PART 3: FINE DINING GUIDE
As one would expect, the city of stars, celebrities, and the super-rich has no shortage of fine-dining restaurants. The legendary Spago in Beverly Hills, from Chef Wolfgang Puck, has been around for decades and helped usher in the era of modern fine dining. Oscar parties are a fixture here, as are celebrity sightings.
Though many restaurants closed during and after the pandemic, there are still many other fine-dining restaurants in the city that deserve a mention. However, for the sake of brevity and to focus on the best of the best, I have limited this list to just five—the very top five.
5. Melisse
A two-Michelin-star restaurant in Santa Monica, Melisse is hidden inside Chef Josiah Citrin’s restaurant, Citrin. The 10-course tasting menu starts at $400 per person. “Enter through a discreet side door into a closed space with a vibe-y underground feel with classic luxury,” describes the Michelin Guide.
The menu is decadent French cuisine featuring uni, crab, truffles, wagyu, and quail. Their most famous dish is the “Dirty Quail.” This is definitely one of the top restaurants in the country.
4. Hayato
Another two-Michelin-star restaurant, Hayato serves only seven people at 7 p.m., five nights a week, making it one of the hardest reservations to get in town. Chef Brendan Hayato Go serves a kaiseki-style menu from behind a counter.
The cost is a whopping $450 per person. Abalone and snow crab are served in exquisite Japanese pottery and accompanied by exceptional pours of sake. A little-known secret is that he also serves a takeout bento box, by reservation only, for $50!
3. Vespertine
Another two-Michelin-star restaurant, Vespertine is housed in a stunning red-steel building in Culver City. The futuristic building, aptly named “The Waffle,” was designed by renowned architect Eric Owen Moss.
Chef Jordan Kahn’s dishes are exquisite and visually stunning. Prawns sourced from Kauai are served in a pink nectarine vinaigrette and aptly named “Deep Ocean.” The 12-course tasting menu starts at $395 per person and lasts more than three hours.
It’s much more than a meal—it is a journey with the chef.
2. Providence
One of LA’s best-known restaurants, Providence has been around since 2005. As one of only two Michelin three-star restaurants in the city, it is also listed among the World’s Top 50.
Chef Michael Cimarusti uses sustainably sourced seafood. Each dish is a work of art, almost too beautiful to eat. The tasting menu starts at $325 and goes up to $450 per person.
1. Somni
LA’s only other Michelin three-star restaurant is from celebrated Spanish chef Aitor Zabala. The restaurant serves only 20 people every night for dinner, and snagging a reservation is nearly impossible.
The 20-course tasting menu starts at $840 per person, but according to restaurant critics, it is worth every penny. Dinner at this restaurant is performance art, beginning with canapés in the courtyard and then moving indoors for the remaining courses.
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
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