Wilshire restaurant is our “find” restaurant of the year. I am still in shock that this wonderful restaurant is so close to home and I could kick myself for what I have been missing all these months. We love the patio area and with the heat lamps and the flaming hot pots (pictured), there is no issue with being cold.
Another view of the patio.
Wonderful Chef Andrew Kirschner
BYO White Wine
Torched seared hamachi, yuzu rind, shiso leaf, bonito flakes, ponzu sauce- each element needed to be eaten together – delicious with sushi grade hamachi
Octopus and Seaweed salad. Enoki mushrooms, pickled gobo root, chili lime vinaigrette – there were 4 different kinds of seaweed – my first thought was with Chef Andrew in the kitchen who needs a sushi bar.
Miso marinated black cod, sticky rice, micro cilantro, nori- another Asian influenced fish – it is as if Chef Andrew read my mind and did many of my favorite dishes.
Tai Snapper from New Zealand with a crust of panko and rice flower that had been lightly fried in soy oil, shisito peppers, king trumpet mushrooms and a citrus soy dipping sauce. Usually this is served as the whole snapper, but Chef Andrew created a tasting portion – perfectly balanced and not a hint of grease
BYO Red Wine
Grilled Kurobota pork loin, green garlic polenta, brussel sprouts, braised apple, ham hock cider jus – this was not exactly a tasting menu portion of meat – the stars of the dish though were the brussel sprouts and the polenta. Let it be noted that John is a non veggie type of person and he declared the brussel sprouts the best he has ever tasted.
Sonoma duck, pea tendrils, hazelnuts, kumquats and kumquat gastric – a well-balanced combination of flavors
Colorado lamb rack, roasted caulflower, golden raisin couscous, fennel salad, lamb jus – Chef Andrew’s accompaniments to a main protein are just perfect – the couscous was perfect
Roaring Fourties Blue cheese from Australia and Cave Aged Marisa sheep cheese from Wisconsin – nice presentation and a perfect ending with the last of the red wine.
So many items on Wilshire’s menu sound appealing. I think, next time, and there will definitely be a next time, I will have Chef Kirschner front load the menu with appetizers, particularly the seafood and the fish in tasting menu portions i.e. the kumamoto oysters, the grilled sepia, the hamachi collar, the red curry mussels, the pumpkin ravioli and the steak tartare but I wouldn’t want to forgo the miso black cod, the thai red snapper, the octopus seaweed salad or the torched hamachi. My advice – just let the Chef create a menu. I’m ready to go now.
Hi Liz, this is Izumi. I just saw your blog about Wilshire restaurant now and was surprized that we were there last might, too. We are sorry that we missed you. Wilshire is one of our favorite restaurant, too. Maybe we can meet there one of these days.
Izumi – love Wilshire and I plan on eating the menu! Sounds like a fun idea.
when chef is in zzzzz house maybe
I NEVER go to a restaurant on a holiday – Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Passover or whatever someone is celebrating.