The Divine Dish

Tasting Dinner at The Bazaar

Posted on Nov 30, 2012 under Archives | No Comment

There is only one word for Jose Andres The Bazaar.  Amazing.  Food, amazing.  Atmosphere, amazing. Innovative dining, amazing.  His restaurant at the SLS Hotel features over 90 Spanish tapas style plates.  Diners can choose to sit in the tranquil Blanca room, above, with cool white chairs and soft sofas or the livelier Roja room, below, with deep red velvet chairs and an open kitchen.

Then there is the food.  The wonderful food.  Eating at The Bazaar is a culinary adventure filled with whimsy, fun and surprise.   I went for a tasting menu that ended up including over 25 plates.  The meal is in my top 5 eating experiences, right up there with cooking with Lidia Bastianich in Italy and chatting with Hubert Keller after he cooked a tasting dinner for me in SF.  So, here is what Dalbert and I enjoyed at the fabulous The Bazaar.

We started with watching the preparation of our drinks.  First was the nitrogen mixing for the caipiroska, a cocktail with fresh lime sugar and vodka.

We started our marathon meal with an American sturgeon caviar and  bagel and lox cones.  These were beautiful and delicious.

Next came the jicama wrapped guacamole with micro cilantro and corn chips.

Our next course was olives two ways, both modern and traditional.  Both varieties exploded with flavor, one of our faves of the night.

Next was an extraordinary dish which tasted like an intensified omelette.  It was called tortilla de patatas the “new way,” with potato foam, egg 63, and caramelized onion.  We mixed this up to fold in the egg.  This was fantastic and another fave.

Next came some buttery King crab with raspberries in a raspberries vinegar.

Next was the Mediterranean mussels.

Next was the amazing ham served with Catalan style toasted bread.  This is a must order at The Bazaar.  So tasty.  There are a variety of types of ham plates and prices, we luckily got a bit of all of them on our tasting plate.  Delicious.

We really loved the ham dish especially paired with the outstanding toasted bread.

Next came a series of three steamed bun dishes, including King crab, sea urchin and oxtail.

Next was a fish ceviche and avocado roll with jicama, cilantro and coconut.  We were amazed that the outside of the roll was avocado.  Amazing presentation.

Smoked yellowtail and crispy rice followed with yogurt, grapes, capers and radish.

White asapargus with miso and walnuts followed.

Next was another one of our faves, the very tasty caprese salad with a modern twist, using liquid mozzarella with cherry tomatoes.  Amazing.

Time for more drinks, so I tried the passion fruit up with orange rum, passion fruit and ginger laurel syrup with a passion fruit foam.  I loved this drink.  Dalbert had the spectacular magic mojito, served in a shaker and strained over cotton candy.  That’s right, cotton candy.

Next was the sauteed shrimp with garlic and guindilla pepper.  We really liked this dish.

Another fave was the yummy croquetas de pollo, chicken bechamel fritters.

Seared squid came next with artichokes and chicken escabeche.

We were very surprised at the next dish.  We both don’t care for brussels sprouts so we were amazed that we loved this dish so much.  Another must order next time we visit.  Brussels sprouts with lemon puree, apricots, grapes and lemon air.  Amazing.

Another outstanding dish followed, seared Wagyu flank steak with piquillo pepper spheres.

The Bazaar is known for their famous Philly cheesesteak, so we were very excited to see this dish coming.  It was spectacular.  Air bread with gooey cheddar inside topped with Wagyu beef.  We could have eaten these all night.

After all that food we didn’t think we could stand any more, but then came dessert and how could we turn that down.  The Bazaar offers a wide variety of desserts including patisserie desserts, cupcakes, bonbons and candy.  We tasted the yummy hot chocolate mousse with pear sorbeat and salty hazelnut praline, a lovely lemon tart with berries, rice crispy bonbons, and saffron candy with edible paper.

Everything is exceptional at The Bazaar.   Just go.  Located at 465 South La Cienega Boulevard, reservations a must at 310/247-0400.