The NoMad Mezzanine (Los Angeles, CA)

The Mezzanine
The NoMad Hotel
649 S Olive St
Los Angeles, CA 90014
Dining date: 4/1/18

The NoMad Hotel, located in the middle of downtown Los Angeles, opened in January. The hotel opening brought with it two imports from the NYC original – the highly-regarded NoMad Bar as well as NoMad Restaurant. The dining is overseen by Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park fame, whose NoMad in NYC has garnered one Michelin star. As such, this has been a highly anticipated restaurant ever since it was announced.

I’ve dined at NYC’s NoMad once, for lunch, and was very excited to try the Los Angeles restaurant for dinner. There are two concepts at the hotel – the Lobby for more casual all-day dining and the upstairs dinner-only Mezzanine for more formal dining.

MUSHROOM BREAD

DUNGENESS CRAB SALAD WITH AVOCADO, APPLE & VADOUVAN

PAPPARDELLE FAVA BEANS, SNAP PEAS & PARMESAN

SCALLOPS SEARED WITH HEN OF THE WOODS, AMARANTH & SORREL

SUCKLING PIG CONFIT WITH KUMQUATS, WILD SPINACH & BACON MARMALADE

ROAST CHICKEN FOR TWO BLACK TRUFFLE & BRIOCHE STUFFING WITH BABY TURNIPS & SESAME

BAKED ALASKA STRAWBERRY, MEYER LEMON & VANILLA

Dinner at The NoMad was a good one, although it fell short of high expectations. It didn’t help that this weekend also featured meals at Majordomo and Felix Trattoria, and The NoMad just didn’t have the same dynamic flavors. Of the appetizers, the pappardelle was the clear favorite – the ribbons of pasta were accompanied by earthy and sweet fava and snap peas, with some added depth from grated parmesan. The dungeness crab appetizer failed to stand out; the flavors were muted and the delicate sweetness of the crab was overshadowed by the vadouvan. The scallops were the favorite of the main courses, cooked perfectly and paired up with earthy hen of the woods mushrooms. The roasted chicken didn’t quite meet expectations. It was certainly a good roasted chicken, stuffed with black truffle and foie gras, but I don’t think the flavors were as memorable as the presentation. The truffle and foie gras was too subtle and the chicken itself was good but not great. The baked Slaska was a fun way to end the meal, however, with its tableside presentation.