Hatfields

Hatfields is another one of the restaurants in LA that I've been trying to get to for over a year now and last night Chase and I finally went. The setting is very serene with creamy white walls and tables and cabin-looking wood accents surrounding. Once at our table, we were delivered a little treat from the chef consisting of deviled quail eggs and a cold corn soup. Deviled eggs are not usually something I like, but the deviled quail eggs were superb. The corn soup was served in a shot glass and while it was good, I really couldn't of handled more than the 3 or 4 sips that we were given as it tasted so strongly of corn. Beyond that we tried another corn dish, the house made corn agnolloti with Dungeness crab, sherry beurre fondue and shaved summer truflle. The pasta was extremely rich (even without the truffle) but the crab was still really mild and overall a well balanced dish served in a really interesting plate with a bowl cut out of the middle. For entrees, I had the buttermilk steamed organic chicken breast on top of brown buttered sunchokes with julianned squash and zucchini basil coulis. I can't say that I've had steamed chicken too often in my life, but I'm not sure I prefer it that way. The chicken was so tender, but it didn't have any overwhelming taste. Maybe baking the chicken would be give it a little more flavor? The sunchokes were great and the zucchini basil sauce was interesting and an unexpected flavor. Chase was really excited about the date and mint crusted lamb with potato chive puree, and a mixed vegetable sautee. I tried a bite of his and the lamb, cooked pink in the center, was really great. The crust of date and mint on the outside was probably the best part. The potato chive puree was another unexpected flavor that worked really well, though you definitely don't feel like you are eating potatoes since they are so light and fluffy. Mid-way through the meal we decided we needed to try the rhubarb bellini, which was better than most bellinis I've ever had. After finishing all of that off, we took the waiter's desert suggestion and went for the beignets and chocolate fondue with a shotglass of vanilla milkshake. Probably the best milkshake I've ever had and we would have loved to have more than 2 sips each. The chocolate with the beignets was just right and this dish reminded me of what churros con chocolate is really supposed to taste like. Que bueno! Take heed though, this is a very fancy place, with high prices and small portions. They are really going for quality over quantity. At the end of the night, our meal for two was $120 and Chase was making jokes that he needed to grab some fast food on the way home. While it was really delicious, I don't think I'll find myself craving anything we had or wanting to come back anytime soon. Especially not with so many other places on my to try list.

http://www.hatfieldsrestaurant.com/menus.html