Providence
5955 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA
Wilcox
323-460-4170
French chefs always say that seafood is much more interesting and challenging to cook than meat. It's the difference between playing an instrument with a range of an octave or two and one that encompasses a slew of notes. At Providence, the most ambitious new restaurant to open in Hollywood in a long, long time, chef Michael Cimarusti is busy proving that fish trumps meat almost every time.
Just when fine dining seems to be out of fashion in Los Angeles, it's thrilling to find a young chef with the moxie and the talent to envision something new with seafood as his medium. This, I promise, is one worth a detour.
-- S. Irene Virbila
Times Restaurant Critic
Sept. 28, 2005
Hours: Mon.-Sat., 6-10 p.m.; Sun., 5:30-9:30 p.m.; lunch Wed.-Fri., noon-2:30 p.m.
Fax: 323-460-4491
Venue Details
| Cuisine |
Seafood
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| Rating |
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| Ambience |
Contemporary seafood restaurant with a relaxed, lively atmosphere, a bar with a passionate mixologist, and a devoted following for Michael Cimarusti's cooking.
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| Best dishes |
Clam chowda', squid with pigs' ears and piquillo pepper, risotto w/crayfish & chicken oysters or sea urchin & blue crab, pork belly, spot prawn, duck breast with kumquats, prime rib-eye with bone-marrow sandwich.
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| Best table |
The corner table to the left inside the door.
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| Desserts |
Almond cake with caramelized figs and Banyuls.
|
| Of Note |
Full bar. Valet parking.
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| Prices |
Appetizers, $15-24; main courses, $32-$38 (lobster, market price); desserts, $11-$12; chef's California Coastline menu, $90 per person; market menu (full, $90 per person; five-course, $70 per person).
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| Service |
Personable and professional.
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| Wine list |
A work in progress impressive for the breadth of choices at all price levels. Corkage, $15 for first bottle; $25 for second bottle (two-bottle maximum).
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