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| Commissary's indoor-outdoor greenhouse space |
Eating LA is now contributing to both the
Los Feliz and the
Larchmont Ledgers, two community newspapers that publish monthly in print and online. I'm not sure how it's possible that I never posted about eating several times at
Pot (once with Anthony Bourdain and Roy Choi, brag, for a TV show promo of course). But now that I've tried
Commissary too, it's time to make it right. Here's my review from the brand-new
Larchmont Ledger. Click through to see how many forks it received.
It might not be fair to lump together
Pot, a cheeky take on a Korean hotpot restaurant and
Commissary, an equally-unorthodox approach to a breakfast, lunch and dinner hotel restaurant. But Koreatown's
Line Hotel can be experienced all at once or in bits and pieces.
When
Roy Choi, the man who brought food trucks into the 21st century with Kogi BBQ and then expanded into places like A-Frame and Sunny Spot, joined up with the recently remodeled mid-century hotel on Wilshire Blvd., it was clear it would reflect his brash approach to both flavors and marketing, with a weed-scented, hip-hop soundtracked sensibility.
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| Lobby bar at Pot |
Walking into the lobby, a bar with comfy pentagonal booths offers updated classic cocktails and new creations like kimchi soju or tequila with sea urchin. The lobby coffee bar (open til 2 a.m. on weekends) serves Lamill coffee drinks (habanero mocha!), beer and wine along with Korean pastries like hot dog and ketchup buns and of course, clever toast (Laurence Fishbun is topped with anchovies) .
Down a corridor is
Pot, an informal canteen offering accessible versions of hot pots and other Korean staples for diners who may or may not have much experience with real Korean restaurants. Servers in street-style chic and tables with clever shelves for flatware along with a pumping soundtrack give the windowless room a cacophonous energy. With typically Choi-esque names from Ganja Tang (pork neck hotpot) to Roger Wants Moore Octopussy grilled octopus, most dishes pack layers of sweetness, heat, salt and fat on top of each other until the diner keels over from either euphoria or a heart episode.
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| the kimchi fried rice of your dreams |
The result is delicious but sometimes overly-rich dishes like
kimchi fried rice, terrific
potato pancakes and BBQ spicy pork. Hot pots come in pork-intensive, seafood or vegetarian varieties, and should be shared with several people. Come at lunch for a quieter experience and individually-sized hot pots, and don't miss the chili-oil slicked
kat man doo dumplings.
Feeling more outdoorsy? Go past the hotel's reception desk and the mural made of plastic bleach bottles sprayed black, past the adorable Poketo gift shop and upstairs to
Commissary. Next to the pool, a glass greenhouse-like structure filled with hanging plants, a bar and communal tables glows from within. Parties of two are likely to end up outdoors, where sleek heaters are able to keep out the cold most evenings. At Commissary, too, the vegetable-intensive menu plays tricks: like a children's bingo card, it offers just pictures of cauliflower, a carrot or a fish.
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| "lettuce" |
But the dishes are much more complex than the pictures, and the server can explain each one at length. Beets join pistachios, goat cheese and frisee, while "lettuce" symbolizes an artfully-composed salad of grilled lettuce, bacon, pear and avocado with a curry-scented dressing.
Roasted carrots, one of the hot food trends at the moment, are roasted almost to a crisp and topped with a zippy green sauce. Every hotel restaurant needs a club sandwich and a burger, so Commissary offers both, as well as a satisfyingly crispy
pork schnitzel that hangs over the edge of the plate in proper German style. Bacon is often a supporting character despite the vegetable focus, in classic
clam chowder or in a rigatoni dish where tart capers cut the richness of the cream sauce.
Cocktails continue the garden theme with herbs and touches of rhubarb or persimmon. They're so refreshing that it might be nice if Choi could give up serving them in plastic leftover containers (a nod to the way kitchen workers drink) and let diners enjoy them in proper glasses. Assembling a meal of small plates and cocktails can easily end up around $100 for two people, and though everything is well-prepared, the menu can seem like a bit of a hodgepodge.
But no matter where you eat at the Line, it will no doubt be irreverent, addictive and just a little over the top, just like Choi himself.
Pot and Commissary at the Line Hotel
3515 Wilshire Blvd.
213-368-3030
