by Bondo Wyszpolski
It begins with an amuse-bouche, which is an hors d’oeuvre delivered on a single spoon or fork, just one savory bite to arouse the taste buds. It begins also with Claude Debussy, the musical soul of fin de siècle Paris. I’ve come to The Gallery, stepped through the cozy Horizon Lounge, and am about to experience Elementa for an alimentary canal ride — Cirque du Soleil style — through the five elements (Earth, Water, Air, Fire, and Aether), a curated meal that pairs food and wine with colorful visuals that swim over the walls and soar across the table.
In a nutshell, it’s upscale dinner theater, the brainchild of Daren Ulmer and Chuck Fawcett of Allureum, which owns and operates “location-based entertainment and immersive hospitality destinations.” The cutting edge technology is courtesy of Mousetrappe Media. Elementa opened one month ago at Olympic and Olive in downtown Los Angeles.
There is a set time, a set fee, and a set five-course meal that begins when everyone is seated and the doors are closed. The lights dim. Debussy’s “Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune” further enhances the mood: Renoir and Monet for the ear!
The running time, from the welcoming remarks to the wistful farewell, is a little over two hours. In between, there will be three wine pairings, a white (Boen Chardonnay), a red (Quilt California Red Blend), and a sparkling rose. These will change every few weeks. Actually, the first pour stays around too long. An aperitif would have been an ideal introduction, even a thimbleful of Chartreuse.
Elementa takes place in a large room. We’ll call it a banquet hall. I forget how many tables there are, maybe 12, maybe 14. Each table seats eight. There are no booths, no nooks or alcoves, but extraneous sound is largely absorbed by the billowing fabric overhead. Poor Debussy will mostly be drowned out, long before the dessert arrives.
The menu was conceived and implemented by Chef Joshua Whigham. After our server poured the wine I cradled the glass with both hands and pressed it to my lips. “Usually in Chinese poetry,” if I may quote David Hinton from his introduction to “The Selected Poems of Li Po,” “the practice of wine involves drinking just enough so the ego fades and perception is clarified.”
Mission accomplished, as Debussy’s “Les Chansons de Bilitis” wafted through the air.
After the taste-setting blueberry and yuzu amuse-bouche the meal proceeds as one might expect, a salad in keeping with Earth, fish for Water, duck for Air, a tenderloin with mushrooms for Fire, and an ube and coconut concoction for Aether. It’s fancier than that (the duck, for example, was cushioned in a nest of eggplant). Each dish is a miniature work of art and conveyed on a different colored or textured earthenware or stoneware plate.
One takes a moment to admire it. Presentation may not always be king, but for connoisseurs it is never less than a member of the royal family.
Part of eating well is not eating too much, and because this is a prix fixe menu each person is given the same portions. Gulliver may go home hungry, but not Tom Thumb. Happily, most of us fit somewhere in between those two.
Meanwhile, Debussy’s “De l’aube à midi sur la mer” tries to surge above the drone of voices.
I mentioned the colorful visuals, which can approximate the effects of psychedelic mushrooms, not that I would know anything about that. These are the results of state-of-the-art projections that can make fish glide or flowers bloom or air bubbles drift upon the table as one eats. When you reach out and touch them they seem to react to your gestures. This gives you and your dining partner an opportunity to banter playfully, to giggle and laugh. And why not? It’s good for the digestion, good for the soul.
Just as effective are the projections on the four walls, giving the impression that we are in a jungle garden or outer space, or even moving through the countryside.
Presumably, any sort of scenario could substitute for this one. Perhaps the “five element” theme has been overdone, but I can picture a Babylonian theme, an Egyptian Nile theme, or even a Wild West setup. Maybe that’s how you’d get people for a second or third visit.
In between courses “the Curator” steps in and distracts everyone for a few minutes. He’s an entertainer, part impresario and part magician, although by the time you’re antsy for the third or fourth course you might prefer seeing an Offenbach cancan dancer or a sword swallower.
One of the reasons he’s there is to give our coterie of servers some extra moments to gather up our dishes and then wait for the kitchen staff to prepare the next course for everyone at the same time. Remember, all of this is tailored not to individual orders but to a large group expecting their plates to arrive as close together as possible. Timing! I imagine this to be stressful and challenging.
They did a great job on the evening I was there, but the downside is that, unlike when one eats out and can chat for a bit with the waiter or waitress, host or hostess, these servers bring the food, refill the glasses, collect the dishes, and can take only a moment to answer questions. For example, the wines come quickly and may not be formally introduced.
One can never tell other people what to wear for an occasion like this, and while some of our fellow diners were nicely attired, many were not. Elementa deserves your finest clothes. I’d also have liked to have seen the servers better dressed. Sure, they all wear black, which makes them less obtrusive in a dark setting, but a nicer wardrobe would enhance the elegance.
The usual restaurant offers a choice of tea or coffee, as lingering in the afterglow of a fine meal is often part of dining out. But once the Aether course has been completed the houselights come on, “Clair de Lune” surrenders to a modern beat, and people clear out rather quickly. No postprandial chitchat here. You’ll need to go elsewhere for Turkish coffee and a Trujillo cigar.
Well, that’s Elemental, more or less. It’s a $200 per person joy ride with tasty, exquisite food and a convivial atmosphere: the young lady who accompanied me initiated a conversation with the couple across from us, and I’m sure this was repeated at other tables. For anyone looking to celebrate a special occasion a visit to The Gallery is an option very much worth considering.
Elemental at The Gallery is located at 330 W. Olympic Blvd, downtown Los Angeles. For information, hours, and reservations, please go to TheGalleryDining.com. PEN
