Orsa & Winston

Extremely neat experience dining at Orsa & Winston, and the PERFECT restaurant for any pescatarian! This is a very small restaurant that requires a reservation as they only serve a few groups each day. We were among the last group when we went. This makes it one of the most memorable, personal, and intimate settings I've been to. I can't even begin to discuss the quality of the food. Each dish was so carefully curated and well-thought of. While I don't remember each of the names, I remember the feeling I had after each bite. There were so many different flavors coming from each dish! Even something as simple as beans ended up shocking me! How did the chef create these masterpieces? While it is a little out of my price range for occasional meals, it's definitely somewhere I'd return to on special occasions!!! (Remember, make reservations in advance!)

My fiancé and I dined at Orsa & Winston this past weekend to celebrate my birthday, and to say that we were utterly disappointed would be an understatement.I'm going to start with the positives because they were far and few. The restaurant is named after two dogs, which I thought was incredibly cute. The decor of the restaurant itself was nice and gave a very comfort chic vibe. Onto the negatives...Where do I even start? The service was mediocre at best. The French waiter must have mixed up our reservation notes with someone else because he mentioned something that he claimed my fiancé noted but never did. His overall demeanor was unfriendly, and throughout service he did not once bother to check on our table nor fill our water (which I am completely capable of filling my own water, it just rubs me the wrong way when I'm here to celebrate a special occasion and I'm watching him fill water for every other table). We got the wine pairing with our course, and he would quickly glaze over the wine without giving us a chance to process what we would be tasting--as if it was a chore to be servicing us (and the wine pours were incredibly uneven between our two glasses for every single course). The other waiter that brought our food out would also quickly spew out what the dish was as if he was reading off of a PowerPoint and was struggling to remember the ingredients and preparation.Onto the food itself (which took anywhere between 15-20 minutes to arrive for each plate), we were extremely underwhelmed. The meal itself is 5 courses, but they bring out dishes in between that they call "gifts" form the chef. The first "gift" was a black cod arancini on top of crème fraiche with pine nuts. It was cold (a recurring trend for all the courses btw) and tasted like a frozen battered fish that I would've guessed came from the frozen aisle at a grocery store if I didn't know any better. The only good thing on this plate was the pine nuts. The next dish was a kanpachi crudo with agua chile sauce and shiso leaf. This one gave us hope since the agua chile was actually good and packed a tart punch. However, the cut on the kanpachi was uneven and lackluster, making the overall dish just taste like a sour lime soup. Next up was a radicchio salad with Japanese potato, snap peas, black truffle butter, and truffle. This was the only plate of food that I actually semi-enjoyed eating, probably because the truffle was delicately balanced in a way that didn't overpower the other ingredients and allowed the hints of bitterness from the vegetables to shine. The next "gift" from the chef was a Nantucket scallop dish that was simply unremarkable. Where they were light with the butter in the previous dish, they were way too heavy handed here and it killed any hint of scallop from the dish. Following this "gift" was a Tahitian squash agnaloti pasta with lobster. It was meant to be very rich and creamy, but lacked seasoning in the pasta and desperately needed a pinch of salt. The Japanese mackerel with Japanese momotaro tomato and brussel sprouts that came out next was even worse -- the fish was dry, the tomato looked obliterated, and the overall presentation was unappetizing to say the least. By the time our main course had come out, we were ready to end our meal early and leave, which was solidified by the cold, overcooked fish and failed flimsy potato crisp(less) skin. We took our dessert to go, but didn't bother eating it as when we opened the boxes to see what it was, there was an odd layer of syrup (?) or oil (?) enveloping the entire dessert.This entire experience was awful and not at all the way I wanted to celebrate my birthday, which was incredibly important to me. When we asked to end our meal early, the waiters did not bother to ask what was wrong and seemed eager to have us leave. Someone from the restaurant called us afterwards asking for feedback, but never responded to the feedback we gave. I will never come back to Orsa & Winston, I don't understand how they have any Michelin stars, and I will never forget the awful taste the food and experience here left on my mouth for what was supposed to be a fun birthday celebration.tldr; food is colder than the plates it comes out on, fish is overcooked, courses are under-seasoned and lack flavor, long wait time of 15-20 minutes between courses while chef is on his phone during service, and waiters are unfriendly and unattentive. I genuinely hope the Michelin guide re-evaluates this establishment.

My husband took me to 3 Michelin-stared restaurants in LA for my birthday month. This was the first one we went to along with Meteora and Kato. Overall, it was an alright first Michelin Star experience, but there were some aspects that made it not as good as the other ones. The host/server/waiter said Happy Birthday to me when we were taken to our seat which was a welcoming touch. At the end of the meal, another waiter bought out dessert with a candle (It was the same dessert as everyone else's, but just added an extra candle so nothing too special for birthdays or special occasions. At Meteora, there was a birthday card already at the table, complimentary glasses of champagne, and they lit up a Hawaiian candle nut. At Kato, there was a free birthday ice cream sandwich, postcard with personalized message, free glasses of champagne, and a gift bag with special Taiwanese tea ).The leather bench seats weren't comfy. They sank down and were not firm so I felt too short for the table. I decided to move to the chair to sit next to my husband (I didn't mind sitting next to him vs across him though). The server had an accent so it was a bit hard for me to understand everything he said for the dish and ingredients. All of the fish dishes were excellent. I especially enjoyed the crudo dish. The lobster ravioli was good, but a tad salty for me. The cornbread was too sweet for me.When I got home I felt very bloated. Not sure if it was due to the butter or cheese. I had to drink mint tea to calm my stomach down. This didn't happen when I finished the tasting menu at other places. The dishes we had on 12.18.2024 -1. Amuse-bouche: Black cod potato aracini with crème fresh and pine nuts (compliments of the chef) 2. Crudo: Japanese kanpachi with cucumber, chile, wild arugula, togarashi spice3. Amuse-bouche: Fresh bonito skipjack fish with spigarello broccoli, miso cream, and jimmy nardello chile peppers4. Vegetable: Yellow wax beans, green beans, sancho tangerine, sugar snap peas, Romanesco broccoli, anchovies vinaigrette, young black truffle, and truffle butter from Italy 5. Pasta: Tahitian squash Agnolotti pasta with mascarpone cheese, Maine lobster and, lobster crème 6. Amuse-bouche: Sawara japanese mackerel, Flora Bella farm tomatoes, Beluga lentils, and Tarragon crème7. Fish: Japanese butter fish with shanti mushrooms, broccolini, corn polenta, and huckleberries8. Amuse-bouche: Cornbread with candied walnuts, coconuts, figs, butter 9. Dessert: Miso caramel apple crisp honey tart with mascarpone on the side (birthday candle)10. Complimentary: Brown sugar shortbread mints

Michelin rated Italian-Asian fusion spot in DTLA. Recently came here to celebrate an anniversary and made a reservation online in advance. They placed a $300 hold on my credit card so you have to cancel more than 24 hours in advance if necessary. The five course omakasse includes crudo, vegetable, pasta, fish, and a sweet but they provide extra dishes. The regular omakaddr is $150 and the vegetarian option is $160. Each of our courses were as follows:1. Amuse-bouche: arrancini with black cod, pine nuts, and cream. 2. Crudo: Blue fin tuna and agua chile, finger lime and coriander blossom 3. Vegetable: Green beans, sunchoke, pomegranate arils, radicchio, butternut squash with Italian black truffles and truffle butter 4. Pasta: Tahitian squash ravioli with marscapone filling, lobster butter and Maine lobster 5. Complimentary - Japanese fish tempura with shishito pepper and chile aioli 6. Complimentary - Corn polenta with Tuscan kale and maitake mushrooms 7. Complimentary - cornbread with strawberries and marscapone8. Fish - Japanese sea bream with brussel sprouts, huckleberries, and tomatoes 9. Sweet - poached apple tart with pineapple mint, graham cracker, and marscapone 10. Brown butter sugar cookie

I had the amazing privilege to try Orsa & Winston for my wedding anniversary celebration dinner with my husband. They are a Japanese and Italian inspired restaurant with an omakase tasting menu for $150 per person. We also each got the beverage pairing which is an additional $85. Highly recommend the beverage pairing if you are wine enthusiasts (or wannabes like us). The sommelier paired excellent and very interesting wines with each dish. Most from regions we have not tried before (and we drink a lot of wine ). It was fun to learn about each bottle, how it's made, and a little bit of the history of its region. It was so fun to see how the wine tasted prior to tasting the food and how the food would change the taste of the wine when paired together. Every dish was vibrant both visually and in taste. We had an amazing experience at Orsa & Winston!!!Instagram: @jessgoeat

Tuesday July 5pm A last minute detour from my work outing landed me on Orsa and Winston's reservation page and I snagged a spot at 5pm. I allowed ample time for driving and traffic but failed to account for parking. These one way streets, no turning on red, broken parking meters in lots, were almost the death of me. I finally parked in front of Citizen; there were obvious parking spots and no meters. Nevertheless I parked anxiously. I then spent many minutes wandering the streets, going into the alleyway and changing my mind before I went too far in. It turns out I passed it a few times: O & W has a frosted storefront. 1. Chawanmushi amuse bouse: salty and tasty. Perfect starter. 2. Blue fin tuna with watermelon and chile agua chile: salty and sweet. Perfect blend of flavors and not fishy at all. 3. Vegetable course with mussels4. Beet with baby corn 5. Squid ink pasta with lobster 6. Cod and broccolini and apricot: A big fan of the cod and apricot! 7. Fish and huckleberry8. Cornbread with ricotta 9. Bread pudding with mascarponeI received new silverware for each dish. The waiters were curt and efficient. I had called and left a message the evening before to figure out how long the meal would be as I was on a schedule. I received a text back that I should allot two hours to the meal. I finished the last dish an hour and forty minutes in.

4.5/5 stars Came here to celebrate my birthday, and it was such a nice experience! This 1 star Michelin restaurant offers a 5-course tasting menu ($150 per person), but they added some extra dishes, which was nice! I would have loved if they gave us a print out of the dishes we ate. Overall, I enjoyed most of the dishes, except for the vegetable dish since the sauce was way too overpowering. Also, some of the dishes tasted too buttery, but they were still edible. The cornbread would have been better if it were hotter. The lobster pieces in the pasta could have been more tender. I think my favorite dishes were the scallops and the snapper. Service was great. The dishes came out quickly

The restaurant did not have clear signage so we almost missed it. It had a very nice and comfortable interior and it only seats around 20 people. The service was very good and you could see the kitchen the whole time and that was nice. All the food was really good. The menu didn't say much at all so it was a little work to listen to each course when it came out. All the dishes were really good. But the consomme with the cod was slightly salty. The dessert of the baked pluot was tasty but underwhelming. With all the other dishes I expected something more creative and extravagant.

This Michelin Star restaurant lives up to the hype. I booked this place for my girlfriend and I since we were on a hunt for some of the best course tasting menus in the area. It did not disappoint.The food itself was spectacular for the price. Most of the dishes left me in awe. The dishes that didn't blow my mind still exceeded my expectations. Pellegrino was $25 a bottle and we went with 2 since the tasting menu lasted for some time.The only gripe for me was the added service charge (I believe it was an extra 22%) that was on top of the bill, the tax, and the tip for fair wages for their employees. I was not expecting that charge at all. I'm all for fair wages, but it would've been nice for them to have charged the prefix menu more and leave out the mandatory service charge. Please don't blindside your customers.

One of my best meals of 2023. Every dish was incredibly tasteful and masterfully crafted. The little details and the flavors combined exquisitely. The space is very well managed, the service was fantastic and it's not too quiet and certainly not too loud in the space. I love the vision of the restaurant and the service really invites you in to the flavors and the story behind the flavors.