Dinner at A.O.C. (Los Angeles)

In May, Los Angeles Magazine published it’s annual “L.A.’s 75 Best Restaurants” issue.  It’s always my favorite issue of the year, because it gives me ideas for new places to try around the city.  I was happy to see that I had already been to numbers 2, 3 and 4.  However, I had yet to try the #1 place on their list this year, A.O.C.  Naturally, I had to check it out.

First things first, what does A.O.C. stand for?   Well, this is a wine reference for a restaurant that started off primarily as a wine bar with some small plates, and has since evolved into much more.   
A little history on the meaning of A.O.C...  

Back in  the 1900s, France was suffering economically under the cost of two world wars, which was  contributing to a significant decrease in the quality and availability of prestigious French wines.  Around the same time, the A.O.C. (or Appellation d’Origine Controlee – meaning “regulated origin name”) was devised. The A.O.C. outlined the standards for today’s modern wine regulations and laws that serve both to define grape growing regions as well as protect the quality of wines. The A.O.C. served to redeem the country’s wine reputation and determine a structured protocol for quality and consistency within the French wine market.  I digress.... back to the restaurant...

A.O.C. can best be described as contemporary, California French cuisine.  A.O.C. is primarily a small plates restaurant, which is centered around locally grown, seasonal ingredients.  I really like the whole trend of small plates, since it allows me to try more things on the menu, rather than limiting me to only one entree.

A.O.C. has been in L.A. since 2002, however, it recently moved to its current location on 3^rd Street.  The new location is small, but they have a lovely, outdoor patio, which was absolutely perfect on a mild L.A. evening. A.O.C.is helmed by chef Suzanne Goin, who was named one of Food & Wine magazine's "best new chefs of 1999", and was nominated for James Beard awards in 2003 and 2005.  In 2006, she won a James Beard Award for Best Chef California. 

A.O.C. has a great "by the glass" list for wine, but I was primarily focused on the food.  The cheese boards change on a daily basis, and guest s have a choice of one, three or five different cheeses.  We decided to start with a three cheese plate.  We chose three distinctly different types of cheese, one was an aged gouda, one was a bleu, and one was a hard Italian cheese, which was less like a parmesan or reggiano, and more like a Spanish manchego.  The cheeses were accompanied by some dried figs, walnuts, and a couple of fruit pastes.  The board also came with come good, country bread.  All of the cheeses were delicious, and I especially liked a perfect bite with the bread, the bleu, and a bit of the lemon paste.  The combination of the sour bleu with the tart lemon worked really well together.

Along with the cheese board, we ordered the coppa and soppressata plate, to have some meat to go along with our cheese.  What is coppa? Coppa is a muscle of the pork right behind the back of the head, at the top of the shoulder.  Soppressata is an Italian, dry salami.  The coppa was salty and cured, with just the right amount of fat.  The soppressata was spicy, with just the right amount of heat.  I probably would have been happy just eating cheese and charcuterie all night, but everything else sounded so good, we moved on the the "small plates" part of the menu.

For my "small plate", I chose the clams with sherry, garlic, and toast.  The clams were briny, buttery, and luscious.  The sherry and garlic added just the right touch of flavor.  The broth was so good, I loved mopping it up with the grilled toast.  I had a great glass of sauvignon blanc with this dish, which was the perfect pairing, due to its crispness and minerality.  This was definitely one of the highlights for me.

For his "small plate", my husband ordered the duck cassoulet.  Now, a cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked casserole, originating in the south of France, which usually contains a dark meat (i.e. pork sausage, goose, rabbit, or duck), and generally, has some type of white beans.  This was a great example of a rich, slow-cooked duck, which had good, well-seasoned skin, on top of an array of beans, with a crispy, breadcrumb topping.  The duck had that soft, braised, fall off the bone texture, and the beans were perfectly cooked.  The bread crumb topping gave a nice crunch to the dish.

We each decided to order one more "small plate."  My husband ordered the parpadelle with asparagus, chanterelles, and parmesan.  The fresh, home-made pasta was perfectly cooked.  The sauce was rich and creamy, which was highlighted by the asparagus and mushrooms.  The asparagus was bright, crispy, and had an excellent "vegetality" (a term coined by him to describe well-cooked, vegetable flavor).  The chantrelle mushrooms added a nice, earthy quality to the dish.  Together, the vegetables and sauce married perfectly together. 

I decided to order the Spanish fried chicken with romesco aioli, & chili-cumin butter.  I am a sucker for fried chicken, especially, if it is well done. This chicken was crispy and crunchy on the outside, and moist and juicy inside.  The chicken was packed with a punch on its own, and the chili-cumin butter was a bit over-powering.  The breading on the chicken was very cumin-heavy on its own.  I ate most of it without the sauce, and felt it was unnecessary since the breading on the chicken was so full of flavor.  

Now, by this point, we were both pretty full.  However, as a duty to my loyal readers (all 4 of you), we felt obliged to order dessert. We went with the butterscotch pot de crème with fleur de sel & salted cashew cookies.  It was a delicious, rich butterscotch pudding, with a bit of added salt to balance out the sweetness.  We both enjoyed it, but each only had a couple of bites before we were too full to take anymore.

Overall, we both thoroughly enjoyed our experience at A.O.C.  Each of the small dishes we ordered were very enjoyable, packed with flavor, and well thought out.  The atmosphere on the patio was very nice, as well as, the "by the glass" wine list.  We will definitely be back to try more of  chef Goin's dishes.  Do I agree with L.A. Magazine, that A.O.C. is the "best in L.A."?  Probably not. There are certainly places I have enjoyed more.   However, the food was absolutely solid, and I would without a doubt  come back for more.  It is a place that all foodies in L.A. should have on their lists.