Amuse Your Tastebuds at Papilles

Papilles, a new French bistro opens tonight in Hollywood.  The restaurant is the newest project from Santos Uy, who owns Mignon in Downtown Los Angeles.  Papilles, the French word for tastebuds, is also the name of a bistro gastronomique in Paris that inspired Uy on an April trip in Paris.  On his trip he visited many of the modern bistros that focus on quality ingredients, well cooked food and a greater emphasis on what is on the plate than on the traditional trappings of fine French food.  Rather than bring back a souvenir, he brought back a restaurant.  Try fitting that into your carry-on luggage.

The concept is a prix fixe menu with two choices of appetizers, two entree options and cheese or dessert all for only $28 ($35 if cheese is added in addition to dessert).

Expect to find dishes such as Tahitian Squash Veloute, tahitian squash foam and pomegranate (above) and Braised Beef Cheeks, jus, creamy polenta, roasted carrots and glazed turnips (below).  The soup was one of the appetizers when I sampled the food at a preview dinner.  The warm soup had the essence of squash, with concentrated flavor to go with the intense orange color.  The chef mentioned that he enjoys using the same ingredient multiple ways in the same dish, hence both the squash veloute and squash foam.

The beef was fork tender and just the thing for a cold winter's evening in Los Angeles.  The polenta was creamy as advertised and the carrots provided a pleasing color contrast to the plate.  The jus from the beef flavored everything and was rich and comforting.

Another dish from the small menu was the Trout with red quinoa and beets.  The green sauce on the plate provided another dose of color, which livened up the dish.  The trout was light and mild.

The cuisine is cooked by Executive Chef Tim Carey, who worked in the kitchen at Patina, Joachim Splichal's flagship restaurant in Walt Disney Concert Hall, before joining Uy to open up Papilles.

To finish the meal, diners can choose between desserts such as poached pear or a plate of cheese, like the Spanish Mahon below, served with sliced pear.  The salty cheese and the sweet fruit were a nice way to end the meal and prepare to step outside into the Los Angeles night.

Note that the bread is served in colanders, a whimsical touch.  The wine program is in development and will focus on French natural and biodynamic wines.

Papilles is located in a strip mall in East Hollywood, on Franklin just East of the 101 freeway in the former Raffalo's Pizza.  It is ambitious and is prix fixe only meaning you can't just pop in for an entree or appetizer.  Fortunately the price point is wallet-friendly and the menu is expected to change weekly.

Papilles: 6221 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood.  Phone: 323.871.2086 | Website: PapillesLA.com

Le Comptoir at Tiara Cafe: Gary Menes Amazing Pop-up

Gary Menes, the talented and peripatetic chef has alighted for a spell at Tiara Cafe, hosting his pop-up restaurant Le Comptoir during dinner service when the restaurant is otherwise closed.  The 12 seats at this restaurant are at the counter, hence the name of the pop-up.  The experience of dining at the counter is intimate as you can watch the chefs prepare your meal while you sit side by side with your fellow diners.

I had first heard of Chef Menes from Jo of My Last Bite who raved about his cooking.  I never made it to Marche or Palihouse when he was there and finally managed to taste his food for the first time on a recent Friday evening at Le Comptoir.    The menu is 5 courses for $46 and is vegetarian.  Diners have the option of swapping out one course for foie ($18 supplement) and another for meat ($5 supplement).

The meal began with an amuse of beet above lime pudding.

The house-made bread was excellent; this is not a restaurant for carb-phobes, as the bread is all but irresistible with a great crust. 

1st course: Corn soup: sierra gold potato, french shallot, corn veloute, farinette, yogurt, celery.  The corn veloute was remarkable.  One of my favorite dishes of the year.  I love corn and the consistency of the soup was wonderful with the sweetness of the corn shining through.  The tableside service of the pouring of the soup was also dramatic and reminiscent of restaurants like Jean Georges.  The best soup I have had in a very long time.

The alternate selection for the first course is the foie gras terrine.  It was rich and spread nicely on the bread but given a choice between having the foie or the soup, I'd choose the soup.  I never thought I'd say that corn soup wins over foie, but Chef Menes has a way with vegetables and soups and it would be a shame to miss whatever soup he makes that evening.

2nd course: A signature dish at the pop-up is the Sunny Side-up Egg with young lettuce, herbs and sorrel jus.  The lettuce and butter arrive first and then a hot pan sizzling with the egg inside.  We were instructed to add the butter then the herbs and lettuce and mix together.  I enjoyed this but I found that by the time I added all of the ingredients, the yolk had solidified due to the heat of the pan.  I am not sure if that was the intent or not, but I recommend mixing up the yolk when this dish arrives so you can experience it still runny.

Lettuces, herbs, butter

Egg in pan

Complete dish

3rd course: Cauliflower, faro picolo, grapes, leeks, apples.  Again this dish is deceptively simple.  A vegetarian dish with grains, sweet apples and grapes and the roasted cauliflower.  There was a lot of flavor on the plate, including the dramatic leeks.

4th Course: Wagyu filet and 72-hr braised short rib, hearts of romaine, carrots, forbidden rice, currant relish.  ($5 supp).  The charred romaine had a great texture and the wagyu, both filet and short rib was dripping with intense flavor and richness.  The carrots added a note of sweetness to the dish and enlivened the plating as if they were monoliths on the plains of my plate.

5th course: Sourdough donut holes, cinnamon sugar, nutella, candied walnuts.  I didn't love the sourness of the donut but did enjoy the nutella.  Again the plating is just so.

There is an optional four course wine pairing for $24 and otherwise your only other decision is whether you want the soup or the foie, and the meat or the vegetable, which on the evening I was there was blue hubbard squash, brussels sprouts, dried cherry marmalade, smoked scallions, santa barbara chanterelles, spanish padron peppers.

Le Comptoir is open Thursday - Saturday and has three seatings nightly, at 6 pm, 8 pm and 10 pm.  Reservations can be made by emailing lecomptoirla@gmail.com
Follow Chef Menes on Twitter @garymenes

It has already made Jonathan Gold's 99 Essential Restaurants.  Le Comptoir may be ephemeral, but it is well worth finding.  Get while the getting is good, else you will have missed out.

Tiara Cafe: 127 E. 9th Street, between Main and Los Angeles Sts., DTLA