I left my Ferrari at home

I've been hearing for months (quite possibly since January when it opened) about Hinoki & The Bird.  NPH tweeted about it.  Bon Appetit Magazine named it one of the 50 best new restaurants in the US.  And recently during LA's Food & Wine Festival when asked what was his favorite restaurant in Los Angeles, Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto refused to name a favorite as he has too many friends, but mentioned Hinoki.  So a night with The Bird was in order.

Their online reservations are through Urban Spoon and not my typical Open Table so when my husband asked what the dress code was I deferred to Yelp which said it was "dressy."  Yelp lied.  If the servers are wearing chambray shirts, rolled up jeans and Converse Chuck Taylors, and the chefs are wearing slate blue henleys, the restaurant is not "dressy."  I wouldn't say its casual either as you will be hobnobbing with LA's self-professed finest, so wear nice jeans and a nice shirt for guys, and heck, even for ladies.  Its not your clothes that will make you stand out - its your car.  Upon arriving at the restaurant there was a bright red Ferrari waiting to parking, and when we were waiting at the valet stand for our car it was an endless parade of BMWs, Porsches, Land Rovers, Range Rovers, and so on.  But personally I think the valet enjoyed driving my sporty Volkswagen.

We were seating outside on their spacious patio and I immediately starting looking up to see if they had a heating system installed in the rafters, and they do not.  This left me wondering how the restaurant will operate in the winter when most of its seating is outside.  One nice feature of the patio is the retractable awning which opened up as we were dining allowing us to "dine under the stars."  Though I have a feeling there were a few stars in the restaurant with us.  If for nothing else, I saw Meathead (aka Rob Reiner) at the valet.

Retractable patio awning

The menu is similar to the latest trend of small dishes, but they have small, medium and large.  Our server's advice was to get two or three small, maybe one medium, and then for us to each pick an entree and then share sides.  We decided to go with three smalls, two mediums, and one large with two sides.

First up was the marinated tuna which we were told was served sashimi style and is marinated in ginger and something else for about an hour.  That said, the tuna did not have much flavor and was overpowered by the accompanying items on the plate.  A disappointing way to start the meal.



marinated tuna, lemongrass salad

 

Next up was their famous lobster roll.  The exploding with lobster roll is server in a charcoal-enriched brioche bun.  The charcoal has little to no impact on the flavor, but makes the color of the roll unique.  Full of flavor, little to no mayo, bursting with lobster.  Looks like we're heading in the right direction.
 

lobster roll, green curry, thai basil

I won't deny it - I love crab.  I love crab more than I love bacon.  So whenever I see a crab dish, I order it.  And this crab dish was fantastic.  The crab was juicy and full of flavor, with mild spice, atop a nice crunchy toast.  Can I have three more please?
 

chili crab toast, spicy cucumber, coriander

Now it was time for the namesake dish.  Hinoki is a prized wood in Japan from a type of a cypress. The wood of this tree is nicely lemon-like scented and distinguished by its light color and straight grain. In order for the cod to absorb the scent of the hinoki, a sliver of wood is served atop of the dish smoking from a recent fire that was just put out.  Its a beautiful presentation and who doesn't love their meal being served on fire.  Once you put out the smoke, you get to enjoy the subtle flavor of the cod that has just the right amount of fat to keep it tender and juicy.  I personally found the sweet potato to be rather bland (though, see my thought on the roasted yam later), and was not a fan of the mushroom it was served with.  But the cod.....heaven.

Oh, and P.S., added bonus: during breaks between courses you can stick your hinoki into the votives on the table and enjoy more of the sweet smoke.  Our server told us this was a common occurrence.
 

hinoki scented black cod, sweet potato, pistachio

This next dish can only be described in one simple phrase: heaven on earth.  Now yes, I love pork.  And yes, I love pork belly.  But this, this is something completely different.  I will no longer be able to view any other pork belly the same way.  All other pork bellies will be compared to this.  This was so good that I started to cut it into small bites that I chewed as slowly as possibly to enjoy every scrumptious bite.  The greens are a waste of space on the plate, as are the radishes and sesame brittle served on top, and the sauce on the plate is bitter.  But the pork I will dream about for years to come.
 

caramel braised kurobuta pork belly, radish, mustard greens

 

My favorite cuts of beef are skirt steak and hanger steak, so we obviously had to order the skirt steak and I have to say, I was disappointed.  Now true, being served after the pork belly was an injustice to the steak, but even if I hadn't just had heaven on earth I think I still would have found the steak to just be, in a word, Eh.

miso marinated skirt steak

So its a good thing that we ordered the roasted Japanese yam. The texture was gummy, but in a good way, with a slight sweetness. It was served in a Japanese take of a traditional American style with lardons that better resembled thick bacon bits and crème fraiche instead of sour cream.  It also had julienned slices of a mild chili on top.  To me, the toppings were unnecessary as the yam could stand on its own.  And the roasting made a perfect bark of the skin that wasn't too hard to cut through, but gave the yam a campfire taste.
 

roasted yam, crème fraiche, lardon

As for the mushrooms, I found them chewy and not very good, but my husband enjoyed them.  It was served with a yuzu koshu which is paste made from chili peppers, yuzu peel, and salt, which is then allowed to ferment.   It had a very strong flavor and reminded me of a mild wasabi both in color and taste.
 

braised shitake mushroom, yuzu koshu

When our entrées were complete we were greeted by the manager, Nick.  Normally I wouldn't point this out as I often find the manager stopping by to be an unnecessary disruption, but Nick handled it differently from any other restaurant manager I have seen.  Nick approached us and asked us if we had any favorite dishes, which got us talking about the pork belly and he told us that the chef orders a special cut that has less fat, but more flavor.  Since we had been seated next to the pastry kitchen we had watched desserts being assembled all night and he asked us which appealed to us.  With that he was able to explain why the cotton cheesecake was called just that (whipped egg whites folded in in a traditional Japanese style giving it more of a texture of a sponge cake but still with the cream cheese flavor).  Only once we decided on our dessert and he said he would place it for us did he then introduce himself and offer to be of any other assistance.  Not a disruption at all, and quite a pleasure.  In fact, Nick made sure to deliver the cheesecake to our table himself. 

As I said, we had been watching the desserts being assembled all night, so we were anxious to find out what made up every little bobble on the plate.  The cheesecake was exactly as Nick had described, and it was covered with a crumble that I'm assuming was intended to resemble a graham cracker crust.  It was served with fresh strawberries and rhubarb, and two pieces of thinly-sliced dried rhubarb which I wish I could buy in bulk.  There were three dollops of raspberry cream and a dome of a raspberry mouse.  But the strawberry Greek yogurt ice cream was quite simply the icing on the cake. 

cotton cheesecake, rhubarb, raspberry cream, strawberry yogurt ice cream

All in all the meal was a good experience.  A couple of misfires, but also some dishes that were some of the most amazing food I have ever had.  We will likely go back again as the pork belly is calling to both of us, but probably not for a while as too many other restaurants are calling for our attention.  Of course next time I might arrive in our Toyota just to really mess with all of the socialites.