Knife Pleat — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

When I go to a fancy restaurant, I expect to make some memories. Knife Pleat definitely left me with some memories. While I do have quite a few criticisms of the food, I thought that the experience was well worth the price. I think I paid about $490 because I added to the already included tip. The service was nothing short of ideal. I was even blessed to get a tour of the kitchen. Not that anyone was expecting anything less but it was squeaky clean. It was wonderful to see all of the different stations where the food was being prepared. It really brings an appreciate for the food and labor that went into it.

Food: My appetizer was a little bit lacking. It tasted mostly of pastry, with a little bit of mushroom. The lobster dish kind of confused me because none of the components really went together and the lobster itself wasn't seasoned well, if at all. The 14 independent cooked vegetables dish was the first dish that impressed me. It's such a simple concept but executed so well. It was beautiful, it was delicious, and it was a joy to slowly eat. The beet risotto seemed a little bit undercooked for me. I understand that there are different ways of preparing it, but when the two forms of beets already provided texture, I didn't think the risotto also needed to. The scallops were cooked well and paired well with the parsnip puree and apple. The only fault I had was that there was a little bit of sand on one scallop. Unsurprisingly, the quail was my favorite dish. The combination of warm flavors was incredible. There's not much to say beyond how great this dish was. The quince dessert was also outstanding. There were so many flavors going on and all of them were amazing both independently and especially together. There was a perfect amount of crunch to elevate the creaminess of the sorbet and quince gelee. The three dessert snacks at the end were also incredible. My apologies about not capturing a photo of the prettiest one. It was a chocolate truffle with a gold flake on top. All three snacks were delicious and each brought it's own unique flavor.

Cocktails: Most of the cocktails were far too sweet for me. I prefer a stronger alcohol taste and less sweetness masking it. I asked to have the Supreme with less liqueur and that ended up being my favorite. I also requested a gin and tonic which was also great. I should mention that the Harmonie was also not a sweet drink, but it tasted a bit too much of bitters.

My final thoughts: As previously stated, I want to build memories when I go to a restaurant and Knife Pleat delivered. Both the food and service had aspects that make me want to come back someday. Their menu changes every two weeks, so I bet there will always be...

I've been to Knife Pleat half a dozen times for dinner and generally, it's been quite good to excellent depending on the day. Some dishes fail to impress but generally speaking most dishes are exciting, novel, and suffice to say extremely tasty. The desserts in particular have been incredibly creative and interesting. I also find it refreshing to get so many vegetables in a meal of this caliber!

Wine pairings have been excellent as well, and the head bartender is very, very skilled.

The service is good. All the servers have been incredibly friendly, but the service has felt very rigid and unrefined at various points. What I mean by this is that they are trying very, very hard to do things the "correct" way that it feels very unnatural at times and a bit starling, like when they circle around the table and all stand behind each guest, pause for 2 seconds, then place the dishes down at the same time. I do greatly respect their ambitions, (I think they're going for 2 stars), but this sort of thing I just find silly and unnecessary, even if it was a 2 star.

My biggest complaint is just how outrageously priced it is. $295 for 6 courses is deep into 2-star pricing territory. You add in a wine pairing and the mandatory 23% service fee and you're looking at almost $600 per person.

I would truly love nothing more than for them to grow into this price point, but as it stands, the meal is...

Knife Pleat is where billionaires go to sip consommé while deciding who gets electricity that night.

Let’s be real—this isn’t a restaurant. It’s a shadowy operations hub disguised as a fine dining establishment. I’m 97% sure George Soros himself eats here weekly, probably at Table 3 near the back, right under the chandelier shaped like a globalist mind-control satellite. That’s where the meetings happen. That’s where they decide things like: who gets EV charging access, why there’s no signage, and why South Coast Plaza security appears exactly 5 minutes after closing like clockwork-trained falcons.

The amuse-bouche? Probably nanotech. The wine list? Alphabet-funded. I asked for a glass of water and the waiter scanned my retina. Classy.

Meanwhile, outside, the rest of us are just trying to charge our cars without getting interrogated like Bond villains. But no—you can’t have electrons unless you’re on the “approved shopper” list, and that list is curated right here between bites of foie gras and discussions about dismantling Western civilization.

The food? Delightfully subtle. The conspiracy? Not so much.

Until the charger scam ends, and the Soros séance menu is made public, this review stays up. And I’ll be watching—probably from the valet lot—waiting for George to come out holding a crème brûlée and a...