Alex

[lizziee]

In the December issue of Gourmet, Caroline Bates gave a very favorable review of Alex, the relatively new restaurant from British chef, Alex Scrimgeour, located in the space that used to be Citrus. The restaurant has been completely remodeled with low lighting, sage-green walls hung with large paintings of flowers, leather chairs -- all giving the room a somewhat "clubby" feel. Where once you could watch every poetic movement in the Richard kitchen, Alex's kitchen is hidden from view by stained glass.

This was not our first dining experience at Alex and from 2 previous visits we were impressed with his ambitious attempt to bring fine dining back to Los Angeles. However, last night's dinner was not only not fine dining, it wasn't even mediocre. My husband called it "generic food" or paint by the numbers. The idea is to throw some luxury ingredients together - foie gras, caviar, truffles - charge $165 per person - and voila luxurious cuisine. It was anything but.

We had the truffle tasting menu:

1/3 oz Russian 000 Beluga caviar served on a golden Potato Rosti with White truffle Creme Fraiche - The Golden Potato was cold, greasy, and tasted as if it had been prepared that morning. The creme fraiche had the tiniest sprinkling of truffles which added nothing to caviar.

Grilled Duck Breast Salad with Smoked Shiitake Cream and Shaved White truffles. The menu should have said one thin shaving of white truffle for that was it. The Duck was shredded and tasteless. The shiitake mushrooms were slimy and mushy from overcooking.  My husband, irritated with this cheap, stingy approach, said something to one of the waiters who we knew--he said something to Alex--quantity improved somewhat, but food did not...

Pan-roasted Foie Gras with Caramelized Mango, Five Spice Reduction and White truffle. The foie gras was nicely seared but the mango was so overpowering that it fought the flavor of the foie gras and the 3 shavings of truffle added nothing to the dish.  Compared to the other two dishes this one was at least passable.

Maine Lobster Ravioli with White Truffle Shavings and Black truffle Lobster Emulsion. This was just plain awful. Imagine a 3" inch square of thick, pasty, gluey pasta filled with bits of overcooked lobster meat topped with small bits of white truffles. We took one bite and that was it for the pasta.

Grilled prime Filet Mignon with Potato and Celery Root Gallette and Shaved White Truffles. It was obvious that we were not pleased with our meal and with this dish, the chef must have actually cooked it or at least oversaw the cooking process. The potato gallette was well-prepared and the filet rare, tender and flavorful. Again, the truffle shavings were minuscule.

The service was amateur hour. On opening our champagne, our server popped the cork and had champagne spouting from the bottle all over the floor. Most of the time, my husband poured the wine or we would have sat with nothing. She couldn't decide whether to serve from the right or the left and alternated on which side at each course. At another table, I noticed a plate being served to an empty seat - "Lespinasse-itis" must be catching.

We know the maitre d' fairly well and she said that they had been particularly swamped since the review in Gourmet. She mentioned that the chef acknowledged that the lobster dish ravioli was too thick and not to his liking. To the restaurant's credit, they charged us for only 1 truffle tasting taking $165 off the bill. However, the bill still came to $237 -not much of a bargain for lousy food.

We had the feeling that the restaurant staff resented our wanting to dine there on Saturday night when they were "so busy". We happen to like dining out on Saturday as it fits with our lifestyle. Why shouldn't a good restaurant be good all the time?

[IrishCream]

Lizziee...thanks for the review. I'm thinking about going to one of the truffle tastings offered around town...I'll certainly skip that one! But one comment confused me...that you felt like the staff resented you for being there on Saturday night......Did you not have a reservation? Did they just resent all the diners?

[hollywood]

In LA, sometimes the actors don't want to act like waitstaff.

[lizziee]

Irish Cream,

We definitely had a reservation.

What I meant was that the staff seemed to resent serious diners on "date" night.

Also before Gourmet's review. the restaurant had not been that busy on a Saturday night. With the review, both the front and back of the house seemed overwhelmed.

Even so, the stinginess of the truffle shavings in contrast, for example, to what Southern Girl described at San Domenico on the New York Board, should not be a reflection of how busy they were.

Does anyone know a restaurant that is doing a really good white truffle tasting?

[hollywood]

Does anyone know a restaurant that is doing a really good white truffle tasting?

Ken Frank used to do that, but alas he's in Napa.

[mixmaster b]

I called a few weeks ago and was told they don't do tasting menus on Saturdays. (!) How serious can they be if they have that policy? It was the factor that made me stay away. After reading about Liziee's experience, I'm glad I did!

Maybe the staff resented having to serve a tasting menu on Saturday? Bizarre!

[lizziee]

Maybe the staff resented having to serve a tasting menu on Saturday?

For the record, they offered the tasting menu!

[mixmaster b]

Liziee--

I hope my post did not imply that I thought you had demanded a tasting menu when one was not offered! Not at all--my apologies if it seemed that way.

I was very curious about the tasting menu policy, so I called to inquire. Apparently, they offer the chef's tasting menu only when the chef is in the kitchen. And sometimes, if it is "too busy" they don't offer one at all. It is reccomended that one call the day of the reservation to see if it will be available.

Very strange indeed. They are still offering the white truffle menu. It really is a shame that this spot doen't seem to be living up to its potential.