What you see isn't always what you get at Scratch Bar, an experimental contemporary American restaurant in Los Angeles. Chef Phillip Lee offers diners an à la carte menu, but also plates several elaborate tasting menus. Above and below, his 16-courser priced at $140 a head:
Fresh popped corn seasoned with garlic duck fat, crispy duck skin and fresh thyme
Hood Canal oyster topped with caramelized wild mushroom mousse, Coho salmon caviar, fresh lime, sea salt and Thai basil
Green mussel & sea urchin sake shooter - SKEWER: Ceviche'd green mussel, red onion and serrano pepper - SHOT: Unfiltered sake, lime juice, tomato syrup. SCOOP: Avocado mousse, sea urchin
Braised and seared pork belly, Hood Canal oyster, coconut/chamomile emulsion, dehydrated chamomile flowers
Puffed smelt cracker served over beet mustard whipped with duck fat
Lamb porridge topped with a seared egg yolk
House-made pickled goat cheese smoked over Timothy hay, sourdough baguette, sweetened olive puree, pickled vegetables
Lightly toasted escolar, cucumber, radish, burnt greens gazpacho
Wood smoked salsify, cauliflower purée, cauliflower chips, steamed romanesco, puffed amaranth, roasted sweet breads, Coho salmon caviar
Sourdough "bone" stuffed with raw marrow, topped with spiced mushrooms and pickled onions
Three day charmoula marinated prawns served over a purée of cabbage cooked in caramelized fish sauce with toasted pistachios, scallions and smoked white onions
Cured pigs head salami, beet mustard onion soubise, cracked pepper
Dry aged filet mignon tartare stuffed into a crispy prawn shell covered with cured pork fat
Roasted Australian lamb loin, creamless creamed spinach, roasted broccoli, fried broccoli and pickled broccoli, sweet and sour radishes, duck fat/scrimshaw jus
Dark chocolate and cayenne candy bar, raspberry sauce
Vanilla ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles (red is made from beet, yellow from corn, orange from carrot, green from spinach, black from chia)
