Faith & Flower in downtown Los Angeles was one of the best new openings last year. The 20’s style renaissance restaurant sits on Flower Street near the back of LA Live. Chef Michael Hung, formerly of La Folie in San Francisco, is in charge of the magic that comes out of the kitchen.
The grand dining room houses a raw bar in the front corner where crudo, oysters and raw delights are created. The center and outside of the restaurant hosts most of the dining, while the large wooden bar is where mixologist, Michael Lay whips up some fantastic cocktails.
The service was top notch including the manager and service staff — very impressive in such a large place. Now, on to the food….my favorite two dishes of the evening were the Longanisa Sausage with Blood and Vinegar Sauce and the Dungeness Crab Toast.
The Grilled Longanisa or Filipino style sausage were grilled over mesquite wood until golden brown. The layers of grilled juicy pork were sitting in a deep brown pool of sweet and tangy sauce with a small pile of greens to cut the richness.
If I had to pick – my truly favorite dish was probably the Dungeness Crab Toast. The crab was freshly picked and tossed with a jicama, avocado, citrus, red pepper and mixed with a green goddess dressing which tasted like an herb vinaigrette. Here’s my best take on Chef Hung’s recipe:
Dungeness Crab Toasts
Ingredients
1/2 pound Dungeness crab
1/3 cup jicama, diced
1/3 cup avocado, diced
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 tangerine, sectioned
1/4 cup fresh herbs – parsley, chives, cilantro
1/4 cup lemon Juice
1/2 cup olive oil
salt
pepper
1 baguette
To Prepare:
1. In a bowl, mix together crab, jicama, avocado, red pepper and tangerine.
2. In another small bowl, combine the lemon juice and fresh herbs. Drizzle in the olive oil in a light stream while whisking. Salt and pepper the dressing to taste.
3. Toss the dressing with the crab mixture and spoon on top of freshly cut baguette.
Faith & Flower is a hot new restaurant in Downtown Los Angeles where the menu is seasonally fresh and the food is prepared to perfection. My only complaint would be the Twisted Sister music blaring over the intercom while dining in this upscale eatery. Bring your outside voice!
No Comments