Café Triste (Los Angeles, CA)
Cafe Triste
980 N Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-278-0820
www.cafetristela.com
Mon 12/30/2024, 08:25p-09:45p
After an engagement in San Marino fell through, I found myself with nothing to do on a Monday night, and thus headed over to Chinatown to check out Café Triste, a new-ish wine bar that'd debuted back in December 2022. The place is owned by the folks behind Psychic Wines in Silver Lake (Zach Jarrett and Quinn Kimsey-White), and to run the food program, they've brought on board a relative newcomer to the LA dining scene: Hannah Chumley.
About the Chef: Brittany Hannah Chumley was born in April 1999 and grew up in Canton, GA, about 40 miles north of Atlanta. She started skateboarding at age seven, and was also quite involved in the local music scene during her teenage years. In 2017, she enrolled at Georgia State University with the intent of pursuing a bachelor's degree in interior design, and during this period, also worked as a caregiver and appeared as an extra on the Netflix series Raising Dion.
In addition, Chumley began developing her interest in cooking, and in May 2019, was able to land a position at 8ARM in ATL's Old Fourth Ward neighborhood (after starting out as a waitress there). She relocated to Southern California in 2021, eventually securing employment at Silver Lake's Botanica and East Hollywood's Found Oyster. In 2022, she teamed up with the Psychic Wines crew, and they wound up launching Café Triste (original name: Bar Now) on December 8th that year.
Café Triste takes over the old home of LFX Furniture at Mandarin Plaza. They kept the signage outside, though the interior's been redone and now sports a distinctly vibey aesthetic, especially with all those glass blocks.
Here's my view from the end of the bar. Note the kitchen to the right, which might be the tiniest I've ever seen. Chef Chumley was out on this particular evening, so running the back-of-the-house was John Chang, who actually cooks at Baroo (Triste is a side gig) and previously worked as a sous at Yess.
Café Triste's menu is a compact affair, divvied up simply into sections for snacks and more substantial dishes. Drink-wise, you get a selection of low-intervention, natural-leaning wines along with a handful of beers/ciders. Click for larger versions.
The mismatched utensils fit the theme.
anchovies in celery leaf oil [$13.00]
Slivers of anchovy had that oh-so potent brine I was expecting, but the key was the celery, which functioned as a bright, vegetal counterpoint to the fish that made a bunch of sense.
Along with the anchovies came a serving of bread, which wasn't as warm or as crusty as I would've liked. However, it did do a nice job soaking up the oil from above, and was accompanied by a wonderfully assertive smear of butter.
To drink, I went with a bottle of the 2021 Behemoth "Sweet Pea" [$56], a spontaneously-fermented sparkling wine from New York's Finger Lakes AVA that apparently contained apple, pear, and honey in addition to grapes. The nose here was pleasantly tart, fruity, and earthy, and reminded me of what I might smell with a sour beer. On the palate, the sparkler drank dry, mineral-driven, and tannic, with big bubbles, plenty of tangy red fruit, and a touch of funk. Fun and refreshing.
sweet potato, pink peppercorn, yogurt [$16.00]
Sweet potatoes were, fortunately, restrained in their sweetness, and were spot-on texturally to boot. What made the dish work was the combination of pepper and yogurt, which formed a duo that contrasted swimmingly with the taters. Meanwhile, the brazenly sour character of the raw citrus was an unexpected inclusion, but one that I didn't mind.
pumpkin risotto [$18.00]
Given my fondness for risotto, this was of course a must-order for me, and despite the incorporation of pumpkin, really delivered. Thankfully, the sweetness of the squash was kept in check, and only became truly apparent toward the back end. Overall, flavors were very well balanced, and the consistency of the rice itself was on point, too.
beef cheek, celery root [$34.00]
Braised beef cheek showed off that soft, gelatinous, melt-in-my-mouth consistency I was expecting, as well as all those deep, dark, sticky flavors I was looking for. Given the heft of the meat, I really appreciated the creamy, crunchy, slightly bitter juliennes of celeriac on the side.
salted almond & chocolate chip ice cream [$8.00]
The ice cream managed to be some of the best I've had all year. What I loved here was how both the almonds and chocolate chips were rendered in a very familiar, nostalgic manner, making for a sensation that actually recalled the ice creams of my childhood.
Café Triste always seemed a bit mysterious to me, and I didn't know exactly what to expect walking in here, but I had a good experience overall. The mood definitely leans a tad "too cool for school," and I can confidently say that I was the least hip person in the room, but I quite enjoyed the food, which exuded this quiet confidence that was enticing. And apparently, I'm not the only who finds something appealing about this place, as evidenced by how surprisingly packed the bar was for late on a Monday night.
980 N Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-278-0820
www.cafetristela.com
Mon 12/30/2024, 08:25p-09:45p
After an engagement in San Marino fell through, I found myself with nothing to do on a Monday night, and thus headed over to Chinatown to check out Café Triste, a new-ish wine bar that'd debuted back in December 2022. The place is owned by the folks behind Psychic Wines in Silver Lake (Zach Jarrett and Quinn Kimsey-White), and to run the food program, they've brought on board a relative newcomer to the LA dining scene: Hannah Chumley.
About the Chef: Brittany Hannah Chumley was born in April 1999 and grew up in Canton, GA, about 40 miles north of Atlanta. She started skateboarding at age seven, and was also quite involved in the local music scene during her teenage years. In 2017, she enrolled at Georgia State University with the intent of pursuing a bachelor's degree in interior design, and during this period, also worked as a caregiver and appeared as an extra on the Netflix series Raising Dion.
In addition, Chumley began developing her interest in cooking, and in May 2019, was able to land a position at 8ARM in ATL's Old Fourth Ward neighborhood (after starting out as a waitress there). She relocated to Southern California in 2021, eventually securing employment at Silver Lake's Botanica and East Hollywood's Found Oyster. In 2022, she teamed up with the Psychic Wines crew, and they wound up launching Café Triste (original name: Bar Now) on December 8th that year.
Café Triste takes over the old home of LFX Furniture at Mandarin Plaza. They kept the signage outside, though the interior's been redone and now sports a distinctly vibey aesthetic, especially with all those glass blocks.
Here's my view from the end of the bar. Note the kitchen to the right, which might be the tiniest I've ever seen. Chef Chumley was out on this particular evening, so running the back-of-the-house was John Chang, who actually cooks at Baroo (Triste is a side gig) and previously worked as a sous at Yess.
Café Triste's menu is a compact affair, divvied up simply into sections for snacks and more substantial dishes. Drink-wise, you get a selection of low-intervention, natural-leaning wines along with a handful of beers/ciders. Click for larger versions.
The mismatched utensils fit the theme.
anchovies in celery leaf oil [$13.00]
Slivers of anchovy had that oh-so potent brine I was expecting, but the key was the celery, which functioned as a bright, vegetal counterpoint to the fish that made a bunch of sense.
Along with the anchovies came a serving of bread, which wasn't as warm or as crusty as I would've liked. However, it did do a nice job soaking up the oil from above, and was accompanied by a wonderfully assertive smear of butter.
To drink, I went with a bottle of the 2021 Behemoth "Sweet Pea" [$56], a spontaneously-fermented sparkling wine from New York's Finger Lakes AVA that apparently contained apple, pear, and honey in addition to grapes. The nose here was pleasantly tart, fruity, and earthy, and reminded me of what I might smell with a sour beer. On the palate, the sparkler drank dry, mineral-driven, and tannic, with big bubbles, plenty of tangy red fruit, and a touch of funk. Fun and refreshing.
sweet potato, pink peppercorn, yogurt [$16.00]
Sweet potatoes were, fortunately, restrained in their sweetness, and were spot-on texturally to boot. What made the dish work was the combination of pepper and yogurt, which formed a duo that contrasted swimmingly with the taters. Meanwhile, the brazenly sour character of the raw citrus was an unexpected inclusion, but one that I didn't mind.
pumpkin risotto [$18.00]
Given my fondness for risotto, this was of course a must-order for me, and despite the incorporation of pumpkin, really delivered. Thankfully, the sweetness of the squash was kept in check, and only became truly apparent toward the back end. Overall, flavors were very well balanced, and the consistency of the rice itself was on point, too.
beef cheek, celery root [$34.00]
Braised beef cheek showed off that soft, gelatinous, melt-in-my-mouth consistency I was expecting, as well as all those deep, dark, sticky flavors I was looking for. Given the heft of the meat, I really appreciated the creamy, crunchy, slightly bitter juliennes of celeriac on the side.
salted almond & chocolate chip ice cream [$8.00]
The ice cream managed to be some of the best I've had all year. What I loved here was how both the almonds and chocolate chips were rendered in a very familiar, nostalgic manner, making for a sensation that actually recalled the ice creams of my childhood.
Café Triste always seemed a bit mysterious to me, and I didn't know exactly what to expect walking in here, but I had a good experience overall. The mood definitely leans a tad "too cool for school," and I can confidently say that I was the least hip person in the room, but I quite enjoyed the food, which exuded this quiet confidence that was enticing. And apparently, I'm not the only who finds something appealing about this place, as evidenced by how surprisingly packed the bar was for late on a Monday night.
posted by kevinEats at
8:25 PM
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