La Chapter

Very impressed. Reserved a table at 4am. Showed up at reservation got seated in 2 minutes. Food was excellent. Service is great. There's nothing wrong with this place. Someone got it right. Bravo

We accidentally showed up on opening night and they had us seated in 20 minutes max despite a heavy crowd. Our drinks and meals were excellent, one of the best meals I've had all month. It's possible that, as an opening night, the restaurant was on best behavior. We had a great night and hopefully they can deliver like this on a regular basis.

Three of us were squeezed into a small bistro-style table by the bar in the noisy, crowded downstairs. Now, I don't mind noisy, but I know some people do, and this place has noisy in spades - people talking over music and hard surfaces everywhere. Speaking of surfaces, the place IS quite "cool" - a sort of modern art-deco-y feel (the restaurant is in The Ace Hotel, in one of those absolutely gorgeous old downtown buildings) with the pencil or charcoal drawings of a talented artist dotting the walls. I will say, our table sort of felt like it was in a main thoroughfare, which was a bit disconcerting - people shoving past and the bar noise adding to the general cacophony. Ah, well. On to the food. The Boy and I started with cocktails - he got a Bloody Mary and I got a "Carnation" with blood orange juice and sparkling rose. It was essentially a blood orange mimosa, and quite tasty. The three of us shared the Aged Gouda Gougeres with Salted Guava Butter - a light and savory start to the meal, although I will say the gougeres were just slightly overdone, if excellently cheesy, and I wished the guava butter was a bit sweeter for contrast. Our waiter was friendly and polite, and recommended the House Cured Gravlax to me over the House Made Ricotta with the disclaimer that he was lactose intolerant. Of course, he then recommended my mother go for the Grilled Cheese Sandwich over the Spicy Shrimp Toast, so who knows where the lactose intolerance went there. I happily ordered the Gravlax and she the Grilled Cheese, while the Boy, without assistance, went for the Moroccan Scramble. We eventually came to the conclusion that the waiter was wrong about the Shrimp Toast/Grilled Cheese Debate, for while very tasty the Grilled Cheese was nothing special, just a good grilled cheese. The fries, I will say, were standouts - crispy yet somehow also heartier than your average fries, and well-salted to boot. Best Dish was a close standoff between my gravlax - toasty, hearty bread, lush herbed cream cheese, red onions, and capers in a make-your-own situation - and the Boy's scramble, which was also served over bread (perhaps flatbread?) with almost omelet-like folds of egg interspersed with housemade merguez sausage, crushed avocado, cilantro, chickpea salad, and fresh chilis. His was full of well-melded flavor while mine was more simple but also done perfectly, down to the salad that I ate despite the fact that I don't like salad just because the simple lemony dressing was so. Damn. Good. The whole meal came in at about $75 before tip - not bad at all. Overall, a tasty meal in a cool space, though I'd wish for a bit better of a seat next time. I believe there's space up on the roof - another day, perhaps. It could be lovely in the L.A. sun.

Cool place with an interesting menu. The food was good but not great. It must have been a busy night because our order was wrong multiple times. The staff was very nice and helpful but not a perfect experience.

Great food. Amazing wait staff. Good can cost, but it was such a pleasure. Adding that I went for dinner service.