Tasting Menu at Providence, LA

I was lucky that for my birthday, my friends got us a reservation at LA's Michelin two star restaurant, Providence for dinner.
We decided to try the full tasting menu that evening.
The meal started with a trio of amuse-bouches, two of which were alcohol based. The first was a gin & tonic gelée. You sprinkled some lemon juice on it and it would start fizzing as you put it into your mouth.
The second was a spherical mojito. Coprock told me that alcohol is very difficult to make into the spherical form.
The third item was a small cardomon carrot soup.

The first course was Japanese kanpachi, or amberjack fish, served with rice crackers and soy crème fraîche. This was my first time trying this fish. It was light and lovely especially with the crème fraîche.

The second course was an absolute decadent dish. It was Santa Barbara sea urchin served in an egg with champagne beurre blanc and American caviar. Egg sacks within an egg, topped with little eggs, and then butter! It was so rich and delicious.

The third course was a massive Hokkaido diver scallop perfectly cooked in white wine with chanterelle mushrooms and applewood bacon.





Course four was wild striped bass from Virginia with burdock, shiso and lemon. I was really impressed with the simplicity of this course as it really allowed the subtle flavor and light texture of the bass shine.

This was followed by a course of wild Coho salmon belly served with spinach on a bed of buckwheat and accompanied by a red wine gastrique. The salmon belly was so nice and fatty.

Our final main course was a veal tenderloin, cooked sous vide style, served with hazelnuts, onions, and crushed potatoes. I liked the tenderness of the veal, but despite the dish being really good, I think it paled in the light of all the great seafood courses.


This was then followed by one of the best cheese courses I've ever had. Sorry readers, I was really full and I did not recall any of the 6 cheeses we were given. Needless to say, my favorites were stinky and soft.


We had several courses for dessert. Things started with a nice palate cleansing cucumber, lime and juniper berry sorbet with some yogurt.
The main dessert was a Mexican chocolate bread pudding with avocado-banana puree and corn tortilla ice cream. These flavors went really well all together.

After feeling so stuffed from our meal, I made sure to try some of the candy at the end. The caramel was amazing. All in all, it was an unforgettable dining experience at Providence for my birthday.

5955 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 460-4170