800 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 489-1406
www.provechorestaurant.com
Downtown Los Angeles is growing fast. It is hard to believe that people are opening new restaurants and bars in these hard economic times but it seems that I get at least one email a week announcing another new addition. One of those newcomers is Provecho, a restaurant in the mid downtown area dishing up modern Mexican. I was intrigued and am always down for an adventure that includes guacamole and margaritas so I called up the girls and headed downtown.
The space is located in the bottom of one of downtown’s business buildings. The design is similar to that of the cuisine I guess, modern Mexican, comprising mostly of the sleek tables and chairs. Then there are some Mexican elements, some scattered terra cotta tiles and some weathered wood pieces. It seemed a bit non-cohesive but I was here for the food and wasn’t going to be persuaded by the décor. At least I hoped that it wasn’t a sign for what was to come…
Provecho has a darkly lit sizable bar to the left as you walk in which was an indicator that there would be plenty of drinks. Their booze list was eclectic and was difficult to decipher when all I was craving was a plain old margarita. I decided to go out on a limb and got the Provecho Margarita, consisting of tequila, muddled cucumber, fresh lime, agave and a glass rimmed with chili lime. Not that extraordinary but the cucumber gave it a nice fresh and cool essence.
I always check out a restaurants website before these expeditions. I was very excited about one dish that was called ‘surf n turf’, which consisted of oxtail stuffed halibut cheeks with cabrales whipped potatoes. That was all I could think about when looking over the menu and got a bit disappointed and confused when it was missing from the pages. I was about ready to chug my drink, throw my napkin on the table and leave when my friends suggested that we get a bunch of treats and share them. I gave in and decided to stay.
As the Roasted Corn Puree arrived my sense of excitement was back and I immediately picked up my spoon and dove in. This dish was perfectly cooked with a slight smokiness that highlighted the freshness of the corn. The addition of caviar and crème fraiche on the top was a total waste and actually tasted quite bizarre, failing to flatter the corn in any way. The Halibut Ceviche was insulted with the addition of shaved black truffle. Ceviche, when prepared correctly is one of the most amazing simple dishes; lately, though it seems that chefs want to put their stamp on this dish and try to build upon its basics. Yet again, another restaurant tries to elevate the ceviche, and ends up destroying it. The flavors didn’t mesh and ended up creating an overwhelmingly horrible aftertaste. The Marinated Rock Shrimp Ceviche seemed basic enough but had too much jalapeño, which produced another weird aftertaste that didn’t require another bite to confirm. The girls were happy with the Lobster Chili Rellenos. I think at this point they were just hungry and needed something to soak up all the tequila. There was no flavor of lobster anywhere and once you dipped that fried critter in the sauce all you could taste was grease, bread and mayonnaise. The Provecho Cobb salad ended up being the best plate that we received: a basic Cobb salad with the addition of chorizo and was by no means impressive. At that point we could have been eating at The Cheesecake Factory where the pump out these salads in mass quantity.
For dessert I decided to go with another Provecho Margarita while the girls needed something sweet so they braved the waters and ordered the Churros, which were flecked with vanilla and lime. After about 15 minutes with nothing on the table and no wait staff to be seen, our drinks arrived and were so strong that it was impossible to even drink them. Were they trying to induce a drunken haze in an effort to eliminate our evening of bad tastes from our memories? While I was at the bar getting my drink watered down the Churros came marching in. Dipping fried nuggets of dough in chocolate can’t be a bad thing. Well, at least not until you bite into a piece of burnt lime peel.
We were able to finish our drinks and still have ample time to wait for the bill. It wasn’t a particularly busy night at Provecho (maybe 4 other tables besides us), we weren’t acting upon our total dissatisfaction and were three good-looking ladies that tip generously when appropriate. Thus the confused looks on the waiter’s faces and lack of any kind of service dumbfounded us.
by Meg Galli
[Photos: Rich Alossi]
