This weekend is my dear friend Dani’s wedding but perhaps more importantly, my first ultra vegetarian-friendly wedding dinner! Catered by Heirloom LA, I was lucky enough to attending the tasting a few weeks back.
Kicking off the wedding with inspired tray passed appetizers. The twice-baked potato with crème fraiche are perfectly savory and soft, topped with delicately sharp chives and homemade crème fraiche. But it’s the unassuming yellow disk of lemon polenta that stands out. The chives and wild mushroom ragu atop a crispy lemon polenta cake are an unexpected bite of acidly citrus that is thoroughly addictive!
The flatbread pizza with roasted vegetables is a mildly smoky mix of my favorite things: vegetables, white bread and cheese. Though the vegetables look over roasted, the ‘char’ brings out the complex sweetness of the onions and cauliflower. The flatbread is good enough on it’s own, but the chef encouraged us to dip it into the fondue for a doubly cheesy decadence.
The pièce de résistance is the fondue. I’ve eaten an unhealthy share of molten cheese in my life, yet Heirloom managed to present us with two that I’ve never had before: smoked mozzarella and pumpkin parmesan. Served with lightly cooked vegetables and crisp breads I fear missing the majority of the wedding stuffing my face at this station.
One of the most common food sins I suffer through is the overdressed salad. With this in mind, seeing the glistening pile of English pea salad with goat cheese and roasted carrots, I grimaced. Despite the overly wet look of this salad, the fragile leaves of argula retain their farmer’s market crispness.
The entrees begin with tamales. Five inspired varieties, through I concentrate on the two that matter: chili verde and roasted vegetable with smoked mozzarella. Unlike the fondue, the smoked mozzarella doesn’t infuse it’s richness throughout the corn husked bite. The roasted vegetable –the same assortment that we saw on the pizza and will see again later—are rich and smoky all on their own.
Empanadas with meat… skip.
The roasted vegetables with balsamic rear their head into the meal again. Though by this point I’m exhausted by the reprisal of this “vegetarian” element, there is no doubt that these are excellent vegetables.
The roasted vegetables are served with some fish roasted with tomato and arugula… skip again.
Though there are more entrees that will be included at the wedding –like the ‘famous lasagna cupcakes’— we ended the meal with a chicken roullet, roasted potatoes, and roasted yams with hazelnut butter, maple syrup and pietas. The sticky yams are practically candy and the potatoes are tender, a perfect accompanist to more roasted vegetables.
Heirloom LA
(323) 872 2904
http://www.heirloomla.com/
http://www.heirloom-la.blogspot.com/
The Veg Foodie 
WHEN DISCUSSING A PIZZA PLACE, WHY DON’T YOU AT LEAST INDICATE WHETHER YOU LIKED IT OR NOT–SUCH AS YOU lUGGAGE REVIEW. AND PLEASE DON’T SAY THATS IT IS FOR US TO DECIDE.
YOUR GENERALLITY REMINDS ME OF MOST PEOPLE UNDER 30
Sort of the wrong location for this comment, but I’m happy to answer! Blunt blanket statements like “I love it!” or “you must go” really don’t mean anything. And no, I’m not leaving it up to you “to decide.” I guess I assumed qualified statements such as:
“Executive Chef Jordan Lynn turns out one of the best ‘sourdough’ crusts in the area.”
–and–
“The lemony gremolata base transforms this simple pie into something, dare I say, thrilling! This is simply the best veggie pizza I’ve had in a very long time.”
…make my personal option pretty clear. But if that is too wordy: I LOVE THE LUGGAGE ROOM!