Molecular Gastronomy In LA?

[carln]

Are there any restaurants in LA that are famous for molecular gastronomy food? Ive heard of a few of the more famous restaurants but none of them seem to be here in LA.

[Adsvino]

It's here:

Chocolate Yoo-Hoo cake: "It's devil's food cake, cut into blocks, dehydrated completely in the dehydrator, so it's a dry hard piece of cake. I put it in a Cryovac with Yoo-Hoo and then the Yoo-Hoo fuses into the cells of the cake and then rehydrates it with the flavor of Yoo-Hoo. It's compressed Yoo-Hoo cake. I have two cases of the stuff [Yoo-Hoo] in the trunk of my car right now....

[risottoman]

LA needs a visionary like Grant Achatz or Wylie Dyfresne to pull of 'avant garde' well in LA. And it needs to be cheaper (like $50-100 per person).

[a213b]

I know we'd always like it to be less costly, but why do you think Achatz would charge $50 - $100 pp in LA when he's charging around FL prices (for the Touring menu) in Chicago?

On a related but separate note, I am heading to Alinea in a couple weeks, and am SO freaking excited!

[hungry_monkey]

I just returned from a trip to Chicago and Alinea. I did tasting not touring, but as I know you know, you're in for quite a treat.

[a213b]

That's great to read, I'm glad you loved it.

Like I said, I am SUPER pumped ... two more weeks!

[condiment]

Ludovic Lefevbre pulled off the style better than either Dufresne or Achatz (slightly less showy, but much better flavor), and was executed like a criminal by Sherry ``Corkage Fee'' Virbila for his efforts. A shame - it was a stunning restaurant under his supervision.

On an only slightly related note, the menu at La Mill in Silver Lake, overseen by Michael Cimarusti, is definitely the least expensive way to experience at least some of the fun. It's algimates a go-go over there!

[Maxmillion]

Christophe Eme at Ortolan also shows the occassional flash of MG influence, but more as an accent than the main event (which is what I gather the OP is seeking).

[lotta_cox]

I agree. I have seen it more at Ortolan than Providence or Sona. I keep thinking I am going to tackle a few of these techniques in my own kitchen...I am working on deciding what book would be best to guide me.

[RicRios]

Lotta, search no more:

El Bulli 2003-2004 by Ferran Adria, Juli Soler, Albert Adria

http://www.amazon.com/El-Bulli-2003-2...

[a213b]

Also, Sur la Table is offering a Molecular Gastronomy class later this month (as well as November) if you are interested.

I think my wife and I are going to hit one up.

[lotta_cox]

thanks so much for the tip. i am going to look into that tomorrow.

[a213b]

No problem. We registered for the Oct. 26th class, just FYI.

I'd be happy to give you a recap/review if you'd prefer to wait for the November class. Or, it's always nice to meet fellow Hounds if you'd rather do the same class as us.

[lotta_cox]

That would be really fun! Which Sur La Table? I bet my husband the kitchen terrorist would have fun too.

[a213b]

LOL, my wife is the chef in our house, and I am pretty sure she would term me a "kitchen terrorist" too!

It's the Sur La Table at the Farmer's Market/Grove. Should be good times!

[lotta_cox]

I see one available the 26th of this month and the 30th of the next. You can contact me via my blog.

[nick_r]

When I had a tasting menu at Ortolan, there was a pretty good amount of MG on display -- granted, it was a special vegetarian menu, so he may have taken that as an excuse to bust out more wizardry.

[kevin h]

Unfortunately, LA's not a city for molecular or avant garde cuisine. As mentioned by Servorg, Providence and Sona do shows flashes of such, but I think we need to wait for José Andrés' Bazaar to open up before we can make any true progress in that direction.

[Maxmillion]

^ any idea when that will be?

[kevin h]

I don't have an exact date, but I believe Bazaar should be open by the end of November.

[J.L.]

You'd think that in our carb-phobic, calorie-phobic city, that a molecular gastronomy dining culture would easily take root, but alas, no.

Ferran Adria is not coming to L.A. anytime soon.

[Chowpatty]

Well, actually he's coming tomorrow, but not to cook.
http://www.cookslibrary.com/site/even...
Bazaar is slated to open Nov. 14. Beware, Jose Andres really likes food adorned with cotton candy.

[lotta_cox]

thanks for that. i may head over tomorrow.

[J.L.]

Thanks for the heads-up! Mrs. J.L. got to meet Ferran Adria and had our book signed by him!

Poor thing - he looks really jet-lagged in the photo...

[Servorg]

No. Providence offers some very minor elements of this type in their cooking as does Sona. It just not found here.