid with Own Ink) $10 and Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek with Clementines. $13 Wow! Both of so well done. The squid is incredibly tender and tasty. The beef cheek is dry aged, hence having a deep, wonderful aroma and flavor.
After we finished our dinner, we were brought to the beautiful patisserie for dessert. There’s also a gallery space to stroll around.
Nitro Coconut Floating Island with Passion Fruit and Vanilla. The ‘floating island’ part is soft and airy at the top, but harden at the bottom for support (coconut white-like). So lovely.
I have a blast here, like wide-eye child in an exotic candy store. The space does feel a bit like a playhouse: fun, full of wonders, delicious but also glamourous. The molecular gastronomy application are simple and effective. Surprisingly you don’t have to breaking the bank to sample a lot of the dishes, though the valet Parking is $12.
The Bazaar at SLS Hotel
465 S La Cienega Blvd (San Vicente Boulevard), Los Angeles, CA 90048
Tags: Dessert, fashionable, Fusion, Gastronomy, Tapas
Canale is a small neigbourhood restaurant in the cozy Atwater Village. We had dinner there years ago and for the longest time I didn’t know they open for brunch on the weekends. I was delighted to see that their brunch menu looks interesting and is different from the usual LA breakfast flare (i.e. egg benedict, generic omelette, cobb salad..etc). The place is much more chill on a Saturday morning than it is at night which is usually completely packed.
