Unrivaledkitch

Red O Is located on Melrose In Hollywood. It’s a lovely place with kind of crazy decor with a very organic woody feel to it. The atmosphere is very hip and trendy and from the minute you see the big red sign you can tell you’re in Hollywood. 

The clientele is a lush mix of young and middle age Los Angeles hipsters holding their big wine glasses and fluted margaritas, lounging in the lush comforts of fluffy pillowed beige couches which are then lined with dark brown tables, white plates, and chocolate linens. The tables are set with contemporary style flatware and small less flashy candle lit ambiance.  Large outlines of organic tree looking sculptures flow across the center of the dividing sections which are encased in what to me seems like the lining of a bed spring, large bells hung, lots of mirrors, bamboo lanterns, and green potted vegetation in corners.  We were greeted by the hostess in a very somber way, stating the last name of the reservation and being asked to have a seat at the bar while our table was set up for us. The bar is not very big but lined with mirrors and some of the most fantastic selections of tequila I’ve witnessed. The bartenders are busy and a bit unfriendly but knowing that a full restaurant on a Tuesday night is a large accomplishment that rarely puts me in a bad mood for my meal. Finally once served I ordered Red O Sangria. Definitely not the best I’ve had not bad at all. The fruit flavor was nice and not over powering also the flavor of the wine seemed to be of high quality and not something just left behind like most sangria is.  We were finally greeted by a very nice gentleman who showed us to our seat, he had a lovely smile and seem quite happy to be helping us. Wait staff looked professional, clean, and cleverly dressed with matching red sneakers and white shirts. Our waiter whose name escapes me was very welcoming. Looking at the menu there were lots of lovely things to choose from. I love Mexican food personally so it was very nice to see lots of familiar things with nice twists and a very developed sense of art in the styling of text describing the dishes. We started off with Queso Fundido which is melted Vella Sonoma jack cheese with Woodland Mushrooms frilled red onions and dark beer. The cheese was salty but fresh against the woody textures and flavors of the mushrooms the sweetness from the onions and the deep rich flavor of the beer was present in every bite of this fundido which was eaten with fresh light flour tortillas and accompanied by two salsa one chipotle serrano and the other tomatillo onion.  After that we ordered Yellow fin tuna ceviche with cilantro serrano chimichrri, cucumber and avocado. I love a good Ceviche and you could really taste how fresh and ripe the avocado was making the perfect balance of creamy and tart with the fresh squeezed lime juice. The fish was a perfect high note of the dish because it melted so well into the combination of flavors not giving off any smell but having a wonderful texture and softness that intertwined with the crunchiness of the cucumber. Over all I believe this was the highlight of my meal.  The Ceviche was served with fried corn chips which were light and not greasy. Delicious

 We orders as well a Tamale of fresh ground corn masa  steamed in a corn husk filled with fresh corn and goat cheese with a poblano chile sauce over the top. We agreed that corn kernels would of made fro a very nice different texture but over all the masa was sweet and seasoned well which sometimes is a major hang up with most tamales. The goat cheese lay a very opposing flavor profile with the sweetness of the corn but that’s what makes goat cheese an amazing accompaniment. The poblano was not spicy at all and gave just a different texture to the smoothness of the masa. I’d say a wonderful item.

We also had Sopes which are golden corn masa bites filled with sweet plantains thick cream and fresh cheese. The sopes were served also on a bed of the chipotle Serrano salsa and were also stuffed with a bit of black bean puree. I don’t like Bananas but these plantains were surprisingly very good. They had a lovely richness to them and a kind of velvety but not mushy flavor like normal bananas have and a little crunch from the frying.  The Sope itself was very crispy and had a nice contrasting texture to the black beans and the thick cream which also added to the luxury of these little bites. A surprising treat  which I would like to recreate sometime myself.

After this we had our entrees. I ordered Conchinita Pibil tortilla fed gleason ranch suckling pig, achiote marinated and slow cooked in banana leaves, black beans, pickled red onions and roasted habanero salsa. I have to say that I don’t think I really thought that what came to the table was what I was expecting. At 1^st glance I laughed because of course I would order something that would come with Arugula on it.  The color of the pickled red onions was almost that of the ginger people get at a sushi restaurant and to my surprise when I bit into the dish it had reminiscent flavors of ginger in the brine of the pickling. I didn’t eat my pig with tortillas because by then I was very full I think that would have made the dish seem not so salty. I loved that the dish had many layers of slow simmered flavor you could tell from the depth of each component this isn’t something you make in 20 minutes. The pieces of pork came in medallions atop a layer of black beans which had a very nice spice to them from the habaneros.  The meat was fall off the fork tender and I loved the arugula with it. I would have asked for more if I wasn’t so full because it made the pork seem less salty.

My friend Nathalie had Enchiladas de mole Grilled Mary’s chicken mole poblano, black beans, ensaladita. The mole had nice flavor good consistency and the chocolate and spices were a very nice mix seeming to slow cook. But we were a little disappointed with the chicken it had very little flavor it should have been cooked with the mole or seasoned separately because it taste more of poaching rather than grilling but at least was not dry. The enchiladas were kind of rolled a bit sloppy and the radish color on the top was the only thing really helping the presentation. For enchiladas these were not super heavy the tortilla was flour and played a small role in the plate.

About ready to burst we decided on desert. I picked the trio of sorbet and 4 cookies. The sorbet was very clean and cleansing I’m glad we finished a meal with something like this. The flavors of sorbet were blood orange which I love anything blood orange, strawberry which had a bit too much simple syrup to me, and passion fruit which felt like I was in Hawaii again. The cookies were a side note to the sorbet expect for the sesame cookie which was wonderful we both agreed fantastic.  The other ones were Mexican chocolate, pecan, and salted pepita.  

Dessert was a lovely close to a wonderful meal. Plating of Mexican food always seems a bit boring but they overcome that at red O from the interesting style of plates and bowls used to just keeping it simple with fresh micro greens and no fancy saucing. Over all I think I had a brilliantly executed meal, from the smaller details of a luxurious fine dining experience to the nuances of a familiar cuisine. Of course being in fabulous company is always a perk and having an amazing chef Rick Bayless and a world renowned team of restaurant helps a bit as well.