Mélisse

On our list of the best special-occasion restaurants in Los Angeles.

Melisse operates as a restaurant within its sister restaurant, Citrin, seating just 14 people in a back room the team calls the stage. Chef Josiah Citrin opened it in 1999 and still runs it alongside chef-partner Ken Takayama, serving a tasting-menu-only format that has held two Michelin stars. Ingredients come from California farms between San Diego and Napa Valley, worked into courses that mix classic French technique with flavors from elsewhere. Reservations go through OpenTable, and unlike Citrin next door, there's no a la carte option.