It’s a simple six-course menu, but two of the courses are dessert. The price seems affordable for a Michelin-starred meal, and I love the relaxed living-room ambiance of this quiet little Long Beach house. There's not a lot of space for tables, but they don't use the space greedily, placing the tables just far enough apart for privacy.
The meal starts smoothly with a clean Kanpachi Crudo. Beautiful see-through slices of fatty sweetness uplifted by a citrusy pineapple, cooled by slices of celtuse.
Cannonball Cabbage is covered in soubise and caesar, and it is as unideal as it looks. The cabbage itself has a smoky sweetness that's bold enough to stand alone, but those subtler notes are just soaked with sauce.
Grilled Diver Scallop is the sole standout, the most tender slices interspersed with geoduck upon a sweet bed of sunchoke.
Next comes perfectly pink slices of Iberico Pork Presa over a sweet little snap pea puree and a caviar beurre blanc. It's beautiful to look at, and the pork is exceptionally tender.
And here is where it ends. There's no more dinner to be had, and we switch gears over a bowl of palate-cleansing Blackberry Froyo with its icy shards of pomegranate granita and tangy lemon notes. Remarkably refreshing.
The last course is a Burnt Sage Honey Cake, with cute little pumpkin cubes and sprinkles of granola crunch. The cake itself is so perfectly crumbly yet moist.
It’s rare that I criticize portion size, and I often deride the gluttony that fine dining feels the need to provide, but here they give you very little food. If you add up every dish here, including dessert, it’s maybe half a dinner plate. The price seems affordable, but it's quite pricey when you see how little your money buys.
This food is backed by shiny new Michelin stars, one red and one green to boot.
Except I’m not sure Heritage deserved it. It pains me to say so because I love the concept and the vibe, and I thoroughly enjoyed what little I was given to eat. Although each dish is overall delicious, they seem to play it safe. They had access to the best and freshest ingredients but they made them into things that didn’t offend but also didn’t register. Their sauces are textbook, and their cooking skills are superb, but it's overall unremarkable; the same classics I've been eating for years.
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