September 19, 2015: Redbird

Since Luke was born Christal and I hadn't been on a true date night. We were finally able to pick one of her free weekends and plan a proper night out to LA and it just happened to coincide with Luke being 2 months old as well as Christal passing her step 2 boards exam. Since Luke hasn't liked it when Christal eats anything spicy or even heavily seasoned with spices we decided to go to Redbird, thinking that it might have fewer spicy options. Redbird is the new restaurant from celebrity chef Neal Fraser and it is located in the Vibiana cathedral rectory building. It has been on my short list of restaurants to try in LA since it opened in December of 2014.

We arrived a little bit before the restaurant was officially open so the hostess showed us to the bar to wait until the staff was ready for us to be seated. Once we sat down they brought us an amuse bouche, which happened to be a cocktail. Unfortunately I can't remember what was in the cocktail exactly, but I think it had some vermouth, white wine and something else, and it was really good. It was a rose pink color and had a good balance of fruit and booze.

Christal ordered the New Caledonian prawns with ginger, lemongrass, Thai basil, kaffir lime, glass noodles and duck espuma for her appetizer. The prawns were cooked perfectly, retaining their firm yet tender texture and sweet flavor. The broth was packed with Thai flavor from the ginger, lemongrass, basil and kaffir lime and I'm sure some of the savoriness came from some fish sauce in there as well. The glass noodles added some extra body to the dish as well as a slight textural change, but they were a little hard to pick up with just a fork and spoon. Christal and I both thought a pair of chopsticks would have helped immensely. In my opinion the duck espuma did not seem to add much, other than maybe some richness, but I felt that the complexity of the savory broth pretty much silenced the foam, although it did help the presentation of the dish.

New Caledonian Prawns w Ginger, Lemongrass, Thai Basil, Kaffir Lime, Glass Noodles & Duck Espuma

The braised goat gemelli with rapini, garlic bread crumbs, poached egg and Fresno chili was my first course. The gemelli pasta was nicely al dente and the braised goat extremely tender. The rapini added a nice bitterness to counteract the sweetness of the tomato sauce and the poached egg acted almost like a second sauce when the yolk was broken open and oozing all over the pasta. Fortunately the chili was not so hot that Christal couldn't have at least a bite, but there was enough spice there to remind you that there was some chili in the dish and not just as garnish on top. The garlic bread crumbs at some much needed crunch and helped to balance the entire dish out, both in texture and in flavor with the toasty sweetness of the garlic.

Braised Goat Gemelli w Rapini, Garlic Bread Crumbs, Poached Egg & Fresno Chili

Ever since we ate at La Toque in Napa Christal has loved venison, so once she saw that Redbird had venison she had to order that for her main entree. The dish was New Zealand venison with Umbrian lentils, squash flan, chicory and huckleberries. Overall it was a good dish, but not spectacular. The venison was cooked to a perfect medium rare and had been rested well so that the juices weren't bleeding onto the plate. The lentils were tender, but not mushy. The squash flan was rich and smooth with a strong butternut squash flavor and vibrant orange hue. The huckleberries added a nice sweetness to compliment the very faint gaminess of the venison. The chicory was sauteed so the bitterness was muted and there was some puffed oats which added a little crunch to the dish. None of the elements were bad, in fact they were all good, they just didn't seem like they all went together seamlessly.

New Zealand Venison w Umbrian Lentils, Squash Flan, Chicory & Huckleberries

When I had scouted the menu the thing that caught my eye the most was the rabbitchetta with Anson Mills polenta, pea tendrils and thyme sauce. I assumed it was basically the rabbit version of porchetta, which is one of my favorite things ever! It turned out to be more of a rabbit sausage wrapped in bacon or pancetta. The bulk of the rabbit was a highly seasoned farce stuffing with a loin of rabbit on the side and it was all wrapped tightly with the smoked pork creating a roulade. The bit of loin in the roulade was fairly small and the flavor of the rabbit was kind of drowned out by the flavor of the rabbit farce and the smoky pancetta. The farce itself was very tasty with a background of sage and the texture was light and soft, yet dense and toothsome at the same time, but it too was drowned out by the smokiness of the pancetta. The polenta was starchy and rich, owing to heaps of butter I'm sure, and the pea tendrils were tender and sweet. The thyme sauce was very savory and unctuous and was a perfect gravy for the polenta. Like the venison dish, everything on the plate was good, but the balance was off due in large part to the smokiness of the pancetta or bacon. I think if the rabbit had more of the sweet cuts rolled in it and a little less farce as well as being wrapped in a different protein/fat the whole dish might have been better off. Then the flavor of the rabbit could shine and the unctuous sauce could help tie the polenta and pea tendrils in with the rabbit. Instead it felt like the polenta, pea tendrils and sauce all meshed well together while the rabbit was stuck sitting in the smokehouse with the bacon.

Rabbitchetta w Anson Mills Polenta, Pea Tendrils & Thyme Sauce

We ended up ordering two desserts that sounded really good to us. The first was baklava with nectarines, pistachios, phyllo and yogurt sherbet. It was a visually stunning dish because the phyllo was shredded and formed into a bird's nest and then fried and the pistachio clusters were scattered around it and a perfect quenelle of the yogurt sherbet was placed on top of the nest. The nectarines were sliced and served fresh and for some reason they hid them under the phyllo nest. It was a very nice dessert with plenty of crunchy elements from the crispy phyllo pastry to the honeyed pistachio clusters and had all the elements of a traditional baklava, but again it just did not seem completely cohesive. Maybe it was the tartness of the fresh nectarines, but it just seemed to be missing something to help remind you that this was baklava.

Baklava w Nectarines, Pistachios, Phyllo & Yogurt Sherbet

The second dessert we ordered was the pain perdu with peach, brioche and brown butter ice cream. The brioche pain perdu was perfectly caramelized with an outer crust that noisily crunched as you cut into it and a soft, buttery interior. The peaches were roasted as well as turned into a puree and some candied nuts were sprinkled around the plate to add some extra crunch and textural contrast. There was also a powder sprinkled on the dish that I thought was a brown butter powder, but it was almost too subtle to tell. The brown butter ice cream added a cold counterpoint to the warm pain perdu and roasted peaches, but it too was very subtle with the brown butter flavor. The biggest criticism of this dish for me was that the piece of pain perdu was very small and the ratio of brioche to everything else skewed heavily to everything else with the peaches winning out.

Pain Perdu w Peach, Brioche & Brown Butter Ice Cream

Overall Christal and I really enjoyed our first night out without Luke. The service was attentive, without being overbearing and the venue was unique and refreshing. The food was very good, despite the very small criticisms we had and it lived up to my expectations. Both first courses were our favorites of the night and seemed to have the cohesiveness and balance that was lacking in the other dishes.

Food 3.5/5
Service 4/5
Christal's Rating 4/5
http://redbird.la/