The French know how to
make everything an art form: romance, fashion, music. However, most culinary
connoisseurs will agree the French’s true calling shines brightest in the
kitchen.
Simply put, the French
are foodie gods.
Their mix of subtle
tastes and textures blend perfectly in dishes developed with such a rich roundedness that even the tiniest bite has diners talking for years to come.
Lucky for Angelenos, Esterel,
housed in Beverly Hill’s Sofitel Hotel, has brought all the delicious French decadence
and culinary creativity a little closer to home. The Sofitel Hotels are an
international chain of luxury and boutique hotels dedicated to pampering their
guest with every ounce of elegance and indulgence. Everything, from the plush carpet
beneath your feet, to the traveling art exhibition lining the hallways, screams
beauty. But you haven’t experienced half of what makes Sofitel so amazing,
until you taste the food. Esterel has put Sofitel on the map with perfected dishes
that combine the right amount of simple complexity through a blend of overseas
accents and backyard organics.
Esterel has spent the last year crafting and creating its identity,
bringing European influence to California dining. “We are using our French roots
and culture while embracing the local culture. We are applying this philosophy
to our guests experience,” said Esterel’s Executive Chef Marius Blin, who was voted Chef of the
year in 2010 by the Chefs and Members of the French Club Culinaire of Southern
California.
Esterel uses local California ingredients to create a simple twist
on French staples. “The vision of Esterel is Mediterranean South of France
food. Easy to understand, not pretentious, using local ingredients, and with a
good influence of fish and seafood,” added Blin.
Blin
drew inspiration from his past experience where he honed his culinary skills
working with some of France’s most renowned and Michelin star awarded chefs,
including Guy Savoy, Jacques Le Divellec, and Guy Martin. Blin, who puts an
emphasis on the use of local ingredients to draw from regional inspiration
works closely with local farmers and suppliers. His favorite past time is to go
to farmers markets and teach his daughter and other kids how simple and good,
healthy food can be.
While Esterel has always been aimed at bringing
luxury to every experience around the clock, much of their earlier energy was
focused on their evening menu. With success established, Blin decided to shift some of the focus to the early morning crowd,
perfecting a brunch and breakfast menu that simply states: Esterel is elegant
at any hour.
“Since
the opening of Esterel late last year, a lot of focus was made toward dinner
and creating our identity. We incorporated our menu and dishes to our new and
now famous Riviera 31 lounge. It was of course time for breakfast to follow the
same treatment.” Esterel has added and enhanced their brunch selection to cater
to the specific needs of their health conscious cliental. “We enhanced our
breakfast offering with a breakfast table including omelet station, De-Light
low calorie items, cocktail juices, and much more while adding a touch of Mediterranean
cuisine. Brunch was the natural transition. Our neighborhood clientele has been
demanding for it.” And what Esterel offers are the perfect ingredients to make
Sunday morning as scrumptious as possible. “For Brunch, I wanted to create
generous, flavorful, and hearty dishes that I would prepare for my friends and
family,” added Blin.
Sunday
brunch at Esterel includes choice of one entrée, fresh fruit, cheese,
charcuterie, cereal, French pastry, omelet prepared to order
classic
breakfast favorites and juice, French pressed coffee or tea. Entrée choices
include: Toasted Croque Monsieur, a
traditional French staple with ham, Swiss cheese on country bread,
seasonal green salad, Crab Claws served with
cocktail sauce, seasonal coleslaw,
Eggs Benedict Florentine English
muffin, Canadian bacon sautéed spinach, hollandaise and many other various
dishes.
But
lucky for the Edible Skinny we got our own private tour of the restaurant’s
standout out dishes and exceptional service. Here’s a little bit of our
experience, bite by bite.
The first thing you notice about Esterel,
besides the charming “Bonjours” as you enter, is the calming atmosphere. Walking
into Esterel is like walking into a mystical forest of calm and quiet. Banqueted tables and booths washed in softened colors of sand and sage are
filled with guests quietly reading the newspaper and sipping coffee. Within
seconds of sitting, we were greeted by our server, offered a variety of coffee
beverages and water. We were also given a sampling of the smoothie of the day,
a creamy pineapple and banana concoction, sweet and robust. As soon as the
drinks arrived, our server dropped off various pastries made fresh daily and
served with all breakfasts and brunches.
The various baguettes and croissants embodied Esterel’s effort to blend
the there and here. Traditional treats like chocolate croissants and baguettes
are part of the selection, however Esterel also uses local ingredients like
orange and agave to diversify the selection and honor the natural treasures of
California cuisine.
Next
we were severed an egg white vegetable frittata, layered with garden herbs
ricotta cheese and assorted vegetable, asparagus, tomato, bell pepper,
zucchini, squash flower, basil, from Esterel’s newest De-Light menu. This
full-flavored dish has all the richness of a decadent dish with none of the
guilt. The De-Light menu is described as, “A gastronomic adventure in healthy eating, De–Light by
Sofitel is a pleasurable surprise of refined tastes with the freshest
ingredients. De–Light by Sofitel reflects the innovative array of
well–balanced, low–calorie meals to help you meet your health and weight goals
in delicious style.” Other items offered on the De-Light menu are a Protein
Scramble and McCann’s Irish Oatmeal. All items are the De-Light menu are flavor forward and under 200 calories.
For those with more of a sweet tooth, Esterel’s
French toast is perhaps one of their most decadent signature dishes on the menu. Made on a Mini croissant, with vanilla whipped cream, Vermont maple
syrup and marinated berries this dish showcases the idea that a simple twist
can turn a staple into a standout. Not only is Esterel’s French toast swimming
in the rich, buttery overtones of the croissant, but the flakiness offers a lightness
to this dish that is traditionally on the heavier side.
Blin
then prepared dishes that represented what we could expect when leaning more
towards the late morning or lunch side of the menu. The first was a
mouth-watering steak and eggs. While steak and eggs usually attracts a
heartier, meat-eater crowd, this dish had an elegance that was both surprising
and delicate. Esterel’s steak and eggs features a grilled prime flat iron steak
topped with an over easy egg, truffle celery puree, red wine sauce. This is
hands down one of Esterel’s most creative culinary creations, the simple
additions of truffle and red wine, bring out deep complex flavors, making it
one of the best dishes on the menu and arguably the best steak and eggs in all
of Los Angeles.
Next we found that there is more than
one way to cook an egg, but something this daring takes skill and delicate
touch of a master. Served on top of a bed of wild arugula, prosciutto, fresh Burrata
cheese we enjoyed a twice-cooked free range eggs topped roasted sun chokes
“en robe des champs” (en robe des champs is a poetic way to describe unpeeled potatoes or other root vegetables). The twice-cooked egg was first poached and then breaded; its
perfect presentation is a testament to the meticulous skill and attention to
detail that goes into every dish at Esterel.
For
those looking to make brunch a little more fun, Esterel has a list of fun and
flirty cocktails. We enjoyed a light and refreshing Bellini, a mixture of
sparkling
wine, white peach which was the perfect compliment to the Egg White Frittata. On the sweeter side the Kir Royal, sparking wine and Chambord, paired perfectly
to Esterel’s French toast or twice-cooked egg.
Esterel, and its varied menu of expressive and
layered dishes, speaks highly of Blin’s dedication to perfection, the Sofitel’s
definition of luxury and Los Angeles' ability to bring the best and the
brightest of the culinary world to show diners just how delicious life can be.
This one of a kind holiday dining experience provides guests all
the hospitality of home with none of the extra work. While for guests, relaxing
should be easy, choosing between the many delectable choices might be
difficult. In addition to warm apple cider and a special selection of
Thanksgiving bread, guests will begin their meal with a choice of three appetizers,
which include Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, a Fennel Goat Cheese Salad with or Pecan Crusted Sea
Scallops for starters. 
Esterel’s three
courses prefix menu will be offer from $65 and for children between 6 -12 years
old $40 from 12:00pm – 4.30pm. Thanksgiving specials served after 4:30pm along
with regular dinner menu. Please visit www.esterelrestaurant.com
Next
we were severed an egg white vegetable frittata, layered with garden herbs
ricotta cheese and assorted vegetable, asparagus, tomato, bell pepper,
zucchini, squash flower, basil, from Esterel’s newest De-Light menu. This
full-flavored dish has all the richness of a decadent dish with none of the
guilt. The De-Light menu is described as, “A gastronomic adventure in healthy eating, De–Light by
Sofitel is a pleasurable surprise of refined tastes with the freshest
ingredients. De–Light by Sofitel reflects the innovative array of
well–balanced, low–calorie meals to help you meet your health and weight goals
in delicious style.” Other items offered on the De-Light menu are a Protein
Scramble and McCann’s Irish Oatmeal. All items are the De-Light menu are flavor forward and under 200 calories. 