Daniel Patterson first touched down in Los Angeles with Locol in 2016, a partnership with Roy Choi in Watts that started and stopped multiple times before finally reopening in 2024. Since then, Patterson partnered and then eventually parted ways with Keith
Corbin at Alta Adams before launching a home-based pop-up called Jaca Social Club with his wife Sarah Lewitinn, who had been a multi-faceted DJ, producer, and more in the music industry. Lewitinn will roam the room, chatting up diners and offering tangential topics of conversation. Jacaranda, which occupies the short-lived Koast on Melrose’s “Michelin Alley” (with Osteria Mozza, Providence, Kali, and Meteora all within striking distance), is Patterson’s return to fine dining form after a dozen years establishing modern California Cuisine institution Coi in Oakland (which at one point held two Michelin stars).
Jacaranda’s $295 tasting menu and $145 wine pairing have not been added to Michelin’s California guide, though given Patterson’s pedigree, it’s only a matter of time. The menu consists of 12 total dishes, including two amuse-bouches, two desserts, and mignardises, which means there are seven composed plates that employ seasonal ingredients at their flavor peak. Together, the meal spans a swift two-and-a-half hours in a room adorned with Lewitinn’s uncles’ paintings and a foot-tapping soundtrack of early 2010s indie rock tracks.
On the menu
- Opening bites of a crisp brown rice cracker with an array of thin radishes and a yuba roll nod to a clearly Californian sensibility. A nasturtium “sandwich” provides a vegetal, vibrant punch to lead into the first appetizers.
- A delicate green juice contains grilled and fresh vegetables assembled like a blooming bouquet, a flex to underline that California really does have some of the best micro-season produce in the world.
- Soft tofu custard with a konbu broth gains a briny caviar dollop, something more befitting a kaiseki meal.
- A squash blossom “dumpling” filled with local prawn balances the simmering heat of habanero chile and heady saffron in a pureed squash sauce.
- Mains start with California king salmon, a truly luxurious ingredient that comes just barely cooked to the point of being almost gelatinous. Cucumber yogurt and a punch of wasabi complete the dish. Then comes a smart take on stuffed mushrooms: button-like morels filled with a mushroom-chicken pate. The quaint presentation gets broken up by a tiny Hasselbeck-style fried potato that adds a pleasant crunch. Finally, near-rare duck breast with roasted blueberry sauce, a dead-simple green salad, and duck bone broth to wash down.
- Desserts include a cherry-cherimoya granita followed by a slightly saccharine chocolate-kelp mousse, and finish with a blend of dressed fruit pieces (blackberry, sugared raspberry, candied kumquat, etc).
To drink
Wine director Rick Arline, previously of West Hollywood natural wine bar Fellow Traveler, assembles a fully California pairing that features Caraccioli Cellars brut cuvee at the top of the meal and moves toward food-friendly whites like Ojai Vineyard Riesling and Phelan Farm Chardonnay. For the duck breast, a Cobb Pinot Noir from 2021 with dark fruit notes and whiffs of ocean air acts as the ideal sipper.
Insider tip
Jacaranda has a rare Sunday lunchtime service (for a fine dining restaurant) that allows those who prefer tasting menus to happen when the sun’s still up. A diffused light pours into the typically mellow dining room for something a bit more energetic. Another bonus: the lack of Sunday dinner allows staff to enjoy one of their weekend evenings off.
The takeaway
In the realm of Los Angeles’s tasting menus, Jacaranda displays a well-curated, technically sound array of modern California cooking, something Patterson helped innovate in the aughts. Whether it has staying power remains to be seen.
