on a whim, my sister (aka liz) and i decided we'd go to at least one, and decided to go to craft in century city. we asked our friend l if she wanted to join us. craft is tom colicchio's los angeles outpost of his new york restaurant. there are so many menus to look at but i tried to look at those of places i knew i liked, or places i had been wanting to try. craft had been on my list for a while, and i'd been somewhat hesitant based on some things i had heard. but this time the menu looked pretty good, and i think it was pretty much one of the best restaurant week dinners i have had thus far, for several reasons.
the first was the service. we were still a bit away from the door, but one of the hostesses opened the door for us and warmly greeted us. we were a few minutes late arriving for our reservation, but our table wasn't ready yet, so we chose a couch in the bar section to wait. a server quickly greeted us and asked if we wanted anything while waiting for our table. and she wasn't the first. we got checked on every few minutes, and the manager even came to apologize for the fact that we had to wait for a table. a few minutes later, a server came out with napkins and fried brussels sprouts leaves, compiments of the house, for our wait. the warm and friendly service continued as we made our way through the bar and the dining room to our table and also during the course of our meal. my iced tea was always kept fresh, and our water glasses never got empty. we also got an amuse bouche, a little sweet finish to end our meal, and even some house made granola for breakfast the next day. it's little things like that that i find impressive.
the second was the overall ambience of the restaurant. it's in a nice neighborhood, so it definitely has an expensive feel to it, and with all the wood and rich browns in the decor, combined with the touch of "bling", it just felt so warm, inviting, and cozy.
last, the food. i don't know what i was expecting but the food overall was pretty good. whenever it comes to restaurant week menus, it's choose one starter, choose and entree, and then choose a dessert. at craft, we only had to choose an entree, because we would be getting all of the starters to share.
first off, we were given the fried brussels sprout leaves while we were still waiting in the bar area. i'm totally into brussels sprouts these days so i loved it! my sister liked it, and our friend l, who had never had them before, liked it as well.
next was our amuse bouche. a small cup of potato leek soup good. creamy, not too salty, and a great way to start our meal.
the starters came out next. the first was the laughing bird shrimp with a fennel salad and blood orange vinegarette. it tasted good, the shrimp wasn't overcooked, and the fennel still had a great crunchy texture to it. out of the three starters, this was my favorite, followed by the winter vegetable salad. i couldn't make out everything in the salad, but there was definitely some kale, ramps, and swiss chard. candied walnuts and gorgonzola cheese crumbles rounded out the salad. my only complaint here was that i wish it was dressed a little bit more.
our last starter was the chicken liver mousse. it was tasty, but it wasn't really my thing.
for our entrees, my sister chose the short rib ravioli. it was a touch salty for my taste, and as soon as i tasted it, i got the horseradish note in the ravioli. needless to say it wasn't a favorite with my sister, who doesn't like horseradish at all. the ravioli was accompanied by roasted vegetables that included purple cauliflower, brussels sprouts, radish, and delicata squash. l chose the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin served over polenta and greens. i picked the skate served over a parsnip puree and greens. out of the three entrees, the skate was my favorite!
dessert was a meyer lemon pudding with citrus and we also got rum raisin ice cream and vanilla ice cream. the pudding itself was more like a fluffy cake - light and airy. awesome with the orange and blood orange supremes.
our sweet finish was a cashew toffee popcorn and chocolate hazelnut cookies. the cookies were ok, but the popcorn was awesome! and i am not that crazy about popcorn to begin with.
we were given little bags of house made granola to take home. i took it to work and it was my snack for several days. i couldn't figure out everything that was in there, but i'm pretty certain it contained oats, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, and cinnamon. i really liked it though, and want to try and create my own version of it one of these days.
my one criticism of the evening was where we sat in the dining room. one place i think isn't a great table to sit at is the one by the doors that lead to the kitchen. it wasn't like we were sitting right next to it, but it was close enough that you can see the kitchen when the doors are opened. other than that it was a great meal! and since we self parked and got validation, parking was free.
craft los angeles * 10100 constellation blvd. * los angeles, ca 90067
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