Finally after many years overdue, I have finally tried Faith & Flower in DTLA for my first time thanks to the persuasion of #dineLA 🙂 The rustic yet modern contemporary design of the restaurant and its food is more than just for the looks and theme; there is some history to the origin of Faith & Flower. In the restaurant’s name itself, Faith refers to the alleged street’s name back in the 1920s while Flower refers to the street’s name today. Not only does the restaurant feature Californian cuisine, its cocktail menu is largely based on modern-day drinks with historic ingredients from the 1920s, the Gilded Age. The decor of the restaurant is also decorated from personally picked doors from the 1920s itself!! Artist Robert Vargas also contributed to a mural in the restaurant.
This is the exterior of the main front entrance of the restaurant. I like the small vase of flowers per table and the spring-summer easy theme of the outside makes for a nice and relaxing patio to hang out with family and friends.
That isn’t just a “closet door” at the end. It leads into yet another room with more seating available! I’m definitely eying that long middle table for a potential birthday dinner. 🙂
Comfortable long couches and chairs so it doesn’t matter which end you sit.
Each menu is clipped inside of an actual book! I was flipping through the pages.. It is an actual book to read if you want..
English milk punch. Navy-strength rum, aged Spanish rum, White Rum, Curaçao, brandy, Batavia Arrack, absinthe, Sencha green tea, cinnamon, clove & coriander, clarified milk. I’m normally not a cocktail kind of person with my meal, but before heading to Faith & Flower, I have already heard that this is the drink to have. This is the famous cocktail drink that this restaurant is uniquely known for and I had my heart set on trying it. The English milk punch definitely did not disappoint! Not only did it taste refreshingly sweet in a milky and lightly tea way, the hidden strong alcohol definitely creeps up on you soon thereafter. It almost tasted like chamomile tea or chrysanthemum tea. Definitely had the strong aroma and flavors of a leafy tea, which I enjoyed for a change.
For dineLA, $49pp you get to choose (among 2 people) 4 appetizer dishes, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts.
Kimchee Deviled Eggs. Korean chili, black sesame. I personally have always loved deviled eggs. I love making them. I love eating them. They’re so easy to make and so enjoyable to eat. These are the same! Thanks to the Korean chili, you get that nice little kick of Korean spice added onto the creamy yolk. The black sesame was a nice little contrast in texture. Delicious.
Albacore Tuna Crudo. Farm egg mimosa, black truffle vinaigrette. The thinly sliced albacore was such a tease in its soft and tender texture. I was like, “Why do I like this taste so much? Is there truffle in it?? There is!”
Fresh pappardelle pasta. Roasted corn, King Trumpet mushrooms, Huitlacoche butter. This was such a surprising delight! When I read this on the menu, I expected a cold pasta salad dish (very typical), but instead, I received this warm pasta dish that was just swimming in delicious butter with corns and mushrooms. It felt like eating a small pasta entree dish! I really enjoyed this dish. The popcorn was a nice contrast in texture and taste.
Dungeness Crab Fondue. Bloomsdale spinach, smoked mozzarella, baguette crostini. Okay, now re-looking at the menu, I understand why this crab dip was more “watery.” I enjoyed the flavors and the generous amounts of crab inside the dip, but I guess I am used to the thick and creamy textures of a spinach artichoke dip that I expected this dip to be the same. It wasn’t. Instead, it was more liquid than thick. It still tasted very good and made very easy to use the baguettes to dip and scoop the fondue like as if it were chips and dip. I even had the fondue leftover and straight up just used the spoon to scoop the rest and eat it like a soup. What is calories and fat? Haha..
Maine Lobster Risotto. Braised leeks, fines herbes, Dashi butter, Trout Caviar. I love all risotto and I love all lobster. This is our first of two entrees! The risotto was cooked perfectly and very soft and chewy. There were plenty of pieces of lobster in it. However, the entire dish was a mild too salty for me. I think that’s just me though because I am so used to eating a low-salt and bland diet on an everyday basis so that I am not used to the “saltiness” of this dish. I’m sure it’s not that salty for an average folk. So still an A dish to me! 🙂
Roasted Peach and Burrata Cheese Pizza. Arugula, almond pesto, Foie Gras Cream. I normally don’t like to order pizza at non-pizza restaurants, but the ingredients were so fascinating that I wanted to give it a try. Sigh.. Maybe for once this dish kicked me in the butt for trying to be adventurous and daring with food. The foie gras cream was the most disappointing. It was like a watery liquid just poured over the pizza, which quickly made it soggy. I couldn’t even try to enjoy the overall flavors as a whole because of the sogginess. I am disappointed with this dish especially for the name of the restaurant. Highly disappointed.
White Chocolate Bread Pudding. Summer Berries, Toasted Almond, Chamomile Ice Cream. Now onto the dessert round.. The bread pudding was another disappointment in that it was extremely dense and hard. I am used to bread pudding being more soft and chewy.. Am I wrong? The chamomile ice cream was really good though and tasted like chamomile! I feel like this restaurant does excel in using tea ingredients in its food and fusion so bravo to that!
Chocolate Hazelnut Feuilletine. Milk chocolate cremeux, toasted meringue. If you don’t dig right into the middle of the dessert, you’ll be disappointed. The milk chocolate and meringue is just an overwhelming of smooth, soft and creamy with not much of a texture difference. I need that crunch!!! So when you finally dig your fork farther into the “inner circle,” you shovel upon a very thick and crunch sweetness that balances perfectly with the rest of the texture. Yes! Almost a save.. not much of a disappointment.
Overall, I think I enjoyed the tapas and small appetizer dishes way more than the rest! I think our time period of food is slowly shifting to tapas and small plates to share with the table!
Note: I have gained 2lbs so far from Monday’s dineLA lunch and dinner.. 😀
“Life is short. Eat what you want,” says Cookie.
