For those of you who haven't heard of Wolvesmouth, it's an underground pop-up/supper club hybrid that takes place at Chef Craig's loft, which is one of the most interesting places I've ever been to. At my dinner, they cooked with a crew of 8 in a truly "open kitchen." At the end of the typically 9-10 course meal, diners contribute an anonymous donation of what they think the dinner was worth.
"it's not a restaurant. it's a dinner party. it's the intersection between food, music, and art. it's an exploration in social dynamics. it's friends, old and new. it's fleeting and always changing. no menus. no dress code. no pretense."
Logistically, every week they hold at least one communal dinner. At least, that's what I think--I've only been on the mailing list for two weeks and I've gotten an invitation to make a dining request both weeks.
This is what an initial invitation e-mail may look like.
When I talked to Chef Craig at the dinner, he said that the communal dinners serve two purposes: a) they act as his marketing and publicity to help him secure private dinners and corporate buyouts and b) they keep him true to the wolvesmouth philosophy of using food and the wolvesden setting as a conduit to facilitate social interaction between a table of strangers.
One of his crew, Julian, filters through hundreds/thousands of e-mails per week before giving a final list of considerees to Craig to make the final call on who will be dining for the week. If you are a lucky enough to get a spot, Julian will send you a confirmation e-mail. You have a very small window (mine was something like 10 hours) to confirm your (and your guest's if you have one) attendance.
This is what the confirmation e-mail looks like.
I wasn't able to find someone to dine with me on such short notice, so I forwent the opportunity and reserved just one seat for myself. They send out the address of the loft to diners on the day of the dinner party.
So intimidating! Getting the jitters before dinner.
It's important that everyone arrives to the loft at the specified time, because dinner begins promptly 15 minutes afterward.
As everyone convened outside of the apartment complex making introductions, I noticed that I may have been the youngest diner and one of the only single diners in my dinner group. At 9:30, Chef Caleb (who seemed to be the spokesperson of the evening) came downstairs to lead us all up to the loft.
This is the ground floor of the apartment complex. Very urban/industrial feel.
The loft is decorated with various taxidermy/zoological pieces. Upon walking in, you're greeted by a stuffed bear and the aroma of genius at work.
Hello bear!
Centered with your vision as you're walking in is an enormous dinner table large enough and set to accommodate about 20. Before dinner, most of the guests milled about the kitchen while talking to the other diners. There was a huge table behind the dining table for all of the BYO contributions. Lots of wine, some beer, and a bottle of wine and two blood orange San Pellegrino sodas from me. Haha, embarrassing.
The menu for the evening is posted on the refrigerator door of the loft. According to The New Yorker article I'd read in preparation for the event, the menu isn't really finalized until maybe a day before the first dinner party of the week.
This was the menu for the night of November 9, 2013.
When it is time for the first course to be served, Chef Caleb announces for everyone to take their seats. The crew then serves the guests, two plates at a time.
THE FOOD.
Course 1: ribeye cap - tempura broccoli - broccoli stalk slaw - plantain tater tots - mint lime aioli - queso fresco - grilled plna-black bean soubise
Chef Craig opened the evening with a beautifully-cooked ribeye cap. Lots of different textures in this dish. I particularly liked the plantain tater tot. It wasn't crunchy on the outside--more breaded like a tempura. Inside was soft and chewy. About 5 minutes after the dish was served, Chef Caleb came around to inform us that dinner was to be a hefty 9 courses and that it would be wise to pace ourselves. A collective chuckle then ensued around the table, as every diner had already scraped their respective plates clean.
Course 2: cooked shrimp "ceviche" - avocado - cotija - red onion - tortilla balls - chipotle sauce
A cooked shrimp ceviche was a new spin on this Mexican classic. Lots of Mexican flavors here, but with re-invention. I don't usually like corn flour at all (and thereby, nix on tortilla chips) but these tortilla balls were phenomenal. They were warm, just out of the frying pan/oven/whatever cooking appliance they were cooked in. Their crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside texture resembled that of a fresh baked cookie.
Course 3: halibut - candied lemon gelee - mascarpone and onion jam profiterole - snap pea - yellow wax pea - turnip
Again, protein was cooked wonderfully--the halibut was flaky and moist on the inside as it should be. The onion jam and mascarpone combination was delightful.
Course 4: rabbit croquette - poblano hooks puree - romano bean - green apple - sopapilla
I've only had rabbit on one other occasion before in a pasta, so I would've liked to have it in its pure form so I could really identify the elements that make something "rabbit-y." The croquette was great though--not too much potato like some croquettes usually have. The sopapilla is traditionally a Central American/South American fried pastry/quick bread. Chef Craig's sopapilla tasted like a cross between a churro (with its cinnamon sugar coating) and a very light and airy donut hole. It was definitely my favorite component of this dish. I think I missed the green apple component of the dish though, the diner across from me had this green piece that I was missing. I don't blame the cooks though, it's an enormous amount of food to cook and plate at an average of a 15 minutes per course pace.
Course 5: pork belly - squid ink aioli - squid ink pork sabayon - piquillo - piquillo puree - parsley oil - blue lake almond - potato
A lot of the diners raved about this dish, but it sat a little heavy for me. The squid ink aioli was very heavy and very savory. Combined with the pork belly, everything was a little too rich for me. Aesthetically though, this dish was one of--if not--the best.
Course 6: butternut squash - hen of the woods - parm fricco - rosemary - cocoa coffee
I think this was the only vegetarian dish of the night, with the butternut squash acting as the central focus of the dish the way that the protein component usually does. A lot of diners declared this to be the best dish of the evening, with the potential to be Chef Craig's "signature dish" if he were to open the restaurant, but for me it was just alright. I'm not a huge fan of cheese, so the parm fricco chip on top was average for me, and overall I found the dish to have too much cocoa coffee. It was definitely interesting, though. Look at the specks on the side of the plate--someone didn't do a proper wipe-down before serving haha.
Course 7: quail - chicken liver mousse - pickled green tomato - candied peanut - pinquito bean - watermelon radish - beet - deviled egg puree - corn nuts
This was the last savory course of the evening and my favorite. When Chef Craig came by to describe the dish, he literally said, "...So this one has a lot of shit going on." I am in 100% agreement, but it all totally worked.
To start, the fried quail was moist and tender. I know I've mentioned several times on how well the cook on the protein has been, which a lot of people would assume should be a given at a dining experience of this caliber. However, Chef Craig's crew was built up in a ordered-chaos sort of fashion, many of them having no cooking experience prior to this. Chef Caleb was one such example--he was an early diner at one of these events and started as a dishwasher. That was 3 1/2 years ago and now he participates in the entire project.
The pickled green tomato and beets added a nice brightness and acidity to the dish that I felt like the pork belly dish was lacking. The pinquito beans and the candied peanuts added a sweeter element to the dish. The chicken liver mousse and deviled egg puree rounded out the lighter elements of the dish with some weight. I've only had one chicken liver mousse better than Chef Craig's version at Amaya. The corn nuts (you can see one all by its lonesome in the corner of the frame) tasted just like the corn nuts snacks from when we were kids. What a classy and creative way to bring a blast from the past to the table.
.Course 8: bruleed crepe - buttermilk panna cotta - cajeta - poached pear - pear lee - goat's milk dulce de leche sauce
The first dessert course of the evening was a bruleed crepe. The dessert was a bit sweet, even for me. The goat's milk dulce de leche and the bruleed crepe put it over the top. I would've liked to see a bit more panna cotta on the plate to counteract that. I will admit that the burnt sugar added an incredibly pleasant texture to the crepe. It was also nice to see an ice component to the dish--I've never seen that before.
Course 9: black sesame steam cake - olive oil lime ice - green tea whipped cream - crispy almond - yuzu ice cream
Last dish of the night! I'll admit I liked the flavor profiles on this plate a little bit better than the first plate, but I liked the textures on the first dessert plate more than this plate. Flavor-wise, everything was a little bit lighter. The yuzu ice cream was incredibly creamy and the yuzu taste was very slight. Also really enjoyed the almond crackers.
Cash donations for the evening.
At the end of the night, Caleb distributed little Chinese red envelopes (I really liked this--nice touch) for anonymous cash donations. Once your donation has been stuffed, you leave it in the mouth of the alligator for collection. The donation was truly anonymous and I liked how there wasn't any pressure from any of the crew or any of the diners on how much to donate. The only donation suggestion we were given was in one of the earlier emails.
"If you're wondering what kind of donation to make, consider what a 9-10 course dinner would cost in a restaurant and use that as your point of reference."
After the donations were cast, the crew invited us and even encouraged us to stay and chit chat with each other and the crew--even though at this point, it was already 12:30am.
THE EXPERIENCE.
At the beginning of the dinner, Caleb encouraged us to walk around and enjoy the decor, speak to the chefs, and watch the cooking process. I think I took advantage of this suggestion more than the other diners because I didn't have a +1 to talk to in between courses.
Various taxidermy pieces scattered throughout the loft.
Various art pieces scattered throughout the loft.
Left: Bird skeletal structure; Right: Pug wall.
Chefs at work.
THE VERDICT.
I think that Chef Craig and his crew have a lot to be proud of. It not's only a fantastic concept, but one that is executed well. We managed to have 9 courses in 2 hours and 15 minutes, which comes out to about 15 minutes per course. That's incredibly impressive considering this crew of 8 needs to serve the diners, clear the table, and wash dishes all while pumping out this beautiful meal.
The crew manages to be laidback but polite at the same time--none of the pretentiousness at the fine dining restaurant. It was a lot of fun to watch them work and interact with each other throughout the course of the meal.
All in all though, the one word that I can use to describe the meal is laborious. At a nearly 3 hour experience at 9:30 in the evening, this dinner is intense. Compounded with having to navigate your way around interacting with 16 strangers in a foreign environment, Wolvesmouth really pushes you to your limits. Chef Craig says that the Wolvesmouth idea is all about the idea of being present in a situation--something he thinks that society has lost sight of over the years. He's really adamant about being fully engaged in whatever he's doing, and expects us as diners in the wolvesden to do the same.
A happy Crystal and the brains behind this operation.
I'd love to be a part of the experience again and will probably submit my name at least once or twice more before moving away from San Diego. It'd be interesting to see how the experience will be different as no-longer-a-newcomer and with a +1. If you're interested, definitely hit me up!
For more information about the Wolvesmouth project or to put yourself on the mailing list, click here.
Wolvesmouth
Undisclosed Location
Downtown Los Angeles
