Last Friday I had my first Restaurant Week/DineLA experience at Valentino in West LA. I have always heard good things about Valentino and it is a 1-star Michelin rated restaurant so we thought this would be a good occasion for a Friday night date.
My first impression of the place was that it looked like a night club. I had no idea this restaurant existed on Pico. Once you pull into the driveway, past the wall, you get the grandiose feeling of a Vegas restaurant.
The place was packed. It seemed that the restaurant put out extra tables to accommodate DineLA patrons and they even filled the bar with two-tops -- not my choice of seating for dinner. We waited for about 10 minutes to get a table in the "dining room" and we were seated in the corner of an over-populated room off to the side.
The DineLA is a fixed price, 3-course menu. For $44 each, I had:
Le Crespelle - Ducking and Tomato Ragu Filled Crespelle, Mostarda di
Branzino Con Carciofi - Grilled Sea Bass, Artichoke Sauce
Sicilian Cannoli
And Max had:
Tortini Funghi
Vitello All 'Uccelletto - Ligurian Style Veal Casserole
Chocolate, Walnut and Espresso Mousse
We paired our dinners with a glass of wine each. (Max had the house Chianti and I had a house Pinot Noir, Mark West) The meal itself was pretty good -- I especially liked my duckling crepe appetizer, though my entree was pretty average for sea bass. I'd have to say the experience might have been a little bit rushed and "generic" because the restaurant was so crowded. It took a while for our waiter to finally make it to our table to take our order. The waiter (or was it the sommelier?) seemed displeased to offer any type of wine recommendations. I felt like we were bothering the wait staff whenever we asked for anything -- not what you would expect in this type of ambiance.
All in all, DineLA *is* a great way to try out new restaurants, as long as you keep a few things in mind. Remember the rest of LA is testing these restaurants too, so you will encounter overworked wait staff with impatience for new diners. Also remember that the kitchen is repeatedly cooking the same dishes over and over again that night so the extra care you get when you perform varied tasks vs. repeating an onerous task will be missing.
My first impression of the place was that it looked like a night club. I had no idea this restaurant existed on Pico. Once you pull into the driveway, past the wall, you get the grandiose feeling of a Vegas restaurant.
The place was packed. It seemed that the restaurant put out extra tables to accommodate DineLA patrons and they even filled the bar with two-tops -- not my choice of seating for dinner. We waited for about 10 minutes to get a table in the "dining room" and we were seated in the corner of an over-populated room off to the side.
The DineLA is a fixed price, 3-course menu. For $44 each, I had:
Le Crespelle - Ducking and Tomato Ragu Filled Crespelle, Mostarda di
Branzino Con Carciofi - Grilled Sea Bass, Artichoke Sauce
Sicilian Cannoli
And Max had:
Tortini Funghi
Vitello All 'Uccelletto - Ligurian Style Veal Casserole
Chocolate, Walnut and Espresso Mousse
We paired our dinners with a glass of wine each. (Max had the house Chianti and I had a house Pinot Noir, Mark West) The meal itself was pretty good -- I especially liked my duckling crepe appetizer, though my entree was pretty average for sea bass. I'd have to say the experience might have been a little bit rushed and "generic" because the restaurant was so crowded. It took a while for our waiter to finally make it to our table to take our order. The waiter (or was it the sommelier?) seemed displeased to offer any type of wine recommendations. I felt like we were bothering the wait staff whenever we asked for anything -- not what you would expect in this type of ambiance.
All in all, DineLA *is* a great way to try out new restaurants, as long as you keep a few things in mind. Remember the rest of LA is testing these restaurants too, so you will encounter overworked wait staff with impatience for new diners. Also remember that the kitchen is repeatedly cooking the same dishes over and over again that night so the extra care you get when you perform varied tasks vs. repeating an onerous task will be missing.
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