Are you supposed to eat when you go to a restaurant
?Or just order and eat? That's the question that nags at visitors who visit the
uber trendy restaurant Vespertine. What exactly is this place? It's popular and expensive - but what else does it represent?
Pete Wells asked almost the same restaurant in his Critic's Notebook in Today's New York Times Food section. The restaurant posing all these conundrums is Vespertine with dishes being artfully prepared by chef and co-owner Jordan Kohn. It starts with entering the place. Mr. Wells wonders if the building is humming or actually breathing - usually not a question asked when entering any eatery
,The building itself is strange
, as he put
its, kind of like putting it too near a toaster oven and having the sides warp
.Waiters sound more like the killer albino, Silas from The DaVinci Code, wearing only black slippers and flowing black robes. (
which can be unnerving to any diner prone to nightmares) They murmur what the dishes are as they serve them and then drift off to the side. Food is not served on traditional plates, but miniature sculptures that enhance the dish's look
.Even Vespertine's website has nothing but an arty Ingmar Bergman type video that shows some dishes being
created but mostly a winsome young thing in religious robes traipsing across a honey colored field
.This may work in Culver City
, So Cal, where this may reign supreme.
but would it work in a more snobbish city like New York or in foodie towns like Chicago
,Boston or Philly?
The more important question is how is the food. Yes, it can be artfully done. That's nothing new thanks to the famed Barcelona restaurant El Bulli and its' amazing and highly creative chef, Ferran Adria. Mr. Wells got to experience a black tortilla graced with a branch of water spinach brushed with a turkey emulsion. Tiny yellow pike eggs sparked
it as did pink and purple finger-lime blossoms that were no bigger than shirt buttons. There was kelp with dotted with drops of
lovage sauce along with a blob of whipped honey, An artistic black wafer was a crumbly savory cookie made from black currants and dried onion and brushed with black currant jam
.The dishes looked weird but tasted good. Lobster was served in a bittersweet sauce of malted barley syrup and butter along with a spill of tapioca. A brined scallop dish was sauced with
yuzu and a tea tea made from Douglas fir tips. Ovals of asparagus decorate it
.There is a tea made from the flowers of the butterfly pea plant. Chef Kahn's dishes are innovative and he does have a following in LA. The problem is for how long can he be creative and do diners really want to go through the whole experience
?Again, this concept works well in California and only California. Most people who eat out want to eat - only the rare
foodie would want their dinner to be a work of expensive art.
Which brings us back to the question - what is Vespertine? Is it a restaurant that serves arty food
?Or an art gallery that serves edible works? Either way it is unique.
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