n/naka

n/naka Restaurant Review:

Dining out in Los Angeles can generally be a spontaneous affair, but an evening at n/naka will require some forethought. Reservations are booked up to three months in advance to secure any of the 26 seats in the restaurant. Chef Niki Nakayama's modern interpretation of kaiseki was featured in the Netflix documentary series "Chef's Table." She presents a sort of dinner theater in which she executes various roles, from the "writer/producer" orchestrating the meal's progression to the "sound designer" selecting the music to set the mood. Her philosophy is that guests should slow down and engage in both food and conversation, so the décor is kept minimal aside from traditional wooden baking molds adorning the walls. Chef Nakayama hails from a family in the fishing business and she has spent many years in the food industry at restaurants in Southern California and Japan. Her multi-course menus blend traditional and modern culinary techniques, and also highlight herbs and vegetables from her home's organic garden. Select from the 13-course Modern Kaiseki ($275, $125 optional wine/saké pairing) or 13-course Vegetarian Tasting ($225, $125 optional wine/saké pairing). The sushi and other seafood preparations are excellent, particularly the sakizuke (kaiseki appetizer) of butter poached Alaskan king crab on top of white asparagus tofu, crowned with baby white and green asparagus and petals of nasturtium and pansy. The parade of small plates might continue with tartare of baby blue fin tuna o-toro served in a roasted bamboo shoot, and lobster and uni chawanmushi with shiitake mushrooms and shaved black truffles. Nakayama has access to exclusive sakés, such as Shichida Saké Yamahai Karakuchi, and the wine pairings complement the dishes quite well. It's clear that she has put an immense amount of effort into this challenging venture.