Practice Dinner: Papilles Bistro, Coming to Los Feliz

Over the course of our nine years blogging at Franklin Avenue, we've had the opportunity to visit many restaurants -- and of course, we've reviewed more than 250. But last week we received our first-ever invite to a private dinner in a downtown Los Angeles loft. I was intrigued.



Santos Uy, who owns downtown's Mignon wine and cheese bar (and before that, opened Bacaro LA), is about to open a brand-new French concept restaurant in Los Feliz (on Franklin Avenue, natch). To spread the word and test things out, he invited a handful of bloggers to his loft last Thursday.

Maria couldn't make it, but I brought along my pals Paul and Diane, who were equally intrigued. Santos gave us the rundown: Papilles (French for "taste buds") Bistro is inspired by a recent trip to Paris, where the “bistronomique” movement has taken off. "It's simple but well-executed French food," he says. More from his website: "We strive to serve the same quality food as one might have at a Michelin starred French restaurant, but in a casual, bistro setting. Our wines will be French heavy. I’m an admirer of Beaujolais. I also love esoteric Eastern European wines."

The plan for Papilles: Weekly three-course meals in a small space (currently occupied by a pizza joint, one block west of Gower) that will seat around 24. Uy plans to move fast, opening the restaurant within two months. (The chef is remaining anonymous for now, as this person first has to give notice to their current restaurant.)

Here's what we ate:



“Chilled almond soup with figs.” Also with almonds, almond oil, and a mahon tweel.



“Warmed nicoise salad nouveau.” A deconstructed nicoise salad with pan-seared tuna, boiled potato, haricot vert, olive; arugula, spinach and sherry vinaigrette “dots.” It was nice, and as a bonus, Diane says it was the first time she could appreciate rare-seared tuna.



“Braised veal cheeks, artichoke fava ragout, cooking jus.” This was the highlight. Diane didn't finish hers, so Paul and I happily split what was left.



The dinner was capped with cheese: cana di cabra with honey. It was quite a treat, and the dinner went off without a hitch. We're looking forward to checking Papilles out once it opens.

"Project Runway" Makes It Work for Downtown L.A.

The media spotlight on Downtown L.A., looking great in "(500) Days of Summer," continued on Thursday night with the (long delayed) sixth season launch of "Project Runway" on new home Lifetime.

The new "Runway" contestants were housed at the Title Guarantee Building Lofts (located at 5th and Hill), and in the first episode party up on the roof -- allowing for great views of the downtown skyline.

The contestants also worked out of FIDM, while the famed Mood fabric store even opened up a pop-up location in downtown in order to service the contestants.

Oddly, the color of the L.A. establishing shots seemed awfully yellowish-orange -- a function of weird lighting, or something done intentionally?

The change from New York to Los Angeles has gotten a surprisingly good reaction for the most part. The Boston Globe, for example, wrote:

One positive change: The new “Runway’’ seems determined to make use of its new setting, milking Los Angeles for its self-perceived glamour. (There’s a bit of defensiveness involved; the cameras catch one contestant announcing that “LA’s garment district is, like, seven times bigger than New York’s.’’) At the start of tonight’s challenge, the designers step on the red carpet laid out for the Emmys - last year’s Emmys - and are tasked with designing gowns for the stars.

Yep, last year's Emmys -- a reminder that this season was shot lonnng ago, and held in limbo until NBC Universal and the Weinstein Co. could resolve their fight over the show's fate.

Los Angeles: Ad Town One in a series

Here's one perk to living at the Milano Lofts that even the downtown building doesn't mention: Apparently it's giant-cupcake-adjacent. At least, according to this latest Visa commercial.