Dine Los Angeles - Rivera

I was in Los Angeles for work and had dinner with my brother for dineLA which is their version of Restaurant Week.  We ate at the Rivera Restaurant located at 1050 S. Flower St., #102.  It was a very modern place that highlights various Latin countries.  Their website is here where you can see all the different menu items.  While waiting for our waiter, I listened to another table discussing tequila membership ($2,000) for your own 2 bottles that are locked into a wall for your enjoyment when you eat there.

The dineLA menu offered a three course meal that you order at the same time.  We tried most of everything.  Here is the menu offerings:

Dinner $44 (Price excludes alcohol, tax and gratuity).

Choice of Appetizers 

• Ensalda Espagnola (Frisee, Baby Spinach, Endive, Idazabal cheese, Macadamia Nuts, and Jerez Sherry Viinaigrette)
• Flan de Elote (Corn Custard, Black Quinoa, and Squash Blossom Sauce)
• Post-Columbian Gazpacho (Traditional Cold Heirloom Tomato Soup)

Choice of Entrees

• Seabass with Mofongo (White Sea Bass Fillet, Garlic, Platanos Refritos, Lardo Iberico)
• Puerco Pibil (Banana Leaf–Braised Pork Shoulder)
• Market Vegetables

 Choice of Desserts

• Mille Hojas (70 Percent Columbian Chocolate Leaves, Ripe Banana, Cabrales Queso Azul, Spanish Red Wine Reduction)
• Hielo y Fuego (Poblano Chile Sorbet, Jarabe De Porto)
• Xocimilco (Ancho Chile Chocolate Cake, Avocado Mousse, Lime Pepper Sauce)

 Here are some photos of the dishes:

 Flan de Elote

 Seabass with Mofongo

 Puerco Pibil

 Xocimilco

 Mille Hojas

The flan was very light and delicious as was my seabass.  The tomato sauce was complex and added a nice contrast to the fish.  I tasted the pork shoulder and it was pretty good as well.

The desserts were a little different.  My brother ordered the chocolate cake and it definitely had a spice kick.  My mouth was on fire for a bit after a small taste.  The banana chocolate dessert that I had was not what I expected since the chocolate and banana had a very light flavor but was totally overpowered by the blue cheese.  The cheese was good on the toast, but the rest of the dessert was lost.  One of my favorite combinations is chocolate and bananas but all I was left with was the taste of blue cheese.  It didn't seem very dessert like.


PS:  On this week's episode of NCIS: Los Angeles, the show had some outdoor shots of this restaurant.  The bad guys were meeting here for lunch.  You can recognize it from the R logo series on the wall.