Majordomo — Restaurant in Los Angeles

The chopsticks were phenomenal. Upon first glance they seem to be an ordinary albeit satisfactory pair of chopsticks. However upon closer inspection it reveals to you its true power. There is a level of care and attention to detail hidden within these chopsticks.

First off, the design. There are a number of chopsticks owner David Chang could have chosen from. Given his Korean background, he could have chosen a flat chopstick constructed out of metal. It would have complimented the cutlery adequately and frankly, for a restaurant of this caliber (and price point), it would have been expected.

He could have also gone with a plastic or ceramic pair typically found at sit down Chinese restaurants. These have a squared off handle for you to hold and a round end for grabbing the food. Again, it would have been a perfectly fine choice to make given the prevelence of this style of chopstick. This style does propose a minor issue however. For newer users of chopsticks, these are the most difficult to use of all styles. Their round end and relatively long length make them cumbersome at best and outright frustrating at worst.

The inclusion of a fork and spoon quickly resolves this issue but brings up an interesting point. What's the point of even including chopsticks if they are too difficult to use and the patron just gets frustrated and defaults to the fork and spoon?

There in lies the choice made by Majordomo: a familiar design of wooden chopstick found across the country at countless Chinese take out restaurants.

However make no mistake, these are not the same as your average takeout chopstick. There are generally 2 types of takeout chopsticks: a round and flat style. These are the greater of the two, with the round body and nicely tapered point along with the squared off tops that initially held the chopsticks together. This design is superior over the flat style chopstick for a number of reasons. While breaking apart the chopsticks, the flat style has a decent chance of separating unevenly, leaving an unsightly extra bit on one stick and greatly shortening the other. You might as well get a new pair when this happens since the flat style is already so short and these are typically bought in quantities in the 1000's given their cost efficiency. The round style however, rarely has this problem. There are a number of other reasons why the round style is superior over the flat style but I shall digress for another review.

Back to the specific chopsticks at Majordomo. These had a soft yet supple texture. They were smooth through the whole body of the chopstick, clearly indicating a final step of some kind of polishing during the manufacturing process. The point had no unsightly splinters or errant strand sticking out. The color was truly what stands out and draws your attention to itself. Most wooden chopsticks are a dusty yellowish color with no grain structure to be found. However these had a darker, oak-y tone. They were still clearly made of bamboo but the beauty of the grain was revealed with the darker color. All this is prior to even picking up the chopsticks.

Once you pick them up you feel both a delicate lightness that alludes to a graceful maneuverability and a hefty sturdiness to assure you that any weighty meal will be handled with care and ease. If you dare to smell them, you'll be greeted by a subtle yet...

At first sight as you are driving into the area you may think to yourself, am I in the right place. However, all of that is lost when you turn the corner and you step out of your car as the valet takes your keys. When you continue toward the front doors you can see all the character this space has to offer. A very laid back area that has lights to illuminate all the street art surrounding the patio and waiting area. As if that wasn’t cool enough, the dark and moody dining area has a great view of the bar area and open kitchen. Now dark and moody may seem like a negative to some but the staff change that immediately. From the initial counter greeting to the people collecting plates and filling water, everyone is so warm and welcoming. I think that was shown most through our waiter Jeremy. This guy was so helpful from start to finish. Jeremy was much more than your average waiter experience at other restaurants, he was more so a guide. A guide that helped you along as you started your food adventure. As someone who dines out a lot, subtle things I’ve noticed are that when asking the waiters opinion, they always suggest some of the most expensive things on the menu which can seem a bit dishonest. However, Jeremy was able to guide us through our drink options for a perfect pairing as well as 3 food dishes to split between my girlfriend and I. Not only did he not tell me to pick the most expensive thing on the menu, he told me that the amount of food we ordered would be perfect for us. “First dish will make it seem like you didn’t order enough, same thing for the second dish and you may be second guessing yourself, but by the end of the third dish you will be perfect.” He was absolutely right! Haven’t gotten into the actual food part of the review but I think that not enough is said about the staff of restaurants and how they contribute to the night. These men and women are doing a fantastic job every day and they made the experience the best dining experience I have ever had. Anyway, the food. BING is an absolute must. I had the spicy lamb bing dish and it was phenomenal and although I didn’t have it, the honey one looked really great as well. Followed that up with pork belly lettuce wraps and those were great as well. How something so simple can taste so good is something I still don’t understand but those were delicious. Our last main dish was crispy rice. This dish was perfect. I didn’t want it to end even though as Jeremy predicted earlier, you will be filling up by this point. After the crispy rice, although I was pretty full, it would have been a mistake to skip desert. I think the desert menu changes pretty often but the tables surrounding me got some of the other options and they looked fantastic. I personally got the banana chocolate mousse and it was an incredible dish to cap off the night. All in all this place is great from the food to the aesthetic to the people. I can’t wait to...

I have followed David Chang for a long time now over all mediums his podcast, TV series & books etc etc so coming to majordomo was a big thing for me as I had heard him discuss it but having the chance to see it and draw the connections was an experience in itself. Firstly I had no idea when he said it's a destination restaurant as there is not much around it the extremes this meant but for me this was half the adventure. Walking into the large covered outdoor area where we would sit and the buzz that hit you when you opened the door filled me with joy. Throughout the evening the staff were attentive and conversational which was great, they were also very knowledgeable about the menu and how much to order which is always helpful. Onto the food and to start the Bing bread with cultured honey & duck mousse. The bing bread was so pillowy and almost like an unsweetened doughnut in its lightness which the honey and butter pair perfectly with. I also cannot stress enough for me how amazing the combination of the butter and honey topped with abit of salt worked, I can only think the use of fat to offset the sweetness was the reason this worked so well. The duck moose was also good but the honey butter and bread combo is unreal and a most try for me. The marinated mushrooms worked due to being perfectly marinated with vinegar and the accompanying pea shoots and pictashios provided a freshness to the dish. Onto the crispy butterball potato, AMAZING texture with the not commonly dried salsa seca ingredients. Beautiful balance of taste, texture and heat with a strong sesame flavour from seeds and oil providing a flavour balance Pork belly lettuce cups with steamed rice and chilli oil provided the "make your own experience" and sharing/communicating vibe that is so appealing to me. The pork belly was crisp, chilli sauce spicy and the steamed rice & lettuce delicately matching all these flavours together. In juxtaposition to the pork belly the black cod gave a light bite but nevertheless packed with just as much flavour but maybe slightly too delicate for my palette. We finished with the banana, butterscotch & chocolate desert. Butterscotch and banana combination was ideal as you might expect a hat tip to my favour desert banoffee pie. It was very sweet but all the flavours complimented each other My only regret was there was only two of us so the larger sharing "carve at tableside" dishes weren't really an option for us as both on the menu and the tables around us these dishes looked outstanding and provide the perfect ambiance for a larger group . All in all a fantastic experience and when visiting other areas of the states that Dave has restaurants I will be...