Melisse

F and L know fully well of my love for French epicurean extravagances. Being the supportive sports they are, they would indulge me in accompanying me to one establishment of my choice during our girls' weekend. (Last year, we went to L'Espalier in Boston. Unfortunately, I didn't write it down right away that I no longer recall enough to share that experience.) We arrived at Melisse at dusk. As soon as we walked in, the decor was welcoming, the staff were friendly, everything seemed to be perfect without any effort. It was quite an assurance that we'd have an enjoyable evening ahead.

The bread tray came soon after we sat down. The selection included brioche, basil brioche, bacon foccacia, olive, ciabatta and French. I love both bacon and foccacia, so no-brainer there. What surprised me was the basil brioche - how buttery and aromatic it was!

As always, I did lots of homework before choosing Melisse. I knew in addition to their normal menus, they were also offering a 10-course 10th anniversary menu. It was a much better deal than a la carte, or their other tasting menus. (That is the bargain-shopper me talking, if one can be thrifty while dining at Melisse.) So before arriving, I already got both F and L onboard.

Our first amuse bouche was the duo of grape and goat cheese. One was a compote grape filled with goat cheese, dusted with pistachios, served on a spoon. The molten goat cheese was very mild. Though the concept and presentation were intriguing, the cheese was a bit too mild, the taste was a little underwhelming. The other was a red grape rolled in goat cheese and pistachios. I preferred the contrast with the more pronounced goat cheese. The second amuse bouche was scallop sashimi in lemongrass aioli. It was a subtle mingling of flavors - the sauce enhanced the sweetness of the fresh and silky scallop, while its bitterness completely vanished.

The infamous egg caviar opened the curtain to our culinary saga. The still-running slow-poached egg yolk sat at the bottom of an egg shell, topped with lemon creme fraiche and a dollop of caviar and chive. With each spoonful, the yolk mixed with the creme fraiche, studded with the caviar, it was simple yet luxuriously unforgettable.

The duo of hamachi and tuna tartare was next. The hamachi slices rested on small mounds of tuna tartare, with celery, Meyer lemon and black truffles, drizzled with yuzu sauce. It's like sushi, but all fish and no carb!

The soup course was a white and purple asparagus cream soup. The truffle mousse quenelle perched on top of crispy purple asparagus roulade, swimming in the super smooth, exquisitely delightful white asparagus veloute. Trust me, you wouldn't want to miss a single drop of this.

Then came my favorite food in this whole wide world - foie gras! (My last meal would definitely include foie gras. This is one thing I couldn't and wouldn't possibly give up, even for the fear of having heart attacks. However, foie gras made improperly is indubitably a waste.) The foie gras was seared to perfection, placed on a piece of pain d'epice. A small amount of sea salt, banyuls reduction, and a Sequoia cherry decorated the plate, so the diner could season this delicacy according to personal preference. Not sure why, but the toast under the foie gras is often difficult to cut. I didn't really care for it. Still, the foie gras was so titillating without tasting greasy. Mmm, I would have gone into a food coma if I didn't know more were coming.

The pasta course was a fresh house made Cappelini in lobster Bolognese sauce, topped with truffle froth. This is "royal" comfort food. It looks so simple, yet the flavor is so complicated.

The fish of the day was kinmedai, or alfonsino, a "golden eye" sea bream. It sat in curry emulsion, accompanied by courgette roulade, and wild spinach puree. None of these made much an impression, I'm sure I could do without. But the fish was fantastic! The skin was crispy, the fish could melt in your mouth.

We were all getting very full when the meat course came, but none of us could resist a good piece (or 2) of beef. The prime rib was cooked to just pink, but I preferred the potato and short rib pave. It looked like a juicy piece of pork belly, and it tasted just as succulent. The porchini daube was flawless. If a mushroom could choose, I'm sure everyone of them would like to end up in a daube. Not being a fan of fava bean, I found the fava bean puree unnecessary.

The cheese course came in the form of a tart. The baked reblochon would probably make some cheese lover ecstatic. But my taste buds are very juvenile, when it comes to cheese, to truly appreciate this.

I was quite relieved when the desserts came. I would be devastated if we had another meat course, and I couldn't enjoy the dessert as the result of that. But anyhow, things worked out well. The chocolate and caramel fondant was wonderfully creamy and airy. I'd never even heard of chocolate sorbet, so it was fascinating.

The strawberry-rhubarb vanilla yogurt was the perfect ending to the memorable meal. The tart strawberry rhubarb sorbet together with the compote atop the creamy vanilla yogurt, the flavors tingled on my tongue and cleansed palate at the same time.

The mignardises included vanilla canelés, chocolate cookies, sugar cookies and cherries. These weren't all that special, the canelés were a bit dry. But who could complain when we've already had such a splendid meal.

Melisse
1104 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 395-0881