PHENAKITE RESTAURANT
Permanently Closed
Nine-course tasting menu journey through land, sea, and air
Nine-course tasting menu journey through land, sea, and air
"Beyond Historic Filipinotown, Phan will be cooking her self-described 'ephemeral' dinners under the Phenakite banner at A Forest for the Trees, an art installation and event space in Downtown LA. Previously housed at co-working space Second Home in Hollywood, Phenakite is Phan’s 'love letter to Los Angeles,' infusing Vietnamese, California, and other flavors into an infrequent tasting menu. In 2021 Phenakite was named the restaurant of the year by the Los Angeles Times and awarded a Michelin star, though these days the dinners are rarely opened to the wider public." - Farley Elliott
"Minh Phan has spent too many hours clarifying that her food is not Vietnamese. The chef, who owns Phenakite, a celebrated Los Angeles fine dining restaurant serving black sesame vichyssoise and dill crab cakes with lardon-filled nasturtium mochi, believes the lexicon used to describe the cooking of Asian and Asian American chefs is simply too limited." - ByEsther Tseng
"10-course meal; personal journey; courtyard setting." - Eater Staff
"Still, the one-man show Hayato in Downtown LA and the ethereal Phenakite from chef Minh Phan, perhaps the city’s biggest recent success story, both took well-deserved spots on the list." - Eater Staff
"Chef Minh Phan's Phenakite takes up residence at a co-working office space nestled among trees and within a beautifully maintained structure. Subtle, elegant flavors and singular textures show up in spades in such deeply personal creations as mochi dumpling with lardon and sugar snap peas." - The MICHELIN Guide