As Blais describes it "Juniper and Ivy offers Refined American Food with Left Coast Edge". The menu is a collection of 'snacks', 'raw', 'small plates', 'pasta', 'toast', and 'plates'. This makes it fun and easy to try multiple dishes and share with a group. The restaurant itself is an old textile warehouse. They left many of the features of the original building in tact while adding some fresh, modern artwork and sleek seating to modernize the atmosphere. A large central bar is the focal point with a glass wine wall reaching up to the second floor. The sommelier here has introduced small, boutique wines next to some of your mainstays at all price points, we took a chance on a recommendation by our server and were not disappointed in the least (Ramey Claret).
The food presentation is absolutely beautiful and artistic. As Richard describes, he likes things to appear as if they floated down from the sky and landed on the plate. But then he goes on to describe how painstakingly they work to create this "look" with tweezers. After multiple visits during the week of the ICCA Summit, we have included the stand-out items here.
The Oysters & Pearls, Blais' signature dish. A display of chilled oysters on a bed of river rock and seaweed garnished with horseradish "icecream" and charred tomatillo sauce. His bone marrow dish will give you that morning-after flashback! Bone marrow with fried oysters...rich bone marrow served with buttered toast topped with crispy fried oysters. The raw menu consistently has delicious offerings: we've tried the salmon tartar, Baja Yellowtail crudo, and Albacore crudo. The lamb carpaccio was tender, delicate, and peppery; served with a warm salted roll and stone ground mustard. The fig toast was sweet and savory, California figs over goat cheese on thick buttery grilled toast topped with Lavender honey. The corn on the cobb was by far my favorite item. The corn was soaked in bacon fat and then grilled, then subsequently covered in cotija, fresh jalapenos, and crispy bacon. And the yodel.....his signature dessert. A frozen Devil's cake roll filled with hazelnut brittle and pearls of white chocolate and coated in a dark chocolate shell. It is served with strawberries and your server pours a pot of piping hot chocolate over the top, breaking the dark chocolate shell and exposing the insides of the cake roll.
Oysters & Pearls
Squash Blossom Relleno
Bone Marrow with Fried Oysters
Mexican Street Corn (Elotes)
Lamb Carpaccio
Albacore Crudo
Fig Toast
Yodel