Laurel

“Trust the chef.” When I go to restaurants like this, I like to trust the chef and the flavors they put together. Thank goodness I did, because otherwise I wouldn’t have tried the Celery Salad. Y’all, I said Celery. Salad. We liked the first incarnation of Laurel, but could really only afford to go once a year for special occasions. While I maybe shouldn’t “afford” this incarnation, we’ve been at least once per month since it opened. We have dishes we love, but we know and appreciate that they will be moved off the menu based on the availability and freshness of the provisions. The chef and the kitchen are creative, imaginative, and inventive, so… trust them. Here’s some highlights from our experiences: Boquerones-the toast under the fish is covered in butter. It’s delicious. The clams with trout roe-the cream sauce that the clams are in! You’ll need more of the Mighty Bread to soak that up. It’s salty, not too creamy. And I do love how the trout roe pops in my mouth. The Celery Salad-talk about elevating celery! I have dined with a lot of folks here who don’t like celery, but they love this. Dates, hazelnuts, covered in cheese… Yum! The scallops-people can absolutely do scallops wrong. The way they do the scallops here… I almost never want a pan-seared whole scallop again. The presentation is gorgeous and the scallops themselves are sliced thinly and placed over the rest of the preparation. The bar also does a great job being seasonally relevant and using items from the kitchen in their drinks. The first week there, I had a bourbon drink with a wagyu fat wash and later there was a different drink with a coconut oil wash or some such. Additionally, they are more than willing to entertain teetotalers with delicious non-alcoholic mixed drinks. The service is also great, but go with the low estimate of their number of dishes suggestion because you cannot miss dessert! We’ve only gotten dessert once because we never have enough room! They ask about allergies when you first settle in, and they’re very knowledgeable about the menu. The service is not disruptive unless you want to engage with the servers. People have different expectations of servers, but part of being a great server is essentially having an emotional intelligence to read your patrons. Our fave server at Laurel is fantastic at this. I’m sorry I don’t have pics of all of our dishes. We are too busy enjoying and appreciating them!

My husband and I reserved a table at Laurel to celebrate our anniversary. The service was INCREDIBLE. We each enjoyed cocktails from the bar and decided to select our own courses. We loved each one. Do not overlook the celery salad, with surprising textures and exciting flavor variations. My husband loved the Maitake mushroom dish. I’ll return for the Parisian gnocchi and impeccable service.

It has been many years since we visited Laurel Restaurant. I remember following chef Nicholas Elmi on Top Chef and rooting for him to win (he did!). Laurel was always difficult to get a reservation for, so I was not optimistic I would be able to get one for this past Saturday. Shockingly it was very easy to get a reservation. It seems like they only do a tasting menu and I love those. It did not disappoint!! Everything looked phenomenal and tasted out of this world. I particularly loved the custard with peas, the oysters with cantaloupe, the hiromasa with strawberry and almond, the wagyu, and the black forest chocolate pudding. Service was fantastic!! Never had been in the bar area (shows how long it has been since the bar opened in 2016).

Impeccable service from Anne & and mind-blowing flavor combinations from the chef made our visit unforgettable! Highly recommend Laurel.

I went here with my boyfriend for my birthday and the food was exceptional. I really enjoyed each course that was brought out and you had plenty of time to enjoy the meal before the next one was brought out. I also did the wine pairing which was nice touch to go with each meal. The staff is so friendly and knowledgeable. I highly recommend this place for special occasions you will not be disappointed.