Top Chef is a TV obsession of mine (much like Prison Break is now) and Tom Colicchio’s restaurant in LA, Craft, was my latest food indulgence. A friend and I went for dinner tonight and had a very satisfying experience.  It’s all dark and warm with lots of modern American wood furniture and rich ass looking people.  The food is all ordered a la carte and is absolutely delicious.  It’s very simple food.  There are few ingredients in every dish and it’s a vast spectrum of updated classic American fare. We had 4 dishes: Endive salad with goat cheese and pecans, gnocchi with basil, grilled sweet corn, and pan-seared diver sea scallops with capers.  Plus, they served us pumpernickle and sourdough bread, an amuse bouche of raw tuna, carrot, and olive tapenade, peach maccaroon and peach tart gelee palette cleansers, and they left us with a “This is for tomorrow morning” cranberry muffin (pictured above). I was impressed most by the food, which was clean, fresh, and full of flavor.  However, the service was paramount to the experience.  Okay, so the floor manager asked me to take off my Red Sox cap, but whatever.  The servers were over-studied knowledgable about ingredients and preparations and were helpful to us newcomers who were, clearly, out of our element without being condescending. Craft was best in its simplicity.  Every aspect from the little wood bread box to the one sheet menu boards were understated and comfortable.  Although the restaurant would be defined as “Fancy” by any citysearch/yelp type review, I loved it because it felt like i could have a similar dining setup in my own home.  It was very approachable. Shared experiences make things so much sweeter (see Bennett’s Restaurant Expo post) and this is no exception.  I was impressed with all aspects of Craft and my only complaint is that that damn woman made me remove my hat.

Top Chef is a TV obsession of mine (much like Prison Break is now) and Tom Colicchio’s restaurant in LA, Craft, was my latest food indulgence.

A friend and I went for dinner tonight and had a very satisfying experience.  It’s all dark and warm with lots of modern American wood furniture and rich ass looking people.  The food is all ordered a la carte and is absolutely delicious.  It’s very simple food.  There are few ingredients in every dish and it’s a vast spectrum of updated classic American fare.

We had 4 dishes: Endive salad with goat cheese and pecans, gnocchi with basil, grilled sweet corn, and pan-seared diver sea scallops with capers.  Plus, they served us pumpernickle and sourdough bread, an amuse bouche of raw tuna, carrot, and olive tapenade, peach maccaroon and peach tart gelee palette cleansers, and they left us with a “This is for tomorrow morning” cranberry muffin (pictured above).

I was impressed most by the food, which was clean, fresh, and full of flavor.  However, the service was paramount to the experience.  Okay, so the floor manager asked me to take off my Red Sox cap, but whatever.  The servers were over-studied knowledgable about ingredients and preparations and were helpful to us newcomers who were, clearly, out of our element without being condescending.

Craft was best in its simplicity.  Every aspect from the little wood bread box to the one sheet menu boards were understated and comfortable.  Although the restaurant would be defined as “Fancy” by any citysearch/yelp type review, I loved it because it felt like i could have a similar dining setup in my own home.  It was very approachable.

Shared experiences make things so much sweeter (see Bennett’s Restaurant Expo post) and this is no exception.  I was impressed with all aspects of Craft and my only complaint is that that damn woman made me remove my hat.