Meson G (Los Angeles)

[SiseFromm]

Has anybody eaten at Meson G yet? Tim and Liza Goodell were among the hippest Orange County restaurateurs for some time, but it seemed they were spread to thin with the opening of Red Pearl, The Lodge, Citron, and Whist on top of their flagships Aubergine and Troquet. I've been a fan all along, but even I have to admit that their restaurants just weren't at the level they should have been when Goodell was named one of America's best chefs by Food & Wine.

Aubergine was, in the late nineties, untouchable in Orange County and arguably one of the best restaurants in California. It easily matched up with the best that LA was offering during the same era. It was Newport Beach's own little private French Laundry. The tasting menus were top notch and the servers were infamously knowledgeable. Alas, the good times left and two lavishly expensive, sub-par meals in a row were enough to convince me that I needed to wait for Tim to return to his potential.

I've heard that Meson G is that very return. Supposedly it smacks of classic Goodell quality and whimsy. I think it was Angelino Magazine that stated Meson G is the most exciting restaurant to open since Bastide. Something about needing Govind and Table 8 to move over. I've been meaning to go. Based on the map, it looks like it's just down the street from Ago and Luques on Melrose.

Any thoughts or reviews?

[rjwong]

LA Times food critic S. Irene Virbila reviewed Meson G, which received a 2½* rating.

The link to the review can be found in the LA Times Food Section digest (6 July 2005)

[savvysearch]

I ate at Troquet years back I thought it was excellent. But they seem to be opening restaurants left and right and I hope that doesn't affect the quality at Aubergine, which was said to be among the best in California. I've never eaten there though.

[SiseFromm]

Goodells' adieu to Aubergine

[JFLinLA]

We ate at Meson G on Saturday night. It was a birthday party for my sister in law so we didn't have the complete menu to choose from but everything was quite good.

Amuse -- Chestnut poppers: My SIL loves chestnut so I'm sure she picked these but they weren't anything special to me.

Appetizers -- There was a choice of 3 things. I had the acorn squash soup which was delicious. There was a drizzle of maple syrup (I think) in there that was great and not too sweet -- worked great with the squash. The butter lettuce salad was also delicious -- just fresh with a perfect vinaigrette dressing. The 3rd choice was a crab salad which I didn't taste but those that had it raved.

Entrees -- Again a choice of 3. The sea bass that I had was very good -- delicate and perfectly cooked. The vegetables served with it were phenomenal, just perfect. Another choice was short ribs that I didn't taste but those that had it loved. The 3rd choice was spaetzle which was good but nothing special -- pasta, butter, parmesan and some seasonings. It was probably for those in the crowd that wanted something plain.

Cheese course -- Okay, I love virtually any and all cheese so I thought this was great but honestly, don't ask me what we had. I don't remember.

Dessert -- Was a yummy cake with berries from Sweet Lady Jane so no comment on the restaurant here.

Service was good but missed on a few cues -- They were very pleasant and tried to please however, after the first serving of bread they ran out. They apologized and said they had ordered wrong and were bringing in more bread from their "other restaurant" but it was a long time before any more showed up. Also, I never got my coffee that I asked for after the meal before we left the restaurant. My husband, who ordered his before me, said it was really good. Too bad.

The space is fine but I can't help remembering when that site first opened up as Citrus. Yes, I am that old. Our party was in the front room, not the main part of the restaurant. By the time we left (after 11:00, well past my usual bed time these days), the main dining room was nearly empty. However, there was a another private party in the bar and the other separate dining room off of the bar that was gearing up with a DJ. Even though they already had a pretty good crowd, more people were still arriving for that as we were leaving. They were clearly a much younger and hipper crowd than our group.

[SiseFromm]

The folks that bought Aubergine are the owners of Le Quai, also on the Peninsula in Newport Beach. We ate at Le Quai for my birthday in August last year and it was awful. The plates were amateur and the menu was WILDLY overpriced. The tuna tartare was chopped into at least five different sizes so instead of a nice beautiful dice and mouthfeel, you wrestled with pureed tuna against a large dice. The baked goat cheese for an appetizer salad was completely charred to burnt black. The $40 lamb I ordered medium rare was medium well (they cook all their meats on an outside grill). The "sommelier" kept trying to recommend $300+ bottles of Bordeaux. Just disappointing all the way around so I can't imagine it will be any better at the old Aubergine.