Los Angeles, CA - Craft; There is a reason Tom Colicchio is the head judge on Top Chef, his food at Craft, I would fly back to LA to have it again. I would even walk there from Detroit to have another meal. For the unforeseeable future, I will compare my meal here with all others and they probably won't match up. I now know the standard for a 5-star review.

The place is elegant and comforting inside. It's fancy, but not pretentious. The staff are very nice and welcoming. My server was extremely helpful in explaining the menu and how the salads and the side dishes can be half orders to try multiple dishes.

I started with the Arugula Salad that had a refreshing light lemon dressing, nicely and roasted pine nuts. The parmesan balances the bitterness of the arugula even though it was very mild. Its hard to tell from the picture the size of this half-order, but its basically a full side salad. There is nothing half about it. Its a delicious, light, and flavorful dish to start.

On the other side of the spectrum, a completely different flavor profile, I tried the Beet Salad that it includes both red and white beets, whole and puree. It was beautifully smooth and balanced. The puree was fantastic on the bottom. The perfect textural differences between the whole and puree beets. The cheese was mildly salty and creamy, in which the salt was necessary to neutralize the beets contrast. Its a well thought out complex dish that works.

The true highlight of the evening, the entree that will make me dream about food was their Black Cod wrapped in Speck with Pepperoncini. When I go back, whichever dish I select, I do not care how full I am, I am also ordering this along with my other entree. I cannot go here and not get this dish. Let me get right to it. The cod is truly amazing. If I say it melts, its an understatement. The texture was so delicate. The speck adds that harder shell to that soft cod and that needed saltiness to the buttery fish. I expected the speck to be hard to cut through, but without any difficult, I sliced through without smashing the fish. Each bite of this combination made me pause, making me reach the conclusion that I could not believe food could taste this good. To summarize this entree, it's salty, buttery, soft, hard, and juicy.

Trying two sides with the first being Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, well I unfortunately have to say that I have tried better. They are cooked well, crispy while still soft inside, but it was the bacon that was disappointing. There is supposed to be bacon in this dish right? They were present, but it was these tiny diced pieces that you really could not find nor enjoy.

On the recommendation of the server, the next side was the Hen Of The Woods Mushrooms. You have brought be back to bliss. Being a first timer to Hen Of The Woods, I did not know what to expect visually, texturally, and in flavor. These were hardy and thick shrooms that I now look for at other places and grocery shopping, but come out empty handed each time. I only hope I can find them again soon. Most were think, but you could find a few that were thin and crunchy from the cooking process give both the meaty and crunchy texture.

Before dessert arrived, I was treated to a pre-dessert, a Lemon Posset. Having a nice lemon base, smooth texture, and small crunch from the crumbles, my palate was cleansed and ready for dessert.

My stomach wasn't though. I was stuffed at this point, but I had to keep going.

I asked for something light since I have already eaten probably 3,000 calories by now. The server recommended the panna cotta with it being so light and airy. The Butterscotch Panna Cotta with Apple Fritters & Pecan Crumble arrived which turns out to be such a wonderful dessert. The panna cotta is light, airy, and smooth. The server was absolutely correct in his recommendation. I thought the panna cotta was good, then I tried the freshly made fritters. Oh my, my oh my. Soft, warm, carby, cinnamon, a touch of heaven.

I'm done, I can't eat anymore. Wait, what is the server bringing me now? I know it's going to be delicious, but I seriously don't know if I can shove it down my throat.

The after-dessert dessert arrived. It was a Blood Orange Marshmallow, Brownie, and Oatmeal Cookie. The cookie and the brownie were both spot on flavor with the brownie being deliciously rich. Even with it being small portions, I still couldn't finish them. The marshmallow though I could finish. It was sweet with that orange hint, nice and refreshing.

Okay, so they made a spectacular dinner. You get five-stars for the evening, but I didn't realize they would treat me to a small breakfast as well. The evening ended with them bringing a complimentary Raspberry Muffin for tomorrow. It's nice and light, moist and a nice little muffin to wake up to.

A perfect place with perfect food.