Jacaranda opening by Chef Daniel Patterson who used to run Coi in SF. I went to Jaca Social Club a while back and got invited for their early opening. Very much a fine dining restaurant but without that stuffy fine dining vibe. (Rock music plays in the background and decor inside feels homey) Also free parking on the surrounding streets past 6pm, major plus.
The tasting is a nice breath of fresh air for LA’s fine dining scene that is very heavily seafood focused. Most memorable dishes was their artichoke dish and duck dish. The artichoke dish felt more like a meat dish than a vegetable dish with its texture and fullness feeling but very much with the taste of an artichoke and other vegetables. One of the best duck dishes I’ve had in LA with Restaurant Ki’s maybe being just slightly better but honestly easier to rank both the same level. Texture, tenderness, crispiness of the skin, all of that plus a complementing sauce and a swig of rich duck broth. Desserts were a nice light end to the meal.
The tasting menu was very heavily vegetable focused, the only of its kind right now. Maybe I’m feeling the fatigue of back to back to back seafood fine dining meals in the past months, that the meal stood out to me way more than the others. I’m not a big vegetable guy, but if my veggies were prepped and cooked like this everyday I’d turn into a vegetable guy. Either way, just wanted to share and congratulate them for an incredible and memorable opening.