Craft

After hearing pretty mediocre reviews of NY transplant Craft, I finally tried it for a work event last night. Located behind the massive CAA building in Century City I expected to see lots of agents schmoozing their b-list celeb clients, but alas, it was mostly just couples. The outdoor patio out front would be a great spot for a big happy hour get together on the spacious but intimate couches. Inside was very beige, dimly lit, and the tables were almost too big to really carry on a conversation with someone across the table from you. The idea of the menu is to share among everyone at the table (most orders seem to accommodate 4 persons). After getting a glass of wine at the bar we sat at our table - somewhat inconveniently placed next to a huge pole. We started off the meal with an order of the caramelized onion & goat cheese tart, the bigeye tuna and pineapple, and the short rib ravioli. The tart was purely divine, though I wasn't really all that impressed with the tuna or the ravioli. It was definitely good, but nothing to write home about really. For the main course I opted for the quail and wild blueberries with a side of braised green beans, all of which were superb. The quail was a little greasy, but it only added to the flavor. I tried a bit of the roasted corn, a French whitefish, and the roasted flowering squash. The fish was a little bland, but the corn and squash were all you could want in a vegetable dish. To finish it off we ordered a cornucopia of desserts. First up was the three ice cream sampler with maple bacon, cream cheese, and honey yogurt ice creams. There are about 20 flavors, but each of us chose the one we wanted to try. The maple bacon was definitely different, and for me, not in a good way. The bacon taste was far too prevalent in a sweet dessert. The honey yogurt was decent, but the cream cheese was the best of the three. For any Texans out there it tasted like some good ole fashioned Blue Bell (which is the best ice cream in the country). We did have a chance to try the basil ice cream as a small scoop was served with the peach tart tatin that finished the night. Turns out basil ice cream tastes just like basil. The peach tart was really flaky with warm fresh peaches atop it. One of my favorite bites of the night. I would have liked to try a few other things on the menu, but for one reason or another, it didn't work out. Case in point - the peach cobbler cocktail sounded so good, but the waiter advised against it since the pastry chef was using all of the fresh peaches and the bar was forced to resort to a less satisfying peach puree. The wagyu beef (at $25 an oz) would have been wonderful to try as well, but there was already so much food that I didn't want to push my limits. I wasn't paying for the meal, but I can't imagine it was less than $100 per person, though I think that could go up or down, depending on your appetite. I'd have to say that this would not be in my top recommendations by any means, see prior posts for some of those!

http://www.craftrestaurant.com/craft_losangeles_menu.html