Besha Rodell Proclaims Papilles as a Truly Underrated Gem

This week, Besha Rodell finally reviews Papilles, Hollywood's neighborhood gem that has been consistently deemed one of the most underrated restaurants in town. After first being skeptical about the praise, the LA Weekly critic declares, "and now it's my turn to urge you to believe that this place really is that mythical beast: the underrated and mainly undiscovered restaurant."

Although the daily prix-fixe only runs around $36, chef Tim Carey turns out truly extraordinary dishes that speak to his training at Patina. There's an "impossibly silky cauliflower velouté," "indulgently delicious" chicken liver mousse, and steak "cooked so well that it's like eating in another era, one in which technique was king and creativity came a distant second." B. Rod sums up Carey's cooking as thoughtful and truly deserving of the term "underrated:"

With almost every dish, you find hints of a chef who thinks deeply about his cooking and about your experience of it as a diner. There's a lot of consideration given to balance and acid — that vinaigrette on the scallops, the pops of pickle in the soup, the gastrique on the pâté. [...] There's a hospitality to this type of cooking that I often find myself missing in new restaurants. [LAW]

Papilles scores three stars.

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