Californios

Date: 2024-03-13 Category: 2 stars Rating 16/20 The concept was fresh when it debuted around a decade ago, however the emphasis on what feels like essentially pan-Mexican cuisine loses the specificity you'd expect for true pre-Colombian Californian cuisine. There was a lot of things to make it feel special, caviar in multiple courses, black truffles, and an aged rum flambee. The weakness is that in order to show so many varieties of maiz/corn and items (types of tortillas, tamal, sope) means you fill up quite early and the corn sits and expands in your stomach making the end a death march, which is a shame becasue the last entree, the rockfish was actually very well executed. The deserts are fine but giving guests cotton candy as part of the final dish is rough -- my stomach lurched when it saw that much sugar coming. A hand in editing is needed overall. Service is exemplar, especially the sommelier Ameena. The space is also nice and while it has the signifiers of fine dining, the space helps temper it.