Hopson Review
Google
In an unfortunate pinch, we ended up at Ba in an attempt to have an at least decent breakfast while on the road. Already skeptical of their claims (the buzz words 'local', 'cruelty-free', and 'sustainable' rarely end up being what they purport to be), we asked for further details in regards to their current egg sourcing, as one of us was considering ordering an omelette. After a good long wait, a lot of uncertainty, and a few revisions from our waiter, we received the name of the producer and an extremely vague assurance of quality that sounded neither well-informed nor worth trusting. The final verdict was that they were 'cage-free'*, and that's about all they knew. In accordance, we decided to cancel our order.
As seems to be par for the locavore course, the locality of ingredients here is clearly favoured over quality. Considering how easy it is to find equally local eggs of a much, much higher quality at so many of the farmers' markets in Los Angeles (which Ba claims to use as a resource), there isn't a legitimate excuse for using inferior product. They are, albeit unsurprisingly, taking advantage of the trusting optimism of goodhearted diners who put faith in the empty claims these seemingly benevolent restaurants parade on their websites and menus. Essentially, Ba is cutting ethical corners in the name of keeping costs low. Either that or they willfully avoid looking into the operations that generate their raw materials, despite claiming to 'care' about those very issues.
When we expressed to our waiter that we were no longer interested in the omelette, for the first time in our history of dining experience, we were told it was 'too late' to cancel the order as it was already being made. Not wanting to waste food of course is more than understandable, and we can count the number of times we've backed out of meals on one hand, but it's standard procedure for restaurants to honor a customer's decision to opt out at any time and under whatever circumstances. The saying 'the customer is always right' exists for a reason, but they're especially right when you're in the wrong.
Somewhere along the way we moved from the painfully tacky interior to the modestly charming, quiet patio space which thankfully has been left largely undecorated. Our meals arrived, and we were pleasantly surprised by the preparation of the root vegetables (accompanying both dishes) which came out thoroughly tender while still being satisfyingly firm, with a nice crispy exterior on the potatoes. The omelette, we gave to a friend.
Unfortunately, the flavour combinations at play were uninspired and arbitrary, overshadowing any skill of preparation. Acidity, sweetness, and texture were thoroughly disregarded, as components which in their own right would have been fine or even good were reduced to muddled confusion. Also, how is this a French restaurant? Admittedly we only tried two dishes, on a brunch menu nonetheless, but aside from 'French toast' (which is about as French as French fries), throwing 'du jour' after 'pancakes', and some dishes that included ingredients vaguely associated with French cuisine (duck, mushroom) there was a distinct lack of anything that gave a sense of either regional or even national style. They do have a halfway decent French wine list. We'll give them that.
Near the conclusion of our meals, our waiter was gracious enough to ask how we liked everything. We both kind of shrugged unenthusiastically, while one of us replied "Okay." Clearly not listening, they responded "Good? Good!".
-
*Note: Cage-free is an unregulated marketing term and is frequently grossly misused. The cage-free claim more often than not actually denotes a henhouse crowded with 'uncaged' birds that are never given outdoor access or the space and ability to forage. Conditions tend to be much worse than those which we've described.
