Indulge in the Most Aromatic Season With White Truffle Dinners Throughout Los Angeles

Fiona Chandra

Restaurants around the world are buzzing with the November arrival of one of the culinary world’s most prized ingredients, the white truffles from the Italian city of Alba. Naturally, chefs in Los Angeles are also creating special dishes and menus to pay homage to this most aromatic delicacy, which can sell for more than $3,000 per pound. Here are the restaurants in LA where you can get a taste of white truffles while they are in season:

Bistro LQ
The underground dinner series by Chef Laurent Quenioux, LQ Foodings, will focus on the seasonal fungus for a special truffle dinner on Dec. 2 and 3. Known for the flavors from his previous stints at Bistro LQ and Vertical Wine Bistro, Chef Quenioux will be preparing 10 courses featuring the Alba truffles for an intimate audience at a private home in Highland Park. Reservations are via email to lq@bistrolq.com

Maude
Every month the menu at Curtis Stone’s Maude changes to highlight one ingredient. In November, that ingredient is the white truffle. Maude’s menu may be the most expensive truffle tasting in the city at $375 for 10 courses, but Curtis Stone’s cooking has garnered well-deserved accolades. The white truffle will be paired with other seasonal ingredients such as root vegetables, winter squash, fall fruits, chestnuts, and more. Reservations are here.

Melisse
Chef Josiah Citrin’s fine dining restaurant in Santa Monica is offering white truffle dishes a la carte or a substitution to the tasting menu. Among the dishes are Truffle Egg, served with truffle sauce, toasted brioche, and shaved white truffle. Diners can opt for fresh tagliatelle with brown butter truffle froth or sweet corn agnolotti, both served with freshly shaved white truffles. These dishes are $120 ($95 supplement if substituted on the tasting menu). Additionally, while supplies are available, truffle lovers can add 4 grams of white truffle to any dish for $80. Reservations are here.

Michael’s on Naples
This Long Beach icon is hosting its annual truffle dinner on Nov. 10, featuring a four-course meal with truffles. The $250 dinner includes an appetizer or risotto with sweetbreads, a choice of pan-seared sole or beef cheeks, and spiced pear tart – all with shaved white truffles. The dinner will be paired with wines from Italy’s Prunotto Winery, from the same region as the white truffles. Reservations are by phone at (562) 439-7080.

Saam
The restaurant within a restaurant by Jose Andres at the SLS Beverly Hills is bringing back its annual truffle dinner series. The opulent meal elevates Saam’s already luxurious tasting menu with the prized ingredient at $350 per person for a 16-course event. The white truffle dinners are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday beginning on Oct. 20. Reservations are by phone at (310) 246-5545.

Toscana
Brentwood’s venerable Italian eatery will also be celebrating Alba’s celebrated ingredient with white truffle dishes, available a la carte to diners. Options include appetizers of soft polenta with egg and white truffles and a 14-ounce wagyu rib eye steak shaved with white truffles. To pair with these dishes, the restaurant will also be pouring wines from Italy’s Piedmont region, Alba’s home. The white truffle selections are available until the beginning of 2017 or while supplies last. Reservations are here.