Sunday, May 1, 2011

Hell's Kitchen Winner Nona Sivley Heads LA Market at LA Live

Hell's Kitchen Winner Chef Nona SivleyKerry Simon's LA Market at the LA Live recently welcomed Chef de Cuisine Nona Sivley, the winner of Hell's Kitchen Season 8, to infuse the menu with her own creations. Some signature items from Chef Simon will remain, of course, but you can already see some of Chef Sivley's contributions to the menu.

With her Southern background (she hails from Texas) in tow, she's blending classic southern comfort dishes with the modern space that is LA Live, surrounded by glass panes.

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Try the tender Grilled Ribeye, served with roasted garlic polenta, mache, pea shoot salad, molasses glazed bacon.
Steak
These dishes are interspersed with asian fusion "signature" items like the sushi pizza, a rather interesting item but it took me some getting used to. I preferred their lighter version of the tuna dynamite with the light sweetness of crab.

Among the rich, comfort food, you can find refreshing surprises hidden, like the candied kumquats in the gnocchi with lump crab meat in a truffle-parmesan cream sauce, which made a nice palate cleanser in between bites of pillowy gnocchi and sweet crab.
Gnocchi, lump crab

Or the sweet grapes in the Brick Organic Chicken with organic farro, braised beet greens, and citrus jus.
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For desserts, Chef Sivley's decadent desserts (think dense red velvet cake) blends with Chef Simon's signature Junk Food Platter (admittedly, other than the cotton candy, the nostalgic value of this platter is lost to an immigrant like me, but I enjoyed their version of "yo-hos").
Junk Food Platter

The dishes may seem simple, but both the short rib and the rib eye was tender and juicy, the chicken moist with a nicely crisped skin, and the texture of the pillowy gnocchi had the right give. Some dishes could be a bit better, though. The meatballs were flavorful and tender but could be more moist, and the burrata was decidedly mild. Still, there are enough great dishes to enjoy here.

LA Market
900 W Olympic Blvd Fl 1
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 765-8600
LA Market (JW Marriott Hotel) on Urbanspoon
Disclosure: this meal was hosted.

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