Starck-Designed Restaurant Lights Up L.A.

Judging the staff: A glossy accordion-style menu arrives from our waiter, a polite man who goes on to define tapas as "kinda like Chinese family-style dining." After taking our choice of water, he vanishes to leave us to a lengthy menu divided between traditional and more modern tapas. Around us is a mob of staff straight out of a Disney cartoon, juggling glasses, pouring water and inquiring whether we were done with our meal despite having just been seated. Upon our waiter's return we are treated to a recital of butchered culinary vocabulary.

The magic of Jose Andres: Even bad service is forgivable in such a playful and grand setting. Around us, diners "ohh and ahh" at the space as a caviar cart passes, followed by a cotton candy trolley that serves the pink sticky treat with foie gras surprises. Like a culinary circus with a James Beard ringleader, Jose Andres brings tapas-style dining to the gourmet level. We decide to begin our meal with a selection of olive-oil toasted bread with candied jelly and manchego slice followed by jicama-wrapped guacamole on a bed of corn nuts. More decadent plates followed: seared tuna rolled in sesame, squid fried in a fluffy tempura batter and Espinacas a la Catalana, which is no more than a circle of spinach topped with apple, pine nuts and raisins.

Great food and good fortune: Main courses are a medley of larger plate dishes like sautéed shrimp butterflied with garlic and guindilla pepper, fried pasta paella with monkfish and shrimp, and lamb loin served with apples, raisins and sherry. Entrees are followed up with a separate dessert menu of homemade flan, pane cotta or a selection of artisan cheeses and breads. We decided to skip over to the Patisserie and try some chocolates and caramels instead, before making our way to the on-site Tarot card reader who charmed us with a good reading to end a night that was anything but the usual L.A. bazaar.