Aster

If you’ve ever dreamed the dream of opening a restaurant in California, it probably involved the following: communal tables, light teal accents, five dollar toast, potted plants, Heath Ceramics-inspired plates, outrageously priced beer, elaborate light fixtures, modern but not too modern art, and a corner location to let the magical West Coast light stream onto your perfectly toned, tech chic diners. If you have ever dreamed that dream, we hate to break it to you, but the good people at Aster beat you to it. And they are doing it very well.

The space at Aster very pretty without being overly fancy, and the food is pretty much the same - very, very delicious, while also looking like it took someone in the kitchen an extremely long time to make it look as artsy as it does. Pause, Instagram, consume. The only thing this Preserve by Blake Lively (™) fantasy spot is missing is a bar area, so just don’t plan on rolling up solo, unless you want to sprawl out in a booth alone.

We’ll definitely be back to Aster, when we have someone to impress, something to celebrate or are itching to get back to a dream restaurant that was inceptioned from us into the minds behind the Daniel Patterson Group. Nicely done, fellows.

Food Rundown

Smoked Trout

Tasty trout over equally tasty broken crackers. There are also flower petals. Maybe GOOP says they’re healthy.

Miso Cured Radishes

A lovely, if small, dish of peppery radishes with a hint of honey. Clean, fresh way to start your meal.

Pigs Head Croquettes

If you’re an adventurer of menus and not fearful of eating dishes involving animal heads, then these will be your jam. Really just fried balls of delight.

Young Kale Salad

The kale is young, which makes it way easier to digest and your intestines will hate you less. We think. The dill, carrots, and mustard make this addictively good and interesting.

Black Pepper Dumplings

The only vegetarian-friendly entree, and while not mind blowing, it’s plenty satisfying. The yogurt base is a nice contrast and they don’t skimp on the pepper or meaty maitake mushrooms. No regrets on this one.

Lamb Shoulder

Holy lord this is awesome. A perfect cube of delicious, tender lamb over farro, potatoes and cabbage. It tastes like pure lamb juice. Please order this.

Frozen Chocolate

This was OK, but we’re not going to throw our full endorsement behind it. It does look nice, though.