San Laurel – The Chef’s Table

A deluxe tasting menu experience further elevates the cuisine at this unique José Andrés venue

Los Angeles’s San Laurel is not your typical José Andrés restaurant. The menu is closer to vegetarian or pescatarian than almost any place (save Beefsteak) in his growing collection of concepts, and many dishes elevate California produce to starring roles. Under chef de cuisine Jeff Chen, fennel soup is beautifully plated, but not over the top in complexity; an Ines Rosales cracker is covered in a mound of grated Spanish cheese, honey, and flour petals as an appetizer. Yet the flavors and textures are so delightful – delicate, foamy, light, and healthy – that you can’t feel guilty eating any of it, or a lot of it.

In 2024, we were finally able to book the Chef’s Table at San Laurel, which surpassed its promise of a “7-course” tasting menu experience. Our meal actually ran closer to a dozen items, frequently riffing on menu ingredients with modernist techniques and unique plating:

  • A tree branch with two bites – leaf-like spins on Jaleo’s classic quince cone and a mushroom chicharron
  • A small, savory, sweet seaweed-strawberry salad
  • Asparagus 3 Ways, beautifully plating a gel-domed (not spherified) asparagus concentrate with trout roe, herbs, and arbol chile
  • Hiramasa (yellowtail amberjack) crudo with a spicy leche de tigre sauce
  • The only bread course in a José restaurant, fittingly an aromatic Idiazabal brioche roll with smoked bay butter
  • Oniony Lubina (branzino)- a tiny piece of perfectly crisp-skinned, moist-bodied fish alongside edible soil
  • Pisco Sour Snowball, a delicate/time-sensitive one- or two-bite frozen cocktail that could easily be served at é by José Andrés or minibar.
  • A4 Wagyu, celeriac and carrot puree – deliberately chosen to avoid the overly fatty A5, the precious steak slices are so famously delicious alone that you mightn’t dilute the flavor with the tasty accompanying dijonaise
  • Melon “Life Savers” – melon sorbet with hole-punched slices of fresh melon, creating a memorably unique texture for the fruit
  • Mignardises – A Bazaar LA-style box of financiers and bon bons, notably including some intense pistachio treats
  • “Coca Coca” – A chocolate-cherry dessert spin on the menu’s Coca Idiazabal, with sweet cherries and edible pastry ‘glass’ on top

Drinks were also spectacular, including a white-on-white Pisco Sour and multiple outstanding mocktails (notably the non-alcoholic Amaretto Sour and Bergeron’s Chest Strawberry Soda).

As multiple José Andrés restaurants go national, San Laurel remains one-of-a-kind thanks to its own style and experiences like this one – a testament to Chef Jeff Chen and his entire team.

Stats

Price: $$$
Service: Table
Open Since: 2022

Addresses

100 South Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

213.349.8585

Instagram: @sanlaurelbyjose