Did L'atellier last night fantastic obv.

Qauil stuffed foie gras is unbeatable

Shouldn’t it be the other way round? But the thought of them stuffing a quail into foie grass torchon made me chuckle.

I knew something was off...

Do you prefer the tasting menu at Atellier or is it better to order a la carte?

I don’t like a lot of things so I don’t do tasting menu.

They have the build your own menu but think it’s def better to order Ala cart.

since youre dining there at all im gonna assume you dont have bad taste, but im strongly for the "try anything once" idea, and even things i dont like i would certainly be willing to try at a world class place.

also see merit in getting what you want at those prices

Gamb,

I’m a strong advocate of doing a tasting menu your first time at a nice place like that, then depending on how much you like various stuff possibly switching to a la carte on return visits.

oh for sure thats what id do, but im not the in bracket to go 4x a year so a new menu would be a new try.

also if something completely sounds bad to you on the tasting, can you not ask for a sub of some sort?

i also grew up trying everything, worked in places that literally broke down a freshly caught elk, and served to the party (and a massive fish on another night), and a wide range of cuisines, so what i dont like is pretty minimal, but id still try a new version at a place that should do it the best

Personally I just don’t get along with almost any sea food.and I’m not a veggies guy which isn’t what they sub dishes for if you don’t want. Vegetarian dishes.

I will try all the dishes my wife’s gets even though I I’m usually sure I wont like them lol.

Depends on the kind of ask and restaurant.

For example, I don’t eat foie grass. That’s both a pretty common ingredient in French cuisine and big no-no for a lot of people. They always have a workaround for that.

At restaurants that only offer a tasting menu if the full table participates, there’s usually a lot more flexibility and they basically have replacement courses for everything.

In general, there’s no benefit of ordering a tasting menu food-wise. You could just order every single course a la carte if you wanted to. The main reason to get a tasting menu is the price which usually is around 50% of ordering the single courses a la carte. For the restaurant, offering tasting menus provides them with planning safety and solves a lot of the problems that are part of the logistical nightmare that fine dining is.

Foie Gras gives me indigestion, so I'm in the same boat.

Last time I tried to have Foie Gras sub'ed from Atelier's tasting menu (where it admittedly posed as an amuse bouche), it did not go well.

- First I was interrogated by the waiter as to whether it was due to food intolerance, or because I simply did not like it.

- Then, the foie gras foam was simple yanked from my menu, and I received one item less than my partner.

We used to like Atelier, but since that experience we never really felt like returning.

Sorry to hear that. That situation would have made me extremely uncomfortable.

Not sure what time they live in, but in 2018 there’s exactly one appropriate response to your request: “thank you for letting me know, would you like to try our vegetarian amuse bouche instead?”.

I thought that Amuse Bouche was grossness. And I tried it snap made a face and a sound of displeasure and my wife happily ate it. And told me not to make faces lol.

Also. I’m personally usually annoyed by the speed of tasting menus.

I’m hungry I’m ready for the food. Don’t bring me 2 spoonfuls of food every 25 min.

Because I love and respect all of you here, does anyone have places they love in or near Long Beach? Upscale preferably, but just really want great food.

There's nothing "fine" about it, but I've enjoyed some relaxing and casual meals from Ma and Pa Grocery.
[wouldnt make a special trip or anything, but it's a fun little takeaway]

yeah pretty much exactly what i meant. not like going in and saying hey, that pre entree doesnt sound great, can i sub in some wagyu? but if you dont like something, an offering, that is cheaper for the kitchen also, doesnt seem like a stretch. might not be excellent, but its not hard to let a customer decide.

the reason i said on a tasting menu was basically because its way way way less to get some of everything on the menu a la carte also. obv if youre gonna have a problem with half the tastings, just order off the menu, but if its one thing i dont see an issue.

might be the fat guy part of me, but love nothing better than having extra foie gras at a table from someone that isn't into it. Also is really fun to introduce someone to it for the first time. Definitely not my favorite steak house in Las Vegas, but Charlie Palmer has a rotating foie preparation as an appetizer that have really been stellar the two times Ive bee there

L'Opera Ristorante has lived up to the hype for me. Excellent food. I highly recommend it.

Any updates on EDO? Must order items? We are going Dec. 30 and don't want to miss anything amazing.

just do the tasting menu tbh, it seems to hit most of the highlights

Yeah what bloo said. Don't order what I did (top of this page, post 6901).

anyone been to Kabuto recently? want to recommend it to some friends but havent been in a couple of years.

Yes, it is still awesome.

I was on a work trip in Stockholm last month, was starving at dinnertime, and stumbled into perhaps the best sushi experience of my life. 8 courses, 2.5 hours in a tiny place that sat six people. I never really considered sushi to be fine dining and have always skipped Kabuto because of not wanting to waste an opportunity to eat at L'Atelier and the like but after that experience Kabuto is going to the top of my list.

In case any Scandinavians are lurking it was this joint: http://www.sushioi.se/ Tasting menu was 7-courses in name only. There was amuse as well as extra dessert and even an off-menu sea urchin bite toward the end. All-in with three beers it was a laughably inexpensive ~80usd