Most of Hollywood was out Wednesday night to celebrate Halloween. The streets were swarming with revelers dressed in outlandish costumes, performers shivering their way through routines, and police keeping the crowd from turning unruly.
That’s not my idea of a good Halloween—because it’s my birthday, too!
The Dark Knight spirited me far from the West Hollywood/Santa Monica Blvd. madness and instead treated me to a wonderfully indulgent dinner at Hatfield’s. We were seated in the dining room, a compact but efficiently designed space with a spartan, but thoroughly charming, feel.
The seven-course tasting menu beckoned us to order drinks that were light and fresh in flavor: the house special cucumber-mint gimlet for him, and a small (375 ml) bottle of the 2004 Vouvray from Champalou for me. The gimlet had a nice sweetness to it that married well with the green taste of the cucumber and brightness of the mint. I loved my Vouvray, with its crisp flavors of green pear, watercress, and green grapes that proved a perfect match to the dishes that comprised our meal.
Before ordering, we received an amuse bouche plate of deviled quail eggs with a hint of smoked salmon and a shot of creamy cauliflower soup, both of which were perfect little tastes. Then came warm cheese gougères—addictive and amazing, buttery and light in texture. It took a lot of self-control for the Dark Knight and I not to gorge ourselves on these little bits of goodness throughout the meal.
Luckily, the first course arrived shortly after ordering, and it set the tone for the rest of our wondrous ride. We received dishes tailored, it seemed, to our drink choices. Incredibly lovely and considerate, no? The Dark Knight’s cuttlefish atop celery root puree and maitake mushrooms dressed in a lemongrass and galanga root-scented dressing was exquisite. I was very impressed by the croque madame that the waiter placed before me: grilled, buttered brioche rounds housing slices of hamachi and a bit of prosciutto and topped with a sunny-side up quail egg. I was pleasantly surprised by how well hamachi and prosciutto go together. If I could have that dish every day, I would. Though the same could be said about the rest of our dishes, too…
Up next was seared octopus over marinated hearts of palm for the Dark Knight, the Asian-tinged flavors of which tied in nicely with the minty fresh flavors of his gimlet. My warm crab and trumpet mushroom-stuffed buckwheat crepe with beets and marinated radish accented with a smear of fines herbs was ethereal. Sweet crabmeat wins me over every time, especially when accompanied by components that create such harmony on my palate.
Just when we thought the seafood portion of our meal had reached its peak, Chef Quinn’s kitchen proved us wrong. The Dark Knight practically inhaled his poached ocean trout over ruby red grapefruit salad and smoked potato puree. The buttery, bright orange fish was so good, he almost forgot to share with me. No matter, though, because I was engrossed in my hempseed-crusted hamachi collar with creamed chard and Manila clam with cauliflower puree and garlic/pea sprout oil. The hamachi collar was tender and flavorful. Divine.
Three courses down, four to go, and the Dark Knight and I were starting to feel full. We couldn’t help but perk up, though, when we saw our next courses. The Dark Knight’s boneless chicken leg and seared foie gras over black eyed peas looked delicious, but my duck breast and seared foie gras with a whiskey-prune glaze was the only thing I would even consider eating at that point. The flavors, though rich and decadent, were so pleasing that I almost wish my serving had been larger. But then I wouldn’t have had space for the next course, which was quite delicious.
The Dark Knight was served slow-cooked beef rib supported by Chinese broccoli and a garnet yam puree, accompanied by a small handful of fried spätzle. He barely looked up as he dug in to the succulent and tender beef. I enjoyed the lamb, crusted with a date-pistachio-panko mixture and sitting on a potato and garlic chive puree with roasted heirloom carrots and supplemented by a smattering of fresh chickpeas. I’m not generally a fan of chickpeas, but I had already been so bowled over by everything else that I decided to take the plunge. So worth it. Fresh chickpeas are green, both in appearance and taste. They’re sweet and soft and juicy, a more substantial version of spring peas. This dish certainly broadened my culinary horizons in the very best way.
At this point, the Dark Knight had to drink some ice water and take some deep breaths. After such a long and exciting gastronomic adventure, he was experiencing food vertigo. The room started to spin, his breath came in short bursts, and his palms became sweaty. “Too much food, eaten too quickly,” I told him. Upon hearing that the remainder of our meal was all about sweets, the tension faded and the Dark Knight perked up. I guess the mere promise of dessert erased any heaviness he was feeling. I know it worked for me.
True to his word, our waiter brought the Dark Knight a mini lemon tart topped with a cloud of marshmallowy meringue as well as shards of melt-in-your-mouth slow-baked meringue. Yogurt sorbet and sweet grapefruit segments rounded out the plate. As much as I adore a lemon tart as lovely as this, I could not be bothered to have more than a taste once I started eating my buttermilk panna cotta with passion fruit sorbet. The panna cotta had the rich tang of buttermilk, enriched by the velvety texture achieved with the gelatin in the recipe. This course was really terrific, and a great palate-cleanser to prepare us for our “last” course.
For the grand finale, the Dark Knight had a chocolate tart with chocolate ganache shell and chocolate mousse atop the chewy caramel filling, accompanied by an extraordinarily smooth espresso gelato. My dessert of peanut butter-filled chocolate molten cake and salted caramel gelato was such perfection that I would have licked the plate if I were eating at home.
To ensure that we left with a good taste in our mouths, we were presented with dark chocolate and hazelnut petit fours sprinkled lightly with fleur de sel. Nothing could have topped off our meal better than these tiny treats, and the Dark Knight and I could not have been happier with our experience at Hatfield’s. The service was impeccable—warm and friendly but never intrusive, elevated by co-owner Karen’s warm demeanor and keen attention to detail—and the food will haunt my dreams for quite a while, I’m sure. At least until we come back to try the daily market special!
Hatfield’s 7458 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323.935.2977
We knew we wouldn't be able to have dessert if we finished all of the food, so we packed some up for leftovers and focused on the real star of the meal: Buko con Seta, Patio Filipino's version of halo-halo. In this incarnation, a young coconut is opened, juice drained out, then filled with a layer each of sweet red beans (azuki, also used in Japanese red bean ice cream and other desserts), langka (jackfruit), coconut jelly, and coconut maja blanca (similar to a blancmange in French cuisine, but made with coconut milk), then topped with two scoops of ube (purple yam) ice cream. It tasted even better than it looks.
