I had been reading a lot about the opening of Orsa & Winston on different foodie websites, and luckily, through Mastercard's priceless.com website, I was able to score a reservation during the restaurant's "preview week," which occurred this past week, before it finally opens up to the public on October 2nd.
So this past Friday night, my husband and I put on our fancy clothes, and made the long trek to Downtown L.A. to give Orsa & Winston a try. When we arrived, we were greeted with a smile, and immediately seated at our table for two. On our table was a very vague menu card, which described the 5-course, prix fixe menu for the evening as follows: Raw, Egg, Rice, Meat, and Dessert. There were no other descriptions, only these five little words, so we really had no idea what was in store for us.
Our server arrived shortly thereafter, and explained that although we had already pre-paid for the set 5-course menu, the chef was also offering a 9-course, "omakase" menu, for an additional charge. "Omakase" is a Japanese phrase that means "I'll leave it to you" (from the Japanese "to entrust"), and is usually used in sushi restaurants. However, it can also simply mean that the customer will leave the selection of dishes completely up to the chef. This allows the chef to be even more innovative and surprising in the selection of dishes that are served.
As it turns out, since it was "preview week," Chef Centeno himself was working in the kitchen on the night we were there. Therefore, we decided to go for it, and order the full, 9-course omakase menu. Our server told us that it was actually the very first night that the 9-course menu was being offered, and that we were the very first table to have ordered it! (We were hoping to get our photo put up on a wall or something, but alas, it was not to be.) We also decided to do the wine pairings that were offered with each course.
The first item we were served was an amuse-bouche, which is a small starter served before the first course. The amuse is meant to prepare your mouth for the rest of the meal. The amuse was a celery seed panna cotta with mountain caviar and champagne grapes. The server explained to us that the mountain caviar is actually not fish eggs, but seeds from the Broom Cypress tree, which have a similar type of texture as caviar. The panna cotta was smooth and creamy, and paired well with the acidity of the grapes. The mountain caviar provided just the right amount of texture to the dish.
The next item was our first actual course, which was the "Raw" course. This dish was Kampachi (a type of yellowtail) with persimmon and an anchovy jus. First off, the dish was beautiful. Secondly, it was delicious, and was definitely one of my favorite courses. The thin slices of fish were light and delicate, and paired perfectly with the sweetness of the persimmon and the saltiness of the anchovy jus. This dish was paired with a Kerner, which is an aromatic white wine from northern Italy. We thought the wine pairing worked well with the subtle flavors of the dish.
Next, we were served some bread, which was a cross between Japanese milk bread and Italian focaccia, along with some house-made oregano butter. Our server described eating the bread to be like "biting into a cloud." She was quite accurate in her description as the bread was super light and fluffy. It was delicious.
Our second course was burrata cheese with fresh snap peas and a Meyer lemon marmalade. Again, I thought the presentation of the dish was just beautiful. The burrata cheese was extremely fresh and gooey, and worked very well with the crispiness of the snap peas. The Meyer lemon marmalade tasted like candied lemon peel, and complemented the other items perfectly. This dish was paired with a sweet Riesling.
The third course was the "Egg" course. Our server called this dish "Breakfast in a Shell" and said it was one of Chef Centeno's signature dishes. The dish was a coddled egg, with crispy pancetta, topped with a sherry whipped cream. The dish was actually served in an eggshell, and our server advised us to mix it up in order to get to the pancetta at the bottom. It tasted like a very sophisticated bacon and eggs, and was simply scrumptious. They paired this dish with a dry sherry. However, neither of us felt that the sherry paired very well with this dish.
Our fourth course was a seared mackerel with sofrito and fresh Lima beans. Again, the presentation was lovely. Mackerel is a darker, meatier type of fish, so the texture is quite different from the earlier Kampachi dish. The fish was very lush and tender, and paired extremely well with the flavors of the sofrito and the Lima beans. The wine pairing was a nice rose, which worked extremely well with the dish.
The fifth course was the "Rice" course, and was another one of our favorites. The dish was a Japanese koshihikari rice, prepared risotto style in a pecorino stock, with uni and razor clams. The rice was super rich and creamy, but paired impeccably with the salty, briny taste of the uni and clams. This course was served with sake, which was not one of our favorite pairings.
The sixth course was the "Meat" course. This course consisted of a piece of Kurobata pork tenderloin and a piece of pork cracklin, along with a chicken liver mousse and a huckleberry gastrique. The piece of tenderloin was good, however, the cracklin piece with the crispy skin had a lot more flavor. Not being a big fan of chicken liver in general, I only took a small taste of the mousse, which turned out to be quite tasty, and worked well with the pork. The mousse added a touch of sweetness, and a silky texture which was a nice complement to the meat. This plate also included some golden beets and sauteed beet greens as the sides, both of which were also quite tasty. The pairing for this dish was a Bourgogne, which I felt paired well with this course.
Because we ordered the 9-course menu, we were served a second "Meat" course as our seventh course. This dish was a slow roasted, boneless beef short rib, served with mushrooms and a red wine and bone marrow reduction. The beef was incredibly tender, and had a great depth of flavor. The reduction had just the right balance of sweetness from the red wine to richness from the bone marrow. The dish was succulent and delicious, and was another one of our favorites of the night. This dish was paired with a big, California Syrah, which matched up well with the rich flavor of the meat.
Before dessert, we were given an intermezzo (palate cleanser), which consisted of compressed melon, with a passion fruit granita, topped with a ginger sabayon. The ginger was quite strong, and combined with the acid from the fruit, definitely helped to cleanse my palate of the richness that had coated my mouth from the beef and bone marrow.
The eighth course was the first "Dessert" course, which were sauteed, caramelized figs topped with a balsamic glaze. The figs were served warm and were incredibly sweet. Since I am not a big fan of figs, this was probably my least favorite dish, but I still managed to eat several bites. I think if you like figs, you'd likely find this dish to be a luscious treat. This course was paired with a dessert wine, which was a very sweet Grenache. I enjoyed the wine, but paired with the very sweet figs, I was a bit overwhelmed with the sweetness.
And finally, our ninth course was a second dessert course, which was a pear and ricotta cake with a marscapone mousse and a berry sauce. The cake was served warm, and was not overly sweet, which made it a great way to end a fantastic meal. Our final wine pairing was a dry Alsace Muscat. I thought this pairing worked well with the dish because the wine was not sweet, so it balanced well with the sweetness of the cake.
Overall, I would say that we thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Orsa & Winston. We felt that every dish from start to finish was beautiful, imaginative, and well-crafted. The unique combinations of flavors were subtle, yet complex. The wines were unusual and adventurous, and we felt that the majority of them paired well with their dishes. It was a great dining experience, and we would definitely recommend checking out this exciting new addition to the Downtown L.A. restaurant scene.
