alma

taymor’s modern american cuisine is the food equivalent of a terrence malick film or an opera by phillip glass; in other words, it’s not for everyone. but for foodies and other bon vivants (myself included), dinner atalmacan be a very special experience. the menu, which is printed in lower case letters on pages of a yellow legal pad, changes daily and features small plates composed of seasonal, market-driven ingredients, many of which are sourced from an exclusive arrangement with a garden/micro-farm in venice. the flavors are complex and nuanced. the combinations are, for the most part, interesting and inspired. as you would expect, there are foams and droplets of sauce. my favorite dish is the chicken liver toast &

bon appetit named los angeles'almarestaurant the best in the us this year.  the best.  the best new restaurant in the country is right here in downtown la, or at least so bon appetit says. how can you walk into the best restaurant in the country and not expect great, no the best , things? would there be an individual hand woven chair for my purse like many high end michelin restaurants have?  would there be six white gloved waiters attending to my every need, request and desire?  would the food be more unique than the hand foraged fare of copenhagen's noma (previously named best restaurant in the world by san pellegrino)?  it was hard not to have these thoughts run through my mind as i went to dine at alma. findingalmawas not my best experience.  i drove past it several times, before realizing it's the tiny spot next to the building promoting "hostess dancing."  it's on a dark stretch of street on a less than active block of broadway, near olympic.  the interior is sparse with a cl

it’s good to be ari taymor these days. you have your own critically-acclaimed restaurant in downtown la, praised in particular by jonathan gold, who namedalmaone of his 101 best restaurants in la having one of his 10 best dishes of 2012 . and now, you’re on the national stage, being named as the  best new restaurant in the entire country by bon appetit. all of this accomplished at the age of 27 (same as me!), armed with an impressive resume that includes the likes of bar tartine and flour water in sf, as well as the pop-up that led to the current restaurant of the same name.almahad been high on my to-dine list for quite some time, and one day in early august i decided to just pull the trigger on opentable for a solo dinner, as a treat to myself for all the fine work i’ve accomplished (ha!). the process wasn’t very difficult – there were tables available online during prime hours for a weekday, and i was going