Fellow’s dining room. Photo credit: Ryan Tanaka
Westwood fine-dining restaurant Fellow recently reopened with a brand-new experience for diners. Angelenos seem to be enjoying this updated dining experience, as there was a palpable sense of excitement in the air during my visit.
Fellow is located in a historic building that was home to international grocery store Jurgensen’s back in the 1930s — in fact, the side of the building still retains the Jurgensen’s ghost sign. In later years, the space housed the now-defunct but once über-popular Moustache Cafe.
Fellow unveiled all-new food and drink menus in June. The kitchen is headed by a big-deal chef, while the staff is loaded with drink specialists of every type. Whether you’re a fan of cocktails (non-alcoholic and otherwise), wine, beer, even water, a team of experts in all of these libations is on hand to advise you.
Chris Flint, Fellow’s Executive Chef, worked at Maude, Nomad LA, and NYC‘s Eleven Madison Park, while sommelier Scott Lester was formerly with French Laundry. Bar Director Adam Fournier was appointed 2021 US World Class bartender of the year by USBG and Diageo, while Beer Program Lead Matthew Pene worked at Nomad LA and Eleven Madison Park.
Wine Spectator rated Fellow’s wine program a level two Best of Award of Excellence. 2000 different wines make up the extensive wine list. The beer program, focused on local and Belgian brews, along with global rarities, demonstrates how well a knowledgeably chosen beer enhances a fine meal.
I’ve grown increasingly fond of non-alcoholic and low-ABV cocktails. Fellow devotes as much attention to these — expertly melding complex flavors – as they do to more conventional, spirit-based libations. I enjoyed the Marguerite, a non-alcoholic margarita made with housemade citrus stock and housemade non-alcoholic tequila. Miami Vice Milk Punch, a version of classic milk punch, features orange-vanilla soda and is sweetened with monkfruit. This and many other cocktails are available here non-alcoholic, low ABV, or full-spirited.
If you’ve visited Ray’s and Stark Bar, you might be familiar with the extensive water menu curated by Martin Riese. Riese also created the water menu at Fellow, with a dozen different waters from around the globe.
Fellow’s new bar menu is far from typical. More elegant and interesting than most, highlights include Duck Confit Tagliatelle with snap peas and swiss chard, foie gras topped with strawberry, onion, and mustard greens, a dry-aged burger with onion jam on a brioche bun, and tempura fried maitake mushrooms with nori aioli and shiso.
Destination-worthy desserts include coconut rice pudding with passionfruit and matcha, along with chocolate butter mochi with dulce de leche and sesame seeds. As owner Philip Camino told me, “Our chefs blend culinary artistry with visual artistry.” Speaking of artistry, be sure to check out The Galerie, an art gallery accessed near Fellow’s entrance, when you visit.
Located at 1071 Glendon Avenue, Fellow is open for dinner from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. You can find more info here.
(Photos below by Karin E. Baker for The LA Beat)
