Every Friday afternoon on his unenviable commute from El Segundo to Pasadena, The Astronomer tunes in to KCRW’s Good Food to hear Jonathan Gold’s restaurant pick of the week. He usually comes home totally pumped to explore whatever hot spot Mr. Gold dished about—from cotton candy in Koreatown to swanky new openings in Downtown.

We were inspired to finally make reservations at Otium following one particularly memorable segment. According to Mr. Gold, Otium is possibly “the most spectacular new restaurant to open in Los Angeles in years.” 

In the glow of The Broad Museum, Timothy Hollingsworth, the former chef de cuisine at the French Laundry, serves an eclectic menu of large and small plates. There are a number of raw seafood preparations, handmade pastas, and larger format proteins. 

Dinner began with the “Amberjack” ($16), super-fresh fish cubed and adorned with yuzu, smoked tangerine, and chicharrones. The combination of fish and pork rinds was an excellent one.

Next up was the “Dry Aged Beef Tartare” ($19), which was prepared with a Middle Eastern twist on lavash with bulgur, yogurt, and mint. The portion was tremendous, and we enjoyed every meaty, musty bite.

I simply loved the “Cuttlefish” ($16) preparation with hearts of palm, button mushrooms, chile, and Thai basil. The cuttlefish, sliced thin and wide like papperdelle, was awesomely tender. The broth tasted like traditional Thai tom kha gai soup. Beautiful stuff.

Also very tasty was the “Spinach Bucatini” ($22) with egg, bacon, clam, and crème fraîche. We made sure to specify that we wanted the pasta cooked al dente after reading some reports that the noodles tended to be mushy. 

While the noodles still weren’t perfectly toothsome, the flavors present were fantastic. Clam and bacon go together like peas and carrots.

In contrast to the slightly overcooked bucatini, the “Agnolotti”($22) had an excellent bite. Filled with green garlic and accented with peas, radish, pistachio, and gremolata, the little parcels were a joy to eat.

Our final savory course was the “Duck” ($39) with black sesame, cherries, hazelnuts, and leeks. While the perfectly cooked duck breast was certainly something, the intriguing black sesame “sauce” brought everything together.

For dessert, we shared the “Foie Gras” ($27) funnel cake with foie gras mousse, strawberries, fennel and balsamic. The funnel cake was served at room temperature, which was logistically understandable but disappointing nevertheless. There are few things sadder than limp and cold deep-fried dough. Everything atop the funnel cake, however, was solid.

Even though our meal didn’t end on a particularly high note, The Astronomer and I both enjoyed our evening at Otium. We would totally return again for dinner, and from what we hear, brunch is supposed to be great too. We’ll order a proper dessert next time.

The Broad, what a beauty.

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Otium
222 South Hope Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: 213-935-8500

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