Breadbar – Hatachi – Brian Redzikowski

Chef Brian Redzikowski is currently the executive chef at Bond Street. Before Chef Brian’s arrival, it was completely panned by the LA Times as well as food bloggers. With the arrival of Chef Brian, the reviews have been positive and the once empty dining room is hopping.

Brian Redzikowski boasts an impressive culinary background. He attended The Culinary Institute of America on scholarship from Wine Spectator where he graduated with high honors. During his schooling, he completed his externship at Le Cirque 2000 in New York City as well as monthly stages at Alain Ducasse and Le Bernardin.

Chef Redzikowski’s passion for Asian cuisine was sparked early on by his travels to Southeast Asia. During exploration of Thailand, he found the importance of indigenous ingredients in the Thai’s daily lives especially intriguing. On his return to the states, Brian secured a job at Nobu Matsuhisa in Aspen, Colorado.

After his time in Colorado, Brian took the opportunity as Sous Chef at the only three star Michelin Restaurant in Las Vegas, Joel Robuchon at the Mansion. There he executed Chef Robuchon’s signature tasting menus and traditional French Cuisine.

Prior to coming to Beverly Hills, Brian held the position as Executive Sous Chef of Yellowtail Sushi Restaurant at the Bellagio.

Chef Redzikowski’s approach to food is aided by easily working with local farmers to source out the best seasonal product. His cuisine is seen as French inspired dishes using Asian ingredients and executed with a modern technical approach.

http://www.brianredzikowski.com/bio.html

More about Brian here:

http://www.brianredzikowski.com/news.html

Chef Brian is working on a new concept plus a restaurant of his own to be called Claustro. His hatchi menu at Breadbar featured 8 dishes for $8.00 for each course. We ate the 8 course menu, sharing one for two.

Menu

Chef Brian

BYO Champagne

For some reason, many of the photos are blurry and out-of-focus. I apologize in advance; the photographer had an off night.

Tuna Cubes and  Watermelon Cubes, Tomato, Crushed pistachio underneath the tuna, Soy dabs topped by tomato water gelee

Squash Blossom Tempura stuffed with uni and a dipping sauce of Salsa Verde – I liked this so much that I had seconds between course 5 and 6

Deep fried Unagi topped with thinly sliced Fugi Apple, sitting on a bed of thinly sliced potato and accented with the foie gras- there were three pieces of  the unagi creation, but I am only showing one as the rest of the photo was too blurry. You wouldn’t think this would work, but the fattiness of the unagi and the foie complemented each other with the potato and apple adding a contrasting accent and texture.

BYO White Wine (Corkage was $15 per bottle)

Another iffy photo – Langoustine with Ranch Gordo (known for his beans) “Espuma”, Chive –  John devoured the beans and the langoustine was cooked perfectly.

Halibut, Artichoke, Cherry Tomatoes, Hoji Blanca – The olive oil was done 3 ways – olive oil pudding, olive oil foam, and olive oil powder – again Chef Brian knows how to handle fish correctly.

Another lousy photo – Wagyu beef, medium rare with Spring garnish – asparagus, carrot, carrot juice, cippolini onions, morels, veal jus – the beef was excellent but the star of the dish were the the spring vegetables.

Now I can only say that I entered a surreal experience. It was as if I had left one restaurant and entered another with a different chef. The last two dishes were desserts. For my taste, they were just not good.

Asahi Float with Acacia – Beer and honey just didn’t work for me.

Honey Caramel Popcorn with Preserved Cherries – I had visions of a fun dish with pieces of crunchy caramel popcorn topped with the cherries – sort of a trip back to childhood. It wasn’t even close.

It will be interesting to watch this young chef evolve over time and do his “own thing.” He definitely has the talent and doing the Hatchi series is a difficult task for any chef.