Coming Soon

First Look Into L.A. Reflection, Coming Soon to Downtown

Photo: Tatiana Arbogast

The last report we filed about L.A. Reflection, the new multi-zillion dollar restaurant due for LAPD Headquarters in Downtown, it was facing eviction under heavy heat from the authorities. We spoke with someone at the restaurant who tells us the project is still a go and that construction is currently in its final stages. Earlier this week, we managed to trespass squeeze in here for a look at how the industrial space is shaping up (see below). As for the food, if you thought cops were happy subsisting on 7-11 runs, the menu’s extreme length might prove their taste goes beyond donuts and soda. Like waaaay beyond that. Seriously, look at this thing on the restaurant’s website, and you’ll see that barely a single recipe in the whole history of world food has been left out.

L.A. Reflection. Kind of Gorbals-y, no?

The epic tome starts with traditional, police-friendly, greasy spoon breakfast fare before moving on to omelets. Then it takes a turn into a bar menu with fried seafood snacks and Kobe sliders before easing into seventeen sandwiches named with L.A. in mind (The Glendale Special, The Larchmont). Then the menu continues on to considerable separate selections for pizza, hot dogs, and burgers. But it’s not finished yet, not by a long-shot.

There are also included “sister city” menus that whip up dishes taken from such destinations as Split, Croatia and Nagoya, Japan. Next come more of those manly “American” dishes of steaks and chops, plus four ways to prepare chicken, an obligatory appearance by foie gras, and seven seafood entrees. Not to leave anyone else out, there are then sections for Italian pasta, hot Asian cuisine, and another list of sister city options from Russian stroganoff to Malaysian corned beef sinigang. There are pupusas, imported buffalo mozzarella, samosas (called “Samoans” here), Korean barbecue, and raw fish, just to skim the surface of a menu that’s probably just as dense as a volume of penal codes. Oh, and fifteen salads and fourteen soups. The menu then veers off into a long list of sushi. Oh, and don’t forget about dessert, which features only one doughnut (the German Berliner).

Whew! No wonder nothing ever gets done in this town. Certainly, someone ‘outta be arrested for this thing. Anyway, L.A. Reflection, which cites itself as a “friendly” force, should be open relatively soon, likely by the time you find something that’s not on their menu.

L.A. Reflection, 155 S. Main St. Downtown. 213-625-5011.

First Look Into L.A. Reflection, Coming Soon to Downtown