FOOD: Nightshade

Nightshade is quintessential Arts District: a cool space blossoming in an old industrial building, a bit of a speakeasy vibe because there’s no signage on the street, you just have to know to walk down an alley behind the Hauser & Wirth gallery complex, along what looks like a loading dock ramp to find the door. The food is a distinctive Asian-inspired LA cuisine, taking inspiration from Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese cuisines, applying it to the bounty of local farmers markets, and just being creative in delicious and beautiful ways. Sharing plates is the way to go here, and it worked out great with six of us we could taste much of the menu. A Baja kanpachi crudo came with shiso leaves and kohlrabi, and was covered by mandolin-sliced discs of kimchi radish, arranged like fish scales. Hokkaido scallops, graced with fresh sprigs of coriander, rested in a pool of coconut vinaigrette. Beef tartare was blended with “egg yolk jam”, sesame seeds, and kochukaru (a coarse-ground Korean chili powder), giving the traditional dish a zippy flavor, and topped with floral sprouts for color and texture. The tom yum onion makes quite a presentation, looking like an onion that was rearchitected by Frank Gehry before being tempura-battered and fried, served with an unexpectedly airy light green froth of coconut milk and tom yum flavors (lemongrass, kaffir lime). Carrots of multiple colors were tamarind-glazed, served in a carrot top emulsion, and topped with toasted coconut and fresh herbs. Sunchokes were sliced and roasted to a soft mellow perfection, complimented with a strawberry sesame mole, and color-accented with a bright green herb and bright yellow edible flower petals, delighting the eye as well as the tongue. A large bowl of koshihikari congee (rice porridge, made from a short-grain Japanese rice) came with distinct mounds of pork “floss”, scallions, carmelized shallots, and crispy bits, along with an “onsen” egg (soft-cooked, Japanese spa style), to give a pleasing presentation (and an Instagram moment) before you blend it all up. The normally mild porridge was amped up with XO, a Hong Kong condiment made from dried seafood, chili, onion, and garlic. The mapo tofu “lasagna” intricately layers pork “ragu” between sheets of tofu, creating a satisfying comfort food located somewhere between Bologna and Chengdu (though it reminded me more of zha jiang mian than the fiery hot pot mapo tofu). The deliciously piquant Szechuan hot quail on Japanese milk bread is what would have happened if Howlin’ Ray grew up in Chengdu instead of Nashville. Finally, an off-menu rib roast was marinated in soy sauce and spices, and cooked to perfect crisp char on the outside while still juicy medium rare inside, and served with butter lettuce leaves, house pickles, mint leaves, and a creamy dressing. Then came the desserts, fanciful creations with bit of molecular gastronomy (cold fusion?). A guava ice was paired with cream cheese, served in a chilled stone-cold marble bowl, and topped with a slab of white chocolate made to resemble marble. A coconut mousse is encased in lime granita, with bits of pineapple and nata de coco (cubes of coconut gel), an eye-catching green mound served in a bowl made to resemble a coconut shell, thus putting the lime in the coconut visually as well as flavorfully. Tangerine ice was somehow crafted into concentric Fiestaware bowls, placed atop a remarkable almond sorbet. This fantastically creative meal is draws from many Asian cuisines, but is distinctively LA.