3 minute read
A NEW NOTE
Asterid, in the former Patina space at Walt Disney Concert Hall, reflects the constant evolution of L.A.
Innovative chef Ray Garcia's Asterid inherited the coveted space long occupied by celebrated Patina at Walt Disney Concert Hall last year; closed by the pandemic, Joachim Splichal's fine-dining spot never reopened. Asterid offers an entirely different set of merits.
BA Collective (formerly Belzberg Architects), the original designers of Patina, returned to reconfigure the dining room for a new chef and a new attitude. The result is a stripped-down but seductively illuminated space whose floor-to- ceiling windows make it feel more connected to the Grand Avenue scene than the cloistered sanctuary of Patina.
Further connecting Asterid to the streetscape is a wraparound patio steps above the sidewalk, providing very pleasant alfresco dining amid spectacular downtown views.
A curvilinear bar, encountered immediately upon entering, suggests that this is a place where a mezcal cocktail may be more appropriate than a first-growth Bordeaux. Gone is the crisp white linen, revealing simple polished wood table surfaces with flickering amber flames.
The classically trained Garcia is best known for downtown’s muchlamented Broken Spanish, which offered a refined Mexican-inspired cuisine, and the also defunct B.S. Taqueria. His ¡Viva! in Las Vegas further establishes the chef’s expansive, contemporary approach to Mexican-American cuisine.
Garcia’s menu at Asterid is also informed by his Mexican heritage, but in quintessential L.A. fashion, it transcends the Americas to also encompass culinary influences from the Mediterranean to Japan.
The menu’s shareable dishes change periodically. Recent small plates included a memorable chicken liver mousse topped with pickled mustard seeds, nectarines, pearl onions and crunchy bits of fried chicken skin, accompanied by thick slices of grilled sourdough. Caviar Bites brings an artistically plated trio of honeynut squash tamal disks also topped with crema.
Garcia’s risotto—carnaroli rice stained a dramatic purple by red beets and garnished with golden beets, crème fraîche and dill—is luxurious but not heavy. Feathery maitake mushrooms—coated in potato starch and lightly fried, plated with a dollop of aioli vibrantly transformed by turmeric—are addictive.
A perfectly cooked branzino is topped with fennel, preserved lemon and salsa Veracruz and presented in a pool of smooth, smoky romesco sauce. True to Garcia’s approach, the dish celebrates Mediterranean flavors with a coastal Mexican accent. Other entrees include a lamb shank plated with garbanzo beans and ancho chile sauce and an impressively bronzed half chicken with Tuscan kale and salsa verde.
Desserts of choice include a dark-chocolate budino layered with whipped ricotta and a coconut cream-infused rose-rice pudding with passion fruit.
The Euro-California wine list includes a value-priced Costantina Sotelo Albariño from Spain, a loftier Henri Gouges premiere-cru Burgundy from Nuits-Saint-Georges and trendy “orange” wines from Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
Cocktails include intriguingly “reimagined” martinis and El Zocalo, with mezcal, passion fruit, campari, yellow chartreuse and habanero.
Asterid cannot compete with nostalgic memories of Patina—but it doesn't need to. The restaurant is striking beautiful new notes at Disney Hall all its own.
Disney Hall, 141 S. Grand Ave., downtown, 213.972.3535, asteridla.com
