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Red Medicine, Beverly Hills (August 2012)

Sixteen months passed since my last meal at Red Medicine, and it was really impressive to see just how much the restaurant has improved. Gone are the insouciant servers, replaced by friendly and professional servers who ably present and finish dishes tableside. As for Jordan Kahn's food, from the first time I visited Red Medicine in March 2011, it was always my belief that he needed a bigger stage. Now that isn't to say the every composition is flawless. A frozen uni powder's nitidity verges on the palate-immobilizing and plantains paired with young turnips have a chalky, charcoal texture. Aside from those minor quibbles, the food remains as spellbinding as ever and would have no problem finding a home on any three-star Michelin restaurant's menu.

Food: world-class
Highlights: sweet corn, chicken dumplings, black carrots and birch ice
Service: excellent
Pr(return): high

Complementary snap peas (raw and iced), soy milk custard, mint and coconut water

Sweet corn, sweet corn custard, frozen uni powder, rambutan, lemongrass, chervil, young ginger and celtuce

Chicken dumplings (served with lettuce cups),  caramelized sugar, pork fat, lemongrass and confitures

Heirloom black carrots, guava, purple kale, dulse, young walnut and tamarind

Young turnips, roasted plantain, plantain chips, brown butter, banana vinegar and fermented black bean

Charred eggplant, sprouted mung beans, soybean, coriander, black radish and morning glory

Birch ice, almond praline, red currant, orange blossom and jasmine

Green strawberries, frozen cream, sorrel, elderflower and wild chervil