Dinner at Hinoki & the Bird (Century City)

Being the "foodies" that we are, my husband and I love when exciting new restaurants open up around the city.  I especially love when Los Angeles Magazine publishes its annually "Best New Restaurants in L.A." issue and provides us with a list of great places to try.  The most recent of these issues came out in December with its list of the "Top 10 Best New Restaurants of 2013."  Fortunately for us, we had already tried out the #1 (Trois Mec) and #2 (Bestia) places on the list.  Then, a Saturday night came about recently where we had no plans, so we picked up the magazine, looked at the list, and decided to check out the #3 restaurant called Hinoki & the Bird.

Hinoki & the Bird is located on the ground floor of "The Century" building in Century City, which is known for being the most expensive condominium building west of the Mississippi.  As for the name, hinoki is a type of cypress tree that is meant to represent the spirit of Japan, and the hinoki wood is used to perfection in one of their signature dishes (more on that later). 


The interior is a mixture of both wood and industrial design.  We were seated outside on the enclosed patio, which had a large fireplace as its centerpiece.  The ambiance was both cozy and noisy.

The place was packed, and the tables were very close together, which made it a little difficult to hear each other across the table.  However, we had no trouble overhearing the conversations of all of the other diners seated around us.  Everyone really seemed to enjoy everything that was brought to their tables.


Hinoki has a specialty cocktail list, and since I've been trying to expand my horizons when it comes to cocktails, I ordered a Classic Negroni, which consisted of gin, sweet vermouth & Campari, on the rocks, with an orange twist.  The drink had one of my favorite new cocktail trends, the single, giant ice cube, used because it melts slowly and keeps your drink cold, but without watering it down.  The drink was delicious and really helped whet my appetite.

Hinoki has an eclectic menu, full of Californian and Asian influences.  The menu is divided up into various sections including a raw bar, fun bites, inspiration, simply grilled, and vegetables and grains.
We started off by sharing a couple of small plates.  The first was fried clams with black garlic aioli.  The clams were quite large, and the batter was crispy and crunchy.  The side of black garlic aioli was an interesting touch, and the richness paired well with the brininess of the clams.

 
The second small plate we shared was the chili crab toasts. In this dish, the sweetness of the crab was a bit overwhelmed by the chili spice, however the fresh strip of cucumber on the bottom helped cool down the heat quite a bit.


Next, we ordered a "main" dish which was the hinoki scented black cod.  With this unique dish, the chef ignites paper-thin sheets of hinoki wood and lays them, still smoldering, over charred clumps of oyster mushrooms and a crispy-skinned piece of black cod. The wood perfumes the restaurant, so you can always tell when somebody across the room has ordered it.  The hinoki wood imparts a delicate smoky scent to the dish.

This was definitely the stand-out dish of the evening.  One of the best preparations of cod that we've ever had.  It was super flaky, tender, and buttery.  The earthiness of the mushrooms was a great accompaniment to the fish.  The mound of mashed sweet potatoes were a tasty, yet completely unnecessary, component of the dish.  Just the cod and mushrooms alone would have been more than satisfying.


Next, we ordered another small dish which was the crispy marinated chicken lemon sauce. The chicken was good and crispy on the outside, yet juicy and tender on the inside.  They tasted like really good chicken tenders.


Finally, we decided to order one dessert to split. We chose the miso donuts with caramel dipping sauce.

Although the donuts were perfectly fried, and not greasy, we both thought that the coating of miso was a miss because it made the donuts too salty.  The caramel dipping sauce was good, but we both couldn't really handle more than just a couple of bites of the dessert.

Overall, we had a great meal at Hinoki and the Bird.  I would definitely recommend the hinoki scented cod dish, as it was one of the very best fish dishes that either of us has ever had!  The menu was innovative and very creative, the atmosphere was nice, and I would encourage all adventurous diners to give this one a try.