Hatfield’s – West Hollywood

This is from a meal last year, but many of the signature dishes i.e. the croque madame and the lamb dish remain on the menu.

Hatfield’s is the creation of Karen and Quinn Hatfield.  The two met when they worked at Spago. But Quinn moved on to Jean Georges and Bouley in New York, and Karen to Gramercy Tavern, Jojo and Vong before becoming co-chefs at Cortez in San Francisco. They decided to move back to Los Angeles, Karen’s hometown and open Hatfield’s.

Hatfield’s is a tiny restaurant, about 50 seats. There is a small pocket patio on the side, sort of corridor dining.

This is definitely a chef driven restaurant. We created our own tasting menu, although one is available for $79. We shared all dishes. They were served family style; we did the splits ourselves.

Amuse – Watermelon and Thai Basil Sangria with Deviled Quail Eggs with Smoked trout. The sangria was iffy, but the quail egg was delicious.

 

Cheese Bread – the bread is absolutely addictive – warm dough filled with cheese served with herb butter

 

 First Course – “Croque Madame”, grilled brioche, hamachi, proscuitto, quail egg – this was delicious as well as inventive. The contrast of temperature – the cool hamachi, the warm brioche was particularly appealing. Next time, I won’t share this dish.

 

Second course – Charred Japanese Octopus, roasted fennel, red wine olive puree, saffron vanilla, braised heart of palm, candied orange peel. This could have been a mess – too much going on. But, it was a very sophisticated dish that required some culinary experience to “get it.” 

 

 

Third Course – Quinn’s BLT – Heritage farms braised bacon, organic mesclun, marinated heirloom tomatoes, chiabatta croutons – this was a deconstructed BLT with the star of the dish being the bacon that resembled pork belly more than bacon. Absolutely delicious.

 

 

Fourth Course – Bobo Farms port poached foie gras terrine, plum puree, toasted almond and fig salad served with toasted brioche. The only miss on this dish was the brioche – not even close to FL.

 Fifth Course – Olive Oil Poached Alaskan halibut, herbed asparagus, hon shemeji mushrooms, pickled scallion vinaigrette – The halibut was slow-cooked and melt in your mouth perfect.

 Sixth Course – Date and mint crusted rack of lamb, potato chive puree, saute of heirloom carrot, parsley root and lima beans – the stars of this dish were the vegetables. John despises lima beans and we were fighting over them. The rack of lamb had a sweet glazed crust that I imagine came from the dates.

 

 Seventh course – Buttermilk panna cotta, rose poached strawberries, shaved melon, citrus chamomile sorbet – good

 

 

Eighth course – Sugar and spice beignets, Venezuelan chocolate fondue, sassafras milkshake shot – I expected to love this dish, but found the beignets very heavy.

 

 Wines (from our cellar)

2002 Dageneau Silex and ’95 Engle Vosne Romanee “Les Brulees”.  The Dageneau showed perfectly.  The Les Brulees was a bit disappointing to me, not as full and round as I remember it.  That is one of my favorite Burgundy vineyards.  The Henri Jayer ’78 from there is imbedded in my memory. Engle is a great wine maker.  I’ll have to try another bottle some time soon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hatfield’s

Hatfield’s is the “creation” of Quinn and Karen Hatfield who moved from San Francisco where they were co-chefs at Cortez. It is a tiny restaurant, about 50 seats. There is a small pocket patio on the side, sort of corridor dining.

This is definitely a chef driven restaurant. We created our own tasting menu, although there is one available. We shared all dishes. They were served family style and we did the splits ourselves.

Amuse – Watermelon and Thai Basil Sangria with Deviled Quail Eggs with Smoked trout. The sangria was iffy, but the quail egg was delicious.

First Course – “Croque Madame”, grilled brioche, hamachi, proscuitto, quail egg – this was delicious as well as inventive. The contrast of temperature – the cool hamachi, the warm brioche was particularly appealing. Next time, I won’t share this dish.

Second course – Charred Japanese Octopus, roasted fennel, red wine olive puree, saffron vanilla braised heart of palm, candied orange peel. This could have been a mess – too much going on. But, it was a very sophisticated dish that required some culinary experience to “get it.” 

Third Course – Quinn’s BLT – Heritage farms braised bacon, organic mesclun, marinated heirloom tomatoes, chiabatta croutons – this was a deconstructed BLT with the star of the dish being the bacon that resembled pork belly more than bacon. Absolutely delicious.

Fourth Course – Bobo Farms port poached foie gars terrine, plum puree, toasted almond and fig salad served with toasted brioche. The only miss on this dish was the brioche – not even close to FL.

Fifth Course – Olive Oil Poached Alaskan halibut, herbed asparagus, hon shemeji mushrooms, pickled scallion vinaigrette – The halibut was slow-cooked and melt in your mouth perfect.

Sixth Course – Date and mint crusted rack of lamb, potato chive puree, saute of heirloom carrot, parsley root and lima beans – the stars of this dish were the vegetables. John despises lima beans and we were fighting over them. The rack of lamb had a sweet glazed crust that I imagine came from the dates.

Seventh course – Buttermilk panna cotta, rose poached strawberries, shaved melon, citrus chamomile sorbet – good

Eighth course – Sugar and spice beignets, Venezuelan chocolate fondue, sassafras milkshake shot – I expected to love this dish, but found the beignets very heavy.

 

 BYO  Wines 

2002 Dageneau Silex and ’95 Engle Vosne Romanee “Les Brulees”.  The Dageneau showed perfectly.  The Les Brulees was a bit disappointing to me, not as full and round as I remember it.  That is one of my favorite Burgundy vineyards.  The Henri Jayer ’78 from there is imbedded in my memory. Engle is a great wine maker.  

All in all, this was an excellent dining experience.