XIV - 5 Star Vegan Tasting Menu

[lex]

XIV
8117 W Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 656-1414
xivrestaurant.com

XIV is a celebrity chef restaurant part of the SBE group that owns other high end restaurants such as Katsuya. The service is "high end tapas" or small plates. They have a mirror of their menu in Vegetarian & Vegan. I believe the majority of diners go for the "Chef Tasting Menu's" where they bring out 10 items for a fixed price. If you give them at least two days advanced notice they can do up to a 30 course vegan menu. Everyone dresses to the nines and you're waited on by over 5 people. The entire staff was a complete delight. The attention to detail and level of service at XIV is on par if not better, with my experience at 5 star establishments. The ambiance & decor give you the feeling that you're eating with the Prince of Monaco in his private villa. The dining experience is so beyond description that I hesitate to try to put words to describe our 10 course meal. At the end I sat there in astonishment reflecting on the perfection / art-form / creativity and pure decadence of the feast we had just completed 45 seconds before NYE 2009. To my knowledge there is no where on this planet where a vegan feast of this caliber can even be imagined. (PS. their mixed drinks are FANTASTIC)

As you can imagine XIV is pricey, but in comparable to the once-in-a-lifetime experience its quite a rare deal.

Yelp Reivews
http://www.yelp.com/biz/xiv-west-hollywood-3
(note that these reviews are all over the map. My guess is that the low ratings felt so out of place they weren't able to look around and enjoy the sights, sounds, service, and the magnificent fare) Advice. put on a suit or fine dress, grab a mixed drink at the bar to mellow you out and sit back and enjoy the show.

[lex]

I've been wanting to try out the fabled Chef's Vegan Tasting Menu at XIV since I read and posted about it a month or two ago. Last NYE I spent in bed with the flu after hiring a molecular gastronomy chef to prepare a feast for myself and my vegan friends at a St.Louis hot spot. So needless to say everyone had a great time at my party eating rare vegan concoctions, while I was at home with a fever miserable. I wanted to go all out this year to make up for my short comings of last. With only a few hours notice XIV's chef Steven orchestrated the following;

(note: I did my best to take notes of each dishes name so there may be some errors. Also, since its an extremely nice place and Tyra Banks was sitting next to us I tried not to use my flash. At the end of the dinner I switched to flash because the table next to us had their body guard taking pics of them.)

#1. Japanese Mountain Caviar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonburi So I was fooled by this first dish... I said "oh we ordered the vegan..." This is Japanese Mountain Caviar... um what??? from Mountain Fish? I still had to google it when I woke up this morning... Let me tell you I WANT MORE! Its so rare that you're educated and delighted at a meal. What a way to start off the night!

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#2. Turnip Tartar
The bits on top of the turnips were infused with a cilantro essence... I took as long as possible to savor each bite.

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#3. Truffled Potato Salad

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#4. San Marzano Tomate w/ Capers and Lemon
I've never had a tomato quite like this one. It was tart & savory and the capers added a thoughtful zing.

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#5. Pine Nut Terrene
Think Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for royalty. The Pine Nut Butter is set with Agar Agar.

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#6. Truffled Risotto w/ Soy Foam

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#7. Mac'n Cheese

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#8. Mushroom haricot vert

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#9. Frozen Lychee & Guava Puree

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#10. Dark Chocolate w/ Apple Liquor
The large ball is filled with Apple Liquor.. What can I say just amazing.

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[quarrygirl]

OMG! great find! we definitely wanna try this out if we can, before we go out of town. that tasting menu looks insane, i don't care if i have to dress up! LOL.

how did you hear about it, and was it just for new years, or do they still have it now? the website doesn't specifically mention it. hmmm.

thanks again, this looks delicious!

[lex]

I read about it in the LA Times. They have it every night, but request that you give them 2 days warning so they can get really crazy! You can go on any given night and they'll whip it up w/o warning, though. They have 3 menus. Regular/Vegetarian & Vegan, but really vegans just get what ever the chef feels like making, which in our case was insane with the 6 hours of warning we gave them on NYE! I mean they regularly stock Agar Agar & Japanese Mountain Caviar???! If you make reservations tell them you are vegan and specifically ask for Chef Steven Fretz

[quarrygirl]

Okay I'm totally gonna go here in a few weeks! Wow! BTW, you mention it's really pricey. How expensive per person?

[lex]

it's per person -

allow the chef to select:
"a light meal" 8 $55
"something more" 11 $75
"fourteen from xiv" 14 $95
"the gamut" 35 $250

But again call ahead and confirm price and # of courses in advance for certainty! Also, there's a large review by one person who did "the gamut" (non veg) and split it, which would be interesting just to taste 30 some odd vegan creations, but I'd have to guess that'd be a 4 hour meal and then some. During our 10 course meal we were attempting to discuss where we'd be living when our lease runs up and despite it taking 2 and a half hours we got no where in our conversation because we were so mesmerized by the seemingly endless parade of perfectly timed dishes.

But don't just go here on any Saturday night! Its a special occasion, impress business clients, type place! Wrap it into a birthday, anniversary, etc to get the full mileage out of the experience!

[quarrygirl]

checked out this restaurant with none other than lex and kristin of vegan-la, and it was one of the BEST MEALS I'VE EVER HAD. all you said is true, the place really is too good for words to describe.

review and pictures here:
http://www.quarrygirl.com/2009/02/19/xi ... s-angeles/

XIV is a MUST VISIT for los angeles vegans who want a proper dining experience.

[lex]

I really can't imagine a better dining experience on the planet, not to mention better company!

[quarrygirl]

oh shit! we need to find out if they still have a vegan menu!!!!

they've changed it all:
http://chowballa.com/?p=22

[lex]

GLAD WE GOT IN THERE WHEN WE DID!!!!! I'm CERTAIN they are keeping a Vegan menu, I'll email the chef and see what he has to say!