Crepes And Corks: Tesse

Since I knew I was going to be out of town for my dad's birthday this year I invited him out to dinner in LA. He agreed, so long as I took him somewhere that "kicked it up a notch". Bold request, if you ask me! I chose Tesse as the restaurant of choice and it did not disappoint as the new West Hollywood hot spot. On a Saturday night, the restaurant on Sunset Boulevard was bustling. We sat in a nice corner table in the main dining room. My dad brought a magnificent bottle of Cabernet, which caught the attention of one of the restaurant's partners, Jordan Ogron, who was kind enough to come over to our table and chat with us as he decanted the bottle. The food menu is quite extensive, with a ton of small-plate style dishes meant to be shared. I would say every dish we ordered was really tasty, which is rare for a new restaurant. The highlights were the octopus with chorizo and black squid ink rice as well as the artichoke toast. The only thing that was sub-par was the dessert unfortunately!

The most unique part of Tesse is the name-your-own-price port wine tasting. You choose a price for the table, and the sommelier (who happened to be partner Ogron on said night) develops a unique flight of port wines. It is an extremely fun and unique experience I haven't seen replicated elsewhere. The restaurant is also in the process of opening up a wine shop next door, where diners are welcome to purchase a bottle for just $15 corkage at the restaurant. All in all, I absolutely loved both the food and the experience at Tesse. And, with the volume of options on the menu, I can go back and have a completely different meal. Pretty amazing if you ask me!