Post-Puck Generation

Has there ever been a dish wittier that Sona’s version of vitello tonnato, a bit of cool sashimi draped over a hot lobe of fried veal sweetbread bathed in the traditional Italian tuna sauce? Have you in your life encountered batons of recently living abalone tossed in its shell with yuzu and microscopic rounds of the tiniest haricots vert? In a city with a thousand foie gras preparations, have you tasted the liver garnished with rhubarb, a razor-thin slice of toasted spice bread and a teaspoonful of forest-green celery-leaf sorbet?

Noé: Home of the Great Gadsby

What we know as California cuisine may be dedicated to revealing produce at its best, but David and Michelle Myers go after nature with blowtorches and microtomes and dynamite, determined to bend the old woman to their will. The morning after nine courses at Sona (this is one restaurant where only the tasting menu will do), it will already seem like a half-forgotten dream. 401 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 659-7708.

Speaking of Undisclosed Locations

There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. There are also unknown unknowns. These are things that we don’t know that we don’t know. And there is whatever it is that they serve at Jaan. Charentais melon tartare? You tell me. 9291 Burton Way, Beverly Hills; (310) 385-5344.

To be continued . . .