story by Virginia Miller Los Angeles’s Vespertine is a self-proclaimed “gastronomical experiment seeking to disrupt the course of the modern restaurant.” As the most talked-about restaurant in the United States at the moment, it’s immediately divisive. Though only open since July 2017, it landed at the number one spot on Los Angeles Times critic Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants published in October. But the restaurant has sparked mixed, even negative, feelings from other critics (for example, LA Weekly and The Infatuation.) I decided to experience it for myself this fall. Designed by Eric Owen Moss, the striking monolith of a building rises in its corporate yet wave-like beauty from the otherwise dead-at-night wilds of Culver City. I knew the dinner would be different than any of the countless Michelin-starred, World’s 50 Best kinds of restaurants I’d dined at globally. It was. After drinking a sparkling soda in the stone garden, the meal began with an elevator ride up to meet the refreshingly friendly young chef Jordan Kahn, who made his mark on L.A. with Destroyer. We were then escorted to the top floor, picking bites like candied kelp off of branches and volcanic rock, while sipping watered-down Muscat wine over … Continue reading Vespertine: The Most Talked About Restaurant in America Right Now