Rivera: The Specials Tonight....

Word is out, a second Rivera will be opening up in the space that was Grace, as Grace moves into St Vibiana'a Cathedral. There can never be too much Rivera. We had a nice quiet meal at the "sushi bar" at Rivera before covering a Specials show at LA Live. For long, luxurious meals I prefer the "Sangre" room in the back, but this meal was a quickie.



The beet salad, which I believe was the Sevilla Flamenco Salad, had a Mediteranean flair with the spicing and addition of chickpeas. Then to add sweetness and acid and throw you for a loop blood oranges were added to the mix.



We had our usual piquinillos, which I didn't bother photographing because I have like 8 million photos of it already. For only $3 we sampled little shooters of Chef John Rivera Sedlar's take on tortilla soup, a duet that harmonized with intense tortilla flavor without the little crunchy bits of chip to ruin the smoothness.





Bob tried a flight of tequila infusions -- his favorite was the orange-habanero. We didn't order the relleno, but it was such a touching homage.



The lobster uhhh head and what looked like gelees is a kind of surreal dish. Pieces of succulent lobster are accompanied by an empty shell for fun. The green squares are poblano chile, and the colorful squares are carefully cut melon.



But we had a big night ahead of us so we said a shorter than usual hello to John and walked over to LA Live to see The Specials. The show was amazing and crazy and just a little dangerous. I came home soaked in beer and Red Bull. Check out Bob's review.