Edmon

Los Angeles, California

Edmon is a newly opened restaurant adjacent to the Hollywood Historic Hotel, an art deco building from the 1920s on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. The executive chef is Gabriel Cappella, a man who has had prior experience working at numerous restaurants as well as studying under Chef Michel Nischan (who has been a James Beard Award winner three times). Not too shabby! All of this to say, that I was certainly curious to experience it for myself and my anticipation increased when I arrived at the entrance to find the beautifully refurbished restaurant that maintained the ambiance of old without any trace of overly dankness remaining. It was classy!

Aviation gin, earl grey honey, amaro montenegro, lemon shaken on rocks ($12)
Prior to exploring the food menu, The Tea's Knees was the cocktail I sipped on. The drink was balanced with a hint of something I likely would not have been able to identify had I not seen Earl Grey Tea listed as one of the ingredients. I would have enjoyed a more intense Earl Grey essence in the flavor, but it was a smooth drink for which I had no other complaint.




Deep fried jackfruit, prickly pear slaw, "Jamaican jerk" coconut jerky, plantain tortillas ($15)
I was excited to try the fried plantain tortilla that was on the menu, which I first had in Columbia last year. This maintained a mild sweetness that combined well with the jerk flavor and the spiciness in a sauce. Nonetheless, I thought the flavors could have been presented more evenly spread. Each bite I had was disappointingly different. When I enjoyed a bite, it was really good, but others were lacking. I attribute this to not having a dish in which it is easy to visualize the various sauces, so it was unclear if all were present or not when scooping up a bite.



Scallops, lobster rillette, asparagus, sun choke veloute ($32).
The scallops were perfectly prepared and, again, this plate was complimented by a subtly unusual flavor with the earthiness of sun choke puree. The Salmon Rillette was fried, which I did not anticipate and added saltiness to the dish. I had expected, and would have enjoyed, the creamy texture of the rillette had it not been fried.



Pheasant breast, vegetable demi place made with dates, saffron quinoa, salsify, fried garbanzo beans, pistachio sour cream ($29)
The preparation of the pheasant reminded me of a duck confit, albeit less fatty. Nicely prepared with evident tenderness, but without a rich flavor that paired with a savory reduction that was sweet and provided much needed enhancement to elevate the pheasant. The quinoa was so nice in texture that I thought it was actually couscous, a lovely bite when sometimes quinoa can be a tad gooey. The saffron seasoning was a fantastic idea, too!

For dessert, bread pudding was explained by the waitress as the only option. It was delivered on a rectangle, single-serving, cast iron skillet that was much too large a portion considering that it was dessert. The bread pudding was actually savory. The breading was a combination of wheat bread and another bread that I cannot recall. Although it was described as being a maple bread pudding with white honey, it was not all sweet and disappointingly heavy as a dessert.

Overall, it the food was solid, but I am sad to say that the ambiance is what I enjoyed most of all when I am there because of the food!