5 Minute Meal: Providence Seafood

We headed over to Michael Cimarusti’s restaurant, Providence Seafood, where I shot this video. 

One of the best restaurants in LA, Providence has 2 Michelin stars, and they deserve every one of them.

For the 5 minute meal, Michael cooked some wild king salmon, with shimeji mushrooms, candycots, and aged balsamic vinegar. He topped it with micro greens and edible flowers. 

The olive oil the salmon was cooked in was floral and light, the balsamic was sweet, with a little kick, the mushrooms were… everything you’d want a mushroom to be, and the candycots were basically, the best apricots that I’ve ever eaten. 

The fish was excellent. Some of the best salmon that I’ve ever eaten. I’m not one for that salmony flavor, but this was such good fish, so fresh, that it was almost non existent. It was how every piece of salmon should taste. Buttery, mild, and almost sweet, with a note of that salmon flavor. It smelled vaguely of the ocean and rivers that the salmon had swam through, and I could swear that I was sitting on a boat in Alaska, eating fresh wild caught salmon, as I closed my eyes and took a bite. 

Michael prides himeslf on sustainability and quality ingredients. He explained to us how to pick the proper piece of salmon, how to see if it has been abused, and where you should source your salmon from. The answers include, look for something ruby red, with unbroken flesh, and pick wild fish, caught sustainably. 

He is truly a notable chef. The two Michelin stars are impressive enough, but the fact that he cooks in his own restaurant, almost every night, even after reaching such a level of fame and recognition, is wonderful.