After a long day at work, I was battling exhaustion but determined to meet up with D.C. to have my very first Providence experience. I know, I’ve lived in L.A. for over 8 years and never bothered to grace Chef Cimarusti’s Michelin-laden temple of coastal eating.
The very first thing I notice is that D.C. and I are the youngest people in the dining room or bar area. This is a wonderful start. It’s why I love staying at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. It’s all 40 year old dudes. So when you are 32, you feel like a hip spring chicken…until you have to go back to your hotel room because the pool chair gave you back pain.
The Indian guy at the table to the left of us was close in age, but probably in his mid-thirties. And he went to Harvard. This should tell you something about the clientele at Providence: 1) they are likely to be high-income earners, and 2) they are also likely to be dickholes who make it clear to even perfect strangers who aren’t trying to eavesdrop that they went to “college in Boston”. Yes, friend, we know what it means when you say you went to “college in Boston.” You went to Harvard. We get it. You were dorm buddies with Mark Zuckerberg back in the day, rowed crew, and took Econ 101 from Larry Summers. I hope you choke on your Santa Barbara spot prawns.
You see what I just did there? I eavesdropped on an innocuous comment from a perfectly friendly guy simply trying to get to know his date (who looked nervous in her blue dress) and turned it into source of populist, anti-elitist anger. Ain’t blogging awesome?
But I digress. The food. The service. Both are fantastic here. D.C. commented that she actually thought the foie gras ravioli was the best thing we ate that night. So rich and so awesome with the grated truffle. And I have to agree with her. This is the spot where a culinary asshole remarks on the over-saturation of high end restaurants with truffle-derived flavors. Fuck that guy. This dish was awesome, as was the whole meal.
Next time I’m going to sit at the bar, order some cocktails and try the tasting menu. And hopefully I’ll still be the youngest person there.
Providence, 5955 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038, (323) 460-4170
