On the Menu: Bar Centro at The BazaarOn the Menu: Bar Centro at The Bazaar

Lisa Jennings

The economic downturn has been a real buzzkill for most new Los Angeles restaurants, but one venue continues to stir up interest: The Bazaar by José Andrés at the new SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The Bazaar is not one restaurant but a collection of dining experiences throughout the hotel, which was purchased several years ago by Los Angeles-based dining and entertainment company SBE and given a complete face-lift with the help of designer Philippe Starck. SBE brought in Washington, D.C.-based chef José Andrés to create The Bazaar’s various menus and bring his contemporary take on Spanish cuisine to the West Coast for the first time.

The Bazaar includes an intimate 36-seat fine-dining venue called Saam, where the only option is a 22-course tasting menu, as well as two larger tapas rooms—one modern and one more traditional—both offering the same small-plates menu.

What guests are likely to experience first, however, is Bar Centro, a gathering place in the lobby where a bar menu is available, along with cocktails or wine. Roving carts offer Andrés’ upscale take on street food, including such items as cubes of foie gras terrine wrapped with a vanilla-infused cotton candy.

“It’s one of our signature items, and it’s a playful snack,” says Jorge Chicas, who worked with Andrés in developing the menus and is now based in Los Angeles as The Bazaar’s chef de cuisine.

AT A GLANCE

Location: 465 La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills, Calif.Website: www.thebazaar.comOpen: November 2008Seats: 50Per-person check average: $35-$40Cuisine: SpanishBest-selling items: croquetas de pollo; king crab with raspberries and raspberry vinegar; tuna ceviche avocado roll; crab meat steamed buns.Owners: José Andrés and Sam NazarianMenu maker: José Andrés and Jorge Chicas José

“Our goal was to keep in mind that this was bar food, something simple and easy to snack on,” Chicas says.

On the nonroving bar menu is a mix of traditional dishes, such as croquetas de pollo, chicken and béchamel fritters, or buñuelos, cod fish fritters served with a honey aïoli, as well as more modern creations.

Two versions of a “Philly cheese steak” mini sandwich are available, for example. The bites begin with small house-made buns baked at a high heat “so they pop, like a pita.” The result, which Chicas calls “air bread,” is crispy on the outside and hollow inside.

The buns are injected with a cheddar cheese “foam” and topped with a caramelized-onion purée and a slice of Kobe beef seared with a with a blow torch. For vegetarians, the same little sandwich is available with thin-sliced porcini mushrooms instead of beef.

The menu also includes several fish roe options, ranging from cured, pressed mullet roe from Greece, at $15 per serving, to caviar from Riofrio, Spain, at $200 per ounce. The caviar is served with steamed buns and crème fraîche, as well as a dollop of “lemon air,” essentially whipped lecithin with water and lemon juice, which Chicas describes as “like a foam but lighter.”

Andrés has been an aggressive advocate for allowing the importation of more ham from Spain, and Bar Centro offers a selection of jamón so guests can sample three varieties from different regions: Serrano, Ibérico and Bellota—the latter considered the most premium of the three.

The menu also includes a section of dishes that are described as “canned,” in the style of the canned sardines commonly found in Spain. The items are served in little custom-designed cans, but they are actually freshly prepared dishes that would more accurately be described as ceviche.

King crab, for example, is tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette with some floral touches.

“We sell tons of those,” Chicas says.

Sea urchin is cooked and served with a Spanish pipirrana, a mix of peppers, cucumber and tomato similar to salsa, and cooked scallops are topped with cava vinegar, grapes and Marcona almonds.— [email protected]