I turned 40 last month, and Matt B. and I celebrated with an incredible four-hour dinner at Somni. We made the reservation over a month in advance, and while we had to be on the ball, we were able to get a table on the night of my actual birthday.
We arrived a few minutes early and ended up waiting on the sidewalk with everyone else, as the restaurant was closed until 7:30, when the night's only seating began. We were all led in at once, to a lovely patio, where we enjoyed our first few bites before moving to the dining room. This was a great space, clean and modern, designed, like a concert hall, for an immersive sensory experience. All the seats were arranged along a long counter with a view of the kitchen and a staging area that looked, in fact, like a culinary stage. We, the audience, were outnumbered by the Somni team, who prepared, served, and described each course with flair and precision. Service was impeccable throughout the night, and the chef himself came around at the end, taking time to converse with every diner.
There was no menu, and no accommodation for dietary restrictions or even allergies. The only decision we had to make was on beverages, and we went with the middle tier of the three wine pairings. This was abundantly excellent, a series of fine, interesting wines that went very well with our food. There were mixed pairings and non-alcoholic pairings available, too, and some of those drinks looked fun, if not quite what we were there to do.
Dinner was exquisite, every dish a work of art. We were welcomed to the patio with a bump of white truffle-infused caviar, served on a wooden mannequin hand, and a light cocktail made with sake, ginger beer, yuzu foam, apple, and carbonated grape. Then came a colorful spread of six delicate little bites, a marvelous statement of intent from chef Aitor Zabala, whose cooking is high-concept, playful, intriguing, and delicious. There was a tarragon meringue with dehydrated raspberry and tarragon butter; a "mussel shell" made of bread and squid ink, filled with lemon-yuzu mussel bechamel; a parmesan rice feather topped with coffee, lemon, and parmesan cream; an almond-shaped hard candy shell filled with lemon-beef purée, almond praline cream, and lemon confit; a morel porcini mille-feuille; and my favorite, a sardine flatbread, shaped like a small sardine and layered with tomato sofrito and cured iwashi.
At this point, we moved indoors and had what looked like a slice of pizza: an airy meringue topped with tomato, burrata, basil, black truffle, and pancetta. Then came one of my favorites of the night, the gazpacho blanco, an intensely flavorful bowl of tomato, cucumber, nasturtium, and smoked dill cream finished with olive oil and a lemongrass, kaffir lime, and tomato water infusion.
Sweet coco crab was served with kohlrabi cream, basil flower, finger lime, and a gingery crab head foam. Then, two tartares. Beef tenderloin tartare came on puffed shiso leaf tempura with a spray of bright blue flowers. The chutoro tartare was tucked under a blanket of roasted bone marrow and beluga hybrid caviar, the dish finished with a chicken escabeche flavored with garlic, cinnamon, and thyme. The next course brought a taste of savory breakfast, a croissant made of fried potato, served with a truffle, egg, dashi cream.
Three more seafood dishes, each one a sensation. Mussels in a lush yellow sauce of saffron, tarragon, and mussel shell dashi. A perfect filet of dry-aged Galician turbot, served with a perfect medley of sugar snap peas, squid ink caviar, pressed apple, pea sprouts, chicken stock, and apple jelly. A highlight in a night of highlights. Then we had the collagen-rich turbot fin, glazed in teriyaki and finished with shiso flowers.
Lest we go home hungry, we had a whole savory ensaimada, a buttery Spanish pastry with a porcini and truffle filling. Then, tender Iberico pork, with sides of jamón iberico jelly bean and jamón-stuffed morel.
The cheese course brought "cow and her milk," a cow-shaped cracker over cheese, apple, and hazelnut. Then came a dessert called "winter silence," a wonderful composition of white chocolate, yuzu, flowers, and rice, with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream. Dinner wound down with juicy golden kiwi dressed with flowers and yuzu and ginger. Then an array of sweet bites: strawberries and cream, raspberry and blackberry gummies, passionfruit white chocolate madeleines, mochi dumplings with lemon zest, and caramel chocolate ganache "donuts" with rainbow sprinkles. A single candle arrived, too, in its own dish of sprinkles.
This was, quite handily, the most expensive meal we've ever had, and I'm glad we were able to book it for a milestone birthday. Somni is definitely a special occasion restaurant, perhaps the most special occasion restaurant in all of Los Angeles. I don't know if I'll make it back, but I doubt I'll ever forget this dinner. read more