The Exchange Restaurant Los Angeles

We decided try out this place during their soft opening. I could not have been more impressed! We used to live a half a block away and it was great to see the transformation from a vacant abandoned building to this gorgeous space. I've not often been impressed with hotel lobby restaurants, but that has now changed. Every staff member has had months of extensive prep/training for this place, and it shows. Even though its only been open a few days we were treated as if we were regular customers/family. Sandro, both Gabe's, Dan, Cora, Mitch, Matt, Jen, all such gracious, caring people! Love the décor, feels very Frank Lloyd Wright inspired, and retaining a lot of the original details of the building. Very warm and inviting space with the use of wood, tile, plants, eclectic dishes and glasses, feels like you are at a favored relatives for dinner. The food! Some of the best hummus we have ever tasted! with house made pita bread, to die for! We also had the beets, so many interesting flavors from the spices and seasonings, but all the dishes are like that. I had the hangar steak which is not always the most tender cut but this serving I was practically able to cut with a fork. And once again, the seasonings used on it where so unique. My partner had the trout which was a whole butterflied fish. Again, unique seasonings made it an amazing piece of fish. Dan was a great server, very attentive and friendly, great at describing how each dish was prepared. The wine list is also very eclectic and Matt helped us choose what wine to order. He doesn't have his wine cellar set up to his satisfaction yet and the wine was a tad too warm for his comfort to serve so he put it on ice for a few minutes to chill it down to a perfect serving temp. Little touches like that are what makes a place. For dessert we had the olive oil cake. More savory than sweet, it was a perfect finish to our meal. This is the first olive oil cake I've had in a restaurant that was just as good (and actually better) than the one I make at work! After our meal we were personally invited to the Rudolph Bar in the lobby. So glad we did, Mitch and Jen were great to talk to. They personally asked about what we like in a cocktail and helped us choose what to order. Needless to say we will be regulars!

We enjoyed dinner and drinks here over the weekend. I highly recommend the Mrs Jones drink and the fried cauliflower, to die for! We had a large party so we shared tons of apps and entrees. We loved it all! Can't wait to come back