Angler serves up fresh seafood such as the scrumptious grilled spot prawns.
The fact that there’s a bona fide fine dining restaurant inside the Beverly Center isn’t the only thing that’s surreal about the shopping monolith’s latest addition, Angler. Oversize fish tanks containing extraterrestrial king crabs line the dining room, and elegantly kitschy tableware like octopus-shaped pewter salt shakers and chicken claw tongs accompany each course. The design team even managed to find a way to take a classic seafood bib into dreamland, fashioning the neck from jump rings and custom silver clips. If you’re an art or cookbook buff, the experience at Angler will no doubt draw on the playfully opulent experience of flipping through the Les Diners de Gala cookbook by Salvador Dalí. The accoutrements match the style of revered San Francisco chef Joshua Skenes’ cooking, which doesn’t take itself too seriously, either. Caviar is slathered on banana pancakes in a combination that will leave you wondering why this sort of sweet-savory marriage isn’t more commonplace. A version of the Insta-famous Angler potato is sliced on a mandolin into paper-thin layers that give it the appearance and crispiness of an Italian sfogliatella or a really great croissant. And then there’s fish, most notably the delicious grilled striped bass with spicy chile crisp and lime. Every last dessert is delicious, but you’d be remiss not to try the soft serve dusted in barbecued sea salt and doused in warm caramel tableside. All of it adds up to a big catch for the Beverly Center, and for Angelenos too. 424.332.4082
Photography by: Bonjwing Lee
