Dakota

This one, we'd been planning for almost a full month, since Mary told me about Dine LA. Having perused - nay, scoured - the menus for the best possible combinations, I knew we had to get to Dakota eventually. I'd been hoping to try Boa's lunch, too, but work precluded me from making that happen. Mary did the invites; I made the reservations, and then we waited.

First up, Heirloom Tomatoes. Not for me, though, I had the Frisée Lardon - small pieces of pork slathered in a pomegranate glaze. Pomegranate has never done me wrong. Nor has pork. So this was brilliant - I opted out of the quail egg on top, but Jernej would've enjoyed it. The dish was delicious. A little heavy, but exactly what I wanted. I ate all of it.

For the entrées, five of the six of us had the Petit Filet, with Mary the only one to try the Scallops. Even for a tasting menu, it was an ample serving of beef - and cooked in a succulent red wine sauce. Again, I cleaned my plate - and I wasn't alone. Nick said it was some of the best beef he'd had in a while. Couldn't agree more. We also got little side dishes of artichokes, tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach.











Finally, desserts. For some reason, I've always had something against the word Malt. Ever since childhood, when I used to expect spheres of solid chocolate that ended up having bitter malt stuff just below the surface, I've had shunned malts. My mistake - given the option between Malt Bars and some Crèpe Suzettes, I chose the latter. They were tasty, my roll-ups, but the Malt Bars were beyond ridiculous. Both were super-rich, but we managed to polish off all of the Bars between us, while a few Crèpes returned to the kitchen.

As far as the ambiance of the place, it was nice. A little noisy. High ceilings, with perhaps too little separation from the Hotel Roosevelt lobby. I lucked out & sat in a cushy leather bench seat. The armchairs on the other side of the table looked a little cumbersome. While our server was on point with all the food and everything, it seemed like there was a lot of lag-time between courses - that said, everything was so delicious that I didn't quite mind digesting a little bit in the intervals. Good company prevailed, which also helped pass the time.