REVIEW B y S u s a n H a t h a w a y METICULOUS ATTENTION TO DISHES AND DETAILS MAKES EXQUISITE AMBIENCE AN IDEAL SPECIAL-OCCASION DESTINATION. 92 South Bay Accent A rtists can be a bit fussier than the patrons who admire their work. Consider Korea-born chef Morgan Song, who is strict about reservations, dress and expectations at Ambience, his little jewel of a restaurant in downtown Los Altos. Rather than the ear-splitting noise levels, laid-back cuisine and T-shirt attire so popular in many South Bay restaurants, Ambience is for those who worship at the temple of food. Song only offers a multi-course, fixedprice California-French tasting menu but it is customized to suit each guest—even down to different gorgeous plates for the same courses. His cuisine is beautiful, modern, complex and pricey: $145 without beverages, tax or tip per person. This is the quintessential special-occasion spot, containing only a few tables that won’t necessarily be filled, since Song eschews packing the place in favor of turning a meal into a quiet, multi-hour experience where what goes in your mouth is the focus. And does his cuisine ever dazzle. “Better than the French Laundry,” say some of the ecstatic visitors who have nibbled through the multiple tiny, exquisite courses presented to them respectfully by reserved servers. This is like dining from another century but likely with better food. While Song’s menu changes frequently, certain dishes seem to pop up a lot in the official nine courses—which can be accompanied by several little extras. He purposely serves no bread or other fillertype items so guests can better appreciate his art on the plate. Consider his beet salad, a gorgeously composed dish in which the colorful root vegetable might be yuzu- or wasabi infused with a pile of foamy dressing and edible flowers as garnish. He’s been famous for his seabass for years and it’s meltingly tender here, with ever-changing accompaniments. Meanwhile, lobster shows up frequently and might be butter poached or seared but is always unctuously rich, sometimes paired with risotto or used as a foil against assertive flavors like ginger and horseradish, with the meat crowned by caviar. As the meal marches forward—the limited seating enables servers to perfectly time the arrival of each course—diners get a little break in the form of a tart-sweet palate cleanser, which is often a scrumptious grapefruit consommé. Recently, it combined chilled spheres of fruit and PHOTO COURTESY OF AMBIENCE T h e D i s h o n H o t L o c a l E a t e r i e s
South Bay Accent - Dec 2014/Jan 2015
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