Alma in Downtown: Skip the Seaweed and Tofu Beignets and Go for the Soups and No Corkage BYOB

I had a hard time finding Alma, quietly situated in the heart of Downtown LA, so unassuming with its barely visible store front sign. Upon finally entering, the bare interior and the fact that it was virtually empty at dinner time was cause for concern.

The open kitchen was impeccably clean, perhaps because there was no cooking to do, but unusually pristine for a commercial kitchen (or even my own home kitchen, actually). The cooking aims to do something different and I appreciated that. The combinations didn't always work for me, however. The good: The crab with fennel, oranges and what looked like sourdough croutons but tasted like sourdough meringue puffs. It's always an interesting revelation when you bite into something and expect one thing but get an entirely different texture. I liked what the chefs did with the texture and the dish was good but not mind blowing. I also liked the cauliflower soup that was perfect for a cold evening -- before it got to 80 degree weather in January, that is.

The chicken liver pate was not bad but I just came off a chicken liver mousse withdrawal after being positively blown away by Waterloo & City's rendition, which I would elevate to an art form. Just stellar. So this one wasn't bad as a pairing with the red wine I brought (it's BYOB with NO CORKAGE until they get a liquor license) but not as amazing as the last one I had.

My least favorite was the seaweed and tofu beignet. Great concept but I neither liked the result or the execution. The flavors didn't work for me and I love seaweed and tofu. The bigger problem I had was that the beignets were too doughy. They should be light and fluffy, not smelling and tasting like flour. Check out the beautiful presentation. But it couldn't salvage it.

Service was good and just as my Open Table preferences stated, they humored my request to not give us the check until we asked for it. And because we didn't pay for the wine we drank, the bill seemed so tiny at first we thought they had miscalculated it. So head over before they get their liquor license and the bill actually comes out to $30+ per person.