11/24/08

Best Restaurant in Los Angeles

by therlp

This is a San Francisco restaurant in Los Angeles. The sommelier is knowledgeable and accessible, the servers are attentive, not intrusive, know the menu and wine, the ambiance is intimate, the food is delicious, the menu is diverse and the restaurant is not at all sceney. For special occasions, nothing in Los Angeles beats Grace.

09/19/08

Best Restaurant In Los Angeles

by Sethsh

I have for years resigned to believe that you will either get amazing food or amazing decor from restaurants in Los Angeles. Much to my delight and chagrin, Grace has proved me wrong. OK, well, the decor is not groundbreaking (the lighting is perfect though, not too dark and not too over the top), and for that matter perhaps neither is the food. They both are however, very thoughtful and tasteful, with a little surprise thrown in to keep your attention. We enjoyed Grace's 5 Yr Anniversary tasting menu and highly recommend it. First off, the portions are unlike any tasting menu-sized portions I've seen before. They are HUGE! Come hungry if you plan on ordering this option. Second, the dishes were very delicious, plate after plate. I would say my favorites were the first course ( 3 corn cake bellinis with salmon and caviar), second course (2 large scallops on goat cheese polenta) and dessert (3 filled doughnuts with vanilla ice cream. One raspberry filled, another butterscotch and the last was Elvis: peanut butter, banana topped with caramelized bacon.) I admit, the caramelized bacon was a bit overpowering and not my favorite. However, the dish was a delight. We also requested wine pairing with each course. While some of the wines were very interesting, if not for the flavor at least for the grape varietal, I have to say that element didn't add much our evening. Still worth it though. The wait staff was also very attentive without interrupting your evening. To sum it up, I felt like I was invited to a friend's home and cooked an amazing meal. I was only there last night but want to eat there tonight, tomorrow night, the night after that and the night after that.

• Pros: Everything, including the prices!
• Cons: Food felt a little on the heavy side at times, but nonetheless, wonderful!

08/13/08

eh food

by pinays

the service was lovely at grace. the food, however, was mediocre at best. perhaps i am jaded. it wasn't bad, it just wasn't great.

we started off with the dungeness crab salad. normally, this was served as a part of the tasting menu. we asked if we could get it a la carte. apparently, we asked nicely because they did let us order it. the crab was fresh, good and not drenched in mayo. i think this was the best part of the meal.

i had the scallops, which was nicely seared over risotto. the risotto was a bit undercooked and not creamy enough for my taste. it was mixed in with goat cheese, which i liked. but overall, the risotto was not so good.

my friend had the berkshire pork chop. it was a huge serving. but then again, the fat cap was huge too -- looked like half of the entire thing. the meat was not as juicy or tender or flavorful as i would have liked it to be. but, at least it did not taste like leather.

again, the food was ok. but unfortunately, it was expensive for just ok food.