Petrossian - The Rise of a Young Chef (West Hollywood)

Exterior of Petrossian

Petrossian, a caviar specialty shop that I honestly overlooked while browsing the dineLA list for 2009. Thankfully, to Jo of MyLastBite, I did not make that foolish mistake. I was about to embark on one of my best meals in 2009.

Menu

Petrossian, as I stated above, specializes in caviar, but in addition to an online store, it has restaurants in New York City, Las Vegas, and West Hollywood. The West Hollywood location is headed by Benjamin Bailly, whose prior stops were at Joël Robuchon in Paris, L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas amongst the many impressive restaurant on his resume. After browsing the dineLA menu online, I was intrigued with some of the dishes on the list. Count me in!

Dine LA Menu

The dineLA menu is shown above. Quite an impressive selection indeed. My 2 dining companions and I decided to run the "gamut" and try all 9 dishes offered.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

While waiting for the dishes to arrive, I went with a bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Simple, refreshing, and a great complement to the meal I'm above to consume.

Truffle Butter

This truffle butter was amazing. Along with the bread (not shown) given to us, the truffle butter was simply delicious!

Blinis - Caviar, Transmontanus Caviar trout roe and Salmon roe

Here, Chef Bailly presented us with Blinis, which are mini pancakes made of buckwheat flour. Along which, a generous serving of sour cream was topped with caviar, and salmon roe. I enjoyed the saltiness of the roe, with the refreshing taste of the sour cream on the blini. Very nice start to the meal.

Chilled Soups - Cantaloupe and Borsht

Next, we were given two types of chilled soup. First, the cantaloupe. The sweetness of the cantaloupe was quite nice, yet not overpowering. Next, the borsht, a famous Ukrainian soup made of beetroot. The flavors of beets were quite evident, and although I'm not too keen on beet, it provided a nice contrast to the cantaloupe soup.

Crispy Shrimp “papillotte” - Passion fruit, sweet chilli ginger sauce

One of my favorite dish of the night. I thoroughly enjoyed the lightly fried shrimp with a sweet and spicy ginger sauce topped with a passion fruit topping. The shrimp was quite fresh and flavorful, and I loved the complex flavor that all meshed together.

Seared Scallops - Butternut squash, Bacon Emulsion

Here we have a seared, plump scallop which was presented with a butternut squash puree and a bacon emulsion. I enjoyed the pairing of two sweet, yet not overpowering ingredients in butternut squash and the scallops.

Foie Gras Creme Brulée

To those that know me, I love Creme Brulée and I love the richness in foie gras, so I was definitely excited when Chef Bailly presented us with the Foie Gras Creme Brulée. Even now, I'm not sure how to describe it. Maybe I'm too used to a normal Creme Brulée, so I wasn't used to the savoriness of the foie gras in the dish. I think I'll need to try it again on a return visit as I wasn't used to the flavor combination.

Foie Gras Salad - Haricots verts, toasted walnut, truffle vinaigrette

Here, we're finally starting on our dineLA menu, the appetizer course. We started off with the foie gras salad with haricots verts (French for green beans), toasted walnuts topped with a thick and generous slab of foie terrine. I really enjoyed the sweet flavors of the haricots verts and the rich taste of the duck terrine. In addition, the toasted walnuts added a fantastic texture to this salad. Delicious!

Hand Slicked Smoked Salmon - toast points, creme fraiche

Here, we have probably the most simple dish of the night, but nevertheless, fantastic. Presented, we have Petrossian's famous smoked salmon with chopped chives, capers and creme fraiche. You would eat it with the toasted points (shown above) and as what it looks, delicious! The smoked salmon at Petrossian was one of the better ones I've ever had.

Black Truffle Mac & Cheese - Orrechiette, bacon, parmesan

Now, we have my favorite dish of the night. A dish I'm still drooling over as I'm writing up this post. Truffles in Mac 'N Cheese? Sign me up please! The pasta used here is the orrechiette, from the Puglian region that is shaped similar to an ear, hence the name "little ear." With the addition of truffles, bacon, and parmesan cheese, this pasta dish was simply awesome. In addition, Chef Bailly generously added a nice slice of black truffle as an added touch. I can't wait to come back for this dish!

Chef Benjamin Bailly hard at work



Napoleon Tartare - Hand sliced steak tartare with layer of caviar

Another dish I was looking forward to, the steak tartare dish with an ample layer of caviar. I was really interested to try the dish after reading Jo's first post of Petrossian. I really liked the delicately chopped beef with a fine, but generous layer of caviar. The saltiness of the caviar went beautifully with the finely chopped of beef. Great dish!

Carnaroli Risotto - sauteed wild mushrooms, artichokes, toasted pine nuts

The carnaroli risotto, made of carnaroli rice from Northern Italy was presented next. I loved the use of the mushrooms, which provided a woodsy flavor to complement the creamy cheese texture of the rice. The artichokes provided a slight tartness needed in the dish and toasted pine nuts added excellent texture. Very nice.

Braised Short Ribs - Yukon gold mashed potato, burgundy sauce

By this point, I was stuffed from the previous courses (and from a lunch at Fogo de Chao), and the short ribs were next. The short ribs were tender and flavorful, though it was slightly too salty in my opinion, which the mashed potato was a welcoming addition to the dish to combat the saltiness of the dish. Though delicious, it didn't stand out, but it could be due to me overloading on Brazilian BBQ earlier in the day. Finally, it was onto dessert.

Petrossian Chocolate Moelleux

The dessert round started off with Petrossian's chocolate moelleux, which is French for a moist muffin. Eaten with the ice cream provided, it was fantastic. I originally feared this chocolate dessert would be too rich, but I was mistaken. Great start in the dessert round!

Sicilian Pistachio Creme Brulée

Next, it's a pistachio creme brulée. Another one of my favorite ingredients in pistachio added to my favorite dessert in the creme brulée. This time, I loved the combination. Maybe I'm just not used to a savory creme brulée, but this was my favorite of the three desserts we had.

Vanilla Panna Cotta, White Peach Espuma

Finally, we have a panna cotta, a traditional Italian dessert made of cream, milk, and sugar. Added to the panna cotta was a tart peach flavor that served great as a palate cleanser, and a great finish to our meal. Excellent dessert!

After our dinner, I was extremely satisfied and felt that Petrossian far exceeded what I was expecting going in. There were many highlights during our meal and Chef Bailly made our meal a great experience. As what Jo stated on her blog about Chef Benjamin Bailly, remember his name, he will definitely be a superstar here in Los Angeles, if not, the nation. Chef Bailly, don't forget, Truffles Mac 'N Cheese with extra truffles, please! I can't wait to go back.

Petrossian West Hollywood
321 North Robertson Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90048
(310) 271-6300
Website