The Salon at Heirloom L.A., innovative and intimate

This spring the popular farm-to-plate catering company Heirloom L.A. opened a private Eagle Rock tasting room called the Salon. It’s an intimate space with seating for around 30, including a round head table with a hole in the center where chef Matt Poley stands to cook and talk about the food that he and co-owner Tara Maxey have sourced.

On Wednesday night the Salon hosted a wine dinner featuring Jeff Fischer’s Habit Wines. Passed appetizers were served in the garden behind the Salon, which is also where most of the produce consumed at Salon dinners is from.

The Habit dinner included pre-dinner watermelon cocktails; a garden salad with fresh shell beans, apricot, melon and a slightly spicy chipotle-berry vinaigrette paired with Chenin Blanc; homemade pasta stuffed with Lily’s egg yolk, asparagus filling and ricotta salata with artichoke mousse on a plate swiped with lemon-artichoke ash oil paired with Gruner Veltliner; whole-roasted onaga fish stuffed with fennel, preserved lemon, roasted garlic, sorrel and lemon balm, served in a bowl of hot clarified branzino-tomato-fennel broth made in a French press and paired with Sauvignon Blanc: and a flourless chocolate ganache cake with fudge sauce and strawberry ice cream paired with Bordeaux blend.

Between courses the affable Fischer described the wines and his wine-making process. Habit is a small-batch love affair between Fischer and his grapes, and his wines can be found at a number of fine restaurants around town including Providence.

Photographers were present making a documentary Web short to showcase the Salon with the intent of making dinners there a regular affair.

The Salon, 4126 Verdugo Road, L.A., (855) 456-6652, www.heirloomla.com/thesalon.

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