I didnāt see a thread just for Le Comptoir and figured I might as well put it here.
Thanks @TheCookie, @J_L, and @teriyakichi for recommending Le Comptoir! I feel very lucky that Los Angeles has so many vegetarian/vegan restaurants, and even non-vegetarian places have plenty of options most of the time. But as Iāve gotten older (and have more disposable income, haha) Iāve been looking for more upscale or more refined vegetarian dining. LA excels with casual veg places but I wanted a special occasion kind of restaurant.
For my husbandās birthday this past weekend, I surprised him with dinner at Le Comptoir. Iām way more into food than he is-- he will happily eat pretty much anything I suggest so itās always me that finds new or interesting places to eat. I booked the reservation a month in advance.
Photo of the menu
Dino kale chips with garlic aioli. Could have eaten an entire bag of this. Iāve made kale chips at home before but this was not oily or greasy. Maybe they used a dehydrator?
Broccoli veloutƩ with cashew yogurt and bread crumbs. This was like a really high quality broccoli cheese soup. It was so velvety smooth and the bread crumbs added a nice salty crunch. I would eat an entire giant bowl of this.
Vegetable and fruit plate. There were many different fruits and vegetables, prepared a variety of ways (raw, blanched, pickled, roasted) but my favorite was probably the tomato wedge on the left side of the photo. I donāt love tomatoes but whatever they did to that tomato, it was tasty. Lots of umami with a little hint of sweetness.
Poached egg, lemon, chives, butter, mixed greens
We were instructed to break the yolk and mix everything together. It was kind of like make your own hollandaise. The tanginess of the lemon cut through the richness of the yolk and butter.
Sourdough bread to mop up the poached egg mixture. I did not pre-order a loaf of the chefās sourdough bread but after eating this I wish I had.
Asparagus tempura, romesco sauce, roasted garlic
This was fine, but the roasted garlic really melted in my mouth.
French pumpkin roti, pistachio and pomegranate relish, pearl barley, jus dāonion
The pomegranate was really interesting with the onion broth, but I really liked it. Pumpkin was cooked perfectly- not too mushy but not hard either.
āCassouletā of beans, broccoli, pear and sauce gastrique
The pear looked like it was poached but it also had these really great crispy edges so maybe it was poached and then seared in a pan. The other elements in this dish balanced out the sweetness of the pear.
Potatoes and peas, scallion, romaine, mushroom, savory broth. The potato puree was silky smooth and mixing it together with the mushroom broth was very flavorful.
Cheese plate (my husband got this as a supplement). Brie, cheddar from England, and the goat cheese that inspired Wolfgang Puck to make beet and goat cheese salad back in the 80s (according to Chef Menes). The brie was super creamy. The cheddar was a little crumbly but really packed a lot of flavor without tasting overly salty. Did not try the goat cheese.
Donut hole with creme chantilly, preserved citrus, chocolate
Fluffy and light donut hole, the preserved citrus jam was a big dose of really sweet orange, Could definitely eat that on a big slice of toast.
My husband also got the wine pairing which he enjoyed, but I know nothing about wine so I canāt say anything about it. We really enjoyed our meal and it was cool talking to Chef Menes after the meal was done, we asked him a few questions and he was happy to answer. Service was excellent throughout the meal. Iād love to go back during a different season and see how the menu changes.