dinner and a concert in DTLA

We had a lovely night last night, through and through.  It's great that we've not only stacked up our social calendars through this holiday season, but also that the things we're doing are so enjoyable.  Hooray for that!

Last night it was dinner first, then a show.  We headed to downtown LA, parked the car, then walked past the Disney Hall

and the Broad,

past other buildings in the downtown/Bunker Hill area,

past the library,

and ended up at Drago Centro. 

We haven't been there in ages - I think it was my birthday a couple of years ago - so it was nice to be back.  A Caesar salad for me,

then a tasty pork osso bucco with saffron risotto. 

The others had pasta dishes for their main courses, and I tasted them, finding them very good.  I'd like to go back again, have a leisurely meal, splurge on a good wine, and just enjoy it all.  Oh, and we had dessert, shared.  An eggnog creme brulee. 

It was fine, more eggy, like my Mum's baked custard, than silky and boozy.

And then it was back uphill to the Disney Hall.  I don't have photos from the performance since they weren't permitted.  But I will say we had terrific seats in the second row (the rows curve, and as we were on the end, we were almost up against one end of the stage). 

Chanticleer were in performance - I'm listening to their new Christmas album now - and they were terrific once again.  Some familiar faces, some new members.  A mix of older and newer songs.  They seemed looser and happier this year than when I've seen them in the past.  All in all, just so good.

Home after that, and some reading before bed.  I have things planned this evening and tomorrow, but then it's a couple of days off - hooray!  But how fortunate we are to have these wonderful opportunities. 

pre-birthday at San Laurel

Ah, birthday week.  Love it!

No, I'm not really one for making a fuss over my birthday, and this is not at all a milestone birthday year.  Still, a little fuss is nice.  So then, thank you to Van for dinner out at San Laurel

at the Conrad Hotel (ha!)

with our friends Mitch and Ted. 

It was a lovely evening.

If there is a small complaint (and not my complaint) it's that we had requested a patio table, but we were relegated to inside but right at the open doors to the outside.  I was fine with that, truly.  We arrived several minutes early, time enough for me and Conrad to talk gins with a bartender and get his recommendation for a martini-like cocktail made with a Spanish gin and wine. 

Toasts all around and then into the food.  Shared appetizers including jamon,

roasted eggplant,

stracciatella and peaches,

and grilled gem lettuce.  My main was the duck breast. 

Our desserts included an excellent Basque cheesecake, a pistachio cake that was fine,

and a flan that had a candle.  Ugh, no fuss, please!

Ah, but it was all lovely.  A fine evening, and from where I sat there were great views of the Disney Hall. 

So good to chat travel and more with Mitch and Ted.  And, of course, there were my two lovely guys.  A few days until I am 54 (!!!!), but what a way to usher it in.

dinner and a concert

We had a night in DTLA last night, enjoying dinner and then a concert at the Disney Hall.  Let's see the photos!

So, we got pretty for the night....

There used to be a restaurant called Patina in a corner of the Disney Hall.  Lovely place.  We went there once, and I remember they had a truffle option with someone rolling a cart around to tables, opening a chest, then shaving truffle on to the dish.  Smelled awesome.  The place also had a water menu.  That one made me snicker.

Patina is gone, and the space is now Asterid.  We decided to give it a pre-show try, each of us enjoying the set menu.

The good:

The mezcal and rice cocktail. 

A winner.  I liked my cocktail best of the three of us.  Conrad also had a glass of a beautiful Pinot Noir that I would go back to try.

The food was pretty tasty.  And it built up well.  The little amuse of quarters of mini-turnips and shrimp chips was, well, a choice (turnips were great, the shrimp chips were just shrimp chips, puffs that you can buy in a store).  The crab and avocado toast was pretty, but the avocado wasn't unctuous enough. 

The shrimp tostada was excellent. 

The miso black cod was fantastic

(Van opted for the "beef dip", and his meal was even better for it).  The tres leches cake looked a mess by comparison to the precision of the preceding dishes, but it was damn tasty.

The place had carpeting, and we could hear each other talk.

The server did a great job with recommendations and explanations. 

The mixed or not as good:

It took a mighty long time to get that first round of drinks. 

The other pacing was a little wonky, taking time for the first course, then rushing by the end to the point where Conrad and I were done our cod, and our plates were cleared.  Van was not yet done, and I don't like when that happens.  Clear us all at once.  But they compounded that by bringing out dessert for me and Conrad but not one for Van.  Eventually he got his, but it was a noticeable gap of time.

Portion sizes.  Van paid $12 more for his beef dip entree, and boy, did he get a lot more food for his money.  I get it, it's a tasting menu.  But the entree did look disappointingly small on that big plate.

All in all, we'd go back, but we'd probably order a la carte instead.

 

On to the show!!

Kraftwerk is celebrating 50 years of their first album by doing a residency for several nights at the Disney Hall.  Van got us the tickets - he's known their music a long time.  Neither Conrad nor I knew their songs, but we were up for it.

I took some pictures right before the start,

and when I saw others around me taking photos and video, I did a little of the same. 

But not for long.  I didn't know the songs, but I was enjoying what I heard.  I was also loving the visuals used.  So I decided to put the camera away and just enjoy the show.

Good decision!

It was a long show.  1h55 of pretty much non-stop music.  No break, no opening act.  And we had a great time!  I'm really happy Van recommended we go.

So then, a successful night in DTLA for the three of us.  I can't wait for the next opportunities!

Disney Hall evening with C&R

Last Thursday was a busy day.  Courtney and I had some work to do together that day (part of the reason why she and Robert came to town), and when we finished, it was a dash home from work to the condo, barely enough time to freshen up, then hopping in the car for the five of us to head downtown for dinner and a concert at the Disney Hall.

Dinner was at Otium, a restaurant that had a lot of buzz when it opened years back and still seems to be popular thanks in no small part, I am sure, to its prime location up on Bunker Hill in among the museums and performing arts venues.  Conrad and I had gone there with friends several years ago, and while I recall liking the food, the service made me so angry that I had not wanted to go back again.  And so we didn't.  But Van had never been and was curious about it.  And when last we went to our Disney Hall standby, we found it had not come through the pandemic very well, and now it's dropped off our list (I won't name it - if you go there, you'll form your own impressions, and I dislike slagging restaurants in this blog for the most part).

Otium was loud, I cannot deny it.  That's awful for Conrad.  It's long been a problem, but now that he wears hearing aids, it's almost worse.  They amplify not just what someone speaking to him says, but amplify all the din surrounding him.  A sea of noise.  It was a relief to be at home the next night, I know.  But the Otium space is pretty cool.  And the menu has some good things.  I didn't get a photo of the bucatini, which was my favourite dish, nor of the chicken liver mousse, which was so smooth and silky.  I did photograph the beautifully cooked salmon collar, though. 

And it's not as if the other dishes were at all bad:  I liked the lobster ravioli

and the pork chop

and the shaved chicories. 

Everything tasted good, the service was fine, and we left satisfied.

Outside the restaurant, we took a couple of photos of the neighbouring Broad Museum,

then headed the block over to the Disney Hall.  I love that space,

and I can't wait for more concerts there this year.  We had a Schubert symphony before the intermission and a Beethoven one after.  I preferred the latter and drifted, eyes closed, during the former.

Van drove us all home, and that was an excellent Thursday under our belts.