Restaurants that thrive in New York City don’t necessarily find an audience in Los Angeles. Bond Street, a lower Manhattan sushi bar import, offers a perfect case study in how successful restaurants can’t always be rooted up and plopped down without losing something essential in the process.
Owner Jonathan Morr made a good call setting up shop in a sushi-loving town like Los Angeles. However, leaving the restaurant’s dated menu unchanged proved to be a huge misstep. Just how disastrous were the early days at Bond Street? Try a zero-star review by S. Irene Virbila.
Since last April’s scathing write-up, a talented young cook named Brian Redzikowski has come on board as executive chef. His shining resume includes a degree with high honors from the Culinary Institute of America and stints in some of the nation’s top kitchens, including Le Cirque, Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, Le Bernardin, Nobu (Aspen), and Joël Robuchon (Las Vegas). His culinary hero is Joël Robuchon.
Photo by Alen Lin
“Bringing 1990s, unevolved food to L.A. in 2008 did not translate well at all,” says Chef Redzikowski. “Being surrounded by farms and farmers, it’s necessary to utilize this resource for the freshest produce and products.” Since coming to Bond Street late last year, Redzikowski has done everything in his power to innovate, update, and incorporate new ideas. However, corporate headquarters has required that he leave a small fraction of the menu as is, including the overplayed and over-fished miso Chilean seabass.
A few months ago, I received an email from Chef Redzikowski inviting me to come try his new, and hopefully improved, Bond Street menu. I’m no stranger to freebies, but was flattered beyond belief to be personally invited by the Chef to sample his wares. It’s as if Billie Joe Armstrong called me up and said, “Yo, Cathy. We want you to come into the studio and listen to some new Green Day tracks.” We scheduled a date and time, and I eagerly anticipated the day.
Think of the new Bond Street not as a sushi bar, but as a thoroughly modern Japanese fusion restaurant featuring small plates. “I feel it is important to order multiple dishes to experience different textures and sensations, rather than ordering one large entrée,” says Chef Redzikowski. There’s also some dabbling in molecular gastronomy, but fear not, the Chef never attempts to use exotic preparations to mask subpar flavors.
The Astronomer and I started off our Bond Street tour with Big-eye Tuna Tarts topped with micro shiso and white truffle oil. The base of the tart was made by pressing two wonton wrappers together through a pasta maker and searing them on the teppanyaki. The result was a pleasantly crisp and mild shell, which contrasted delightfully with the supple fish.
