La Ola Mexican Restaurant Opens at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills | Eater LA
"Opening May 30 on the sun-drenched poolside rooftop of the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, this coastal Mexican restaurant—open for lunch and dinner—marks the return of dinner service to the Four Seasons rooftop and will be one of the only Four Seasons–operated Mexican restaurants in the U.S. Executive chef Jesus Medina, who has worked with Four Seasons since 2012, developed the menu to honor his upbringing in Mexico: he was raised mostly in the landlocked border town of Acuna, his parents' ancestry ties to Spain and the Middle East, and he remembers food being central to family gatherings, like his mother preparing a meal anytime his grandmother came to visit. The seafood influence comes from Medina’s time living in the oceanfront city of Punta Mita—he recalls the fishers coming into the harbor with freshly caught fish and patiently waiting for the one with the best wares—and he says, "That really taught me how to treat the fish." Menu highlights preserve those personal and regional influences: a shrimp aguachile and tuna tostada, various carne asada platos, and a short rib carne asada that "takes 14 hours to cook" and is served with green onions, cucumber salsa verde, black garlic, and homemade corn tortillas. Seafood-forward dishes include an aged kanpachi with jalapeno kosho and a shrimp aguachile topped with cucumber and red onion; Japanese influences appear in an octopus chicharron served with a sesame oil- and charred garlic-based aioli; Oaxacan presence is felt in a tlacoyo topped with asiento and rib-eye carpaccio. Larger mains include a dry-aged fish of the day with chayote salad and salsa verde, duck carnitas, and pollo alla brasa with mole. Lunch offers a more laidback taco program—swordfish al pastor, carne asada, and fish tempura—alongside guacamole, tuna tostada, oysters, and more. Daytime treats to cool off include seasonal paletas, ice cream, churros, and carlota de limon (a Mexican icebox cake with lime semifreddo); evening desserts include a cacao tortilla topped with a scoop of corn ice cream and puffed amaranth to resemble a taco, plus puffy buñuelos served with leche flan, yuzu, and caramel. Cocktails are available all day and include margaritas, a clarified strawberry daiquiri, spiked horchata, and a slushy welcome shot. Medina frames the restaurant as an extension of his home and hospitality: "I really want to make the connections," he says. "I believe I’m in the business of making friends and relationships with everyone who comes and dines." He hopes guests who have been to Mexico will find familiar flavors that transport them back and those who haven’t will be introduced to something new; he’s planning surprises throughout the meal, such as a sip of tepache to start and chocolates with chapulines to take home after dinner, and he wants guests to leave talking about their experience: "As you’re done dining with us, I want you to continue your evening talking about your experience," Medina says." - Rebecca Roland
