Alma

That is a perfect Malibu beach on a perfect sunny summer day. The photo above has nothing to do with my visit to Alma.

The nanosecond I booked my ticket to LA, I pulled up Alma-LA's website to figure out how to score a reservation. It was pretty easy, I just emailed the address in the contact section and simply secured my spot, but I'm not sure how much longer it will be "easy" to get a seat here. 

I first read about Alma's chef/owner Ari Taymor in NY Mag's Grub Street Diet. Then, I kept hearing great things about him from my trusted sources such as Eater and Bon Appetit. I was intrigued when Bon Appetit praised his restaurant as the best new restaurant in American right now. You know how I like having all the best of everything, so I ecstatic when the time came for me to uber my way into downtown LA for my meal. The only other thing I know about downtown LA is that my American Apparel Gloria V Bodysuit is produced there, but I saw no evidence of American Apparel anywhere on my drive in. 

I was seated at the bar area, which faces the open kitchen, so I got a first hand look at all the action. Alma offers a 9-ish course tasting menu and wine pairings as well. t

I was first given some snacks with some wine pairings. My very first snack was a savory Nasturtium tartlet. 

                     

The next snack was something unique for me - crisped salmon skin with kohlrabi and roe. 

My favorite snack was the english muffin with whipped goat cheese and smoked salmon. 

                  

The last snack was a seaweed beignet. This is something I never would have paired together, but good lord, what an interesting combination of flavors!

My next course was named the central coast, I know there was dungeness crrab in here, and that's all I remember. 

                    

Oh.my.god, this was my favorite course of the entire meal. This here was frozen duck liver with smoked maple, carrot, and coffee granola. I watched the chefs use liquid nitrogen to freeze the duck liver in front of my eyes. I was impressed slash I wonder if I can do cool chef things with liquid nitrogen in my home kitchen? 

Get this loaf of bread away from me! During the course of the meal, one of the chefs started chatting with me, and mentioned that since I was dining alone, the team thought maybe I was some food critic of some sort, and googled my name. I was flattered, but I assured him I was nothing of the sort. Just an average girl who likes to eat a lot!

My photo doesn't do the bouillabaisse any justice... 

I was a weeee bit nervous to try the sweet breads, as this is a dish I don't usually eat. Oh just kidding, this was also a home run and I had no reason to worry. 

My final savory course for the evening was carpenter's pigeon, beetroot, cherry, hazelnut and porcini.

And my final course before the mignardises, frozen summer.

There was one last mignardises. It was basically the sweet version of the very first tart I received at the beginning of my meal. This reminded me of my meal at Eleven Madison park in which we were served both a savory and sweet version of the black and white cookie, ooh, I like that kind of twist!

Overall: This was an exceptional meal! Not to mention, it was reasonably priced considering it was a nine course tasting menu ($95/pp, an additional $55 for the wine pairings). I would highly recommend you pay this place a visit if you are in town or in the neighborhood. Alma, I'll see you soon!

Alma
952 S. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 244-1422

http://www.alma-la.com/

You can also email info@alma-la.com to get a reservation.