When it comes to special occasion dining in Los Angeles, there’s no better place to bring a big group than The Bazaar, José Andrés’ multi-faceted gastronomic pleasure palace at the SLS Hotel. My friends celebrated their birthdays to a repeated chorus of oohs and ahs, not only due to the restaurant’s dramatic tableside preparations, but also for the stunning cocktails, Philippe Starck’s over-the-top décor and most importantly, the food. The Bazaar packs plenty of glitz, but they have more than enough substance to justify a splurge.

Jonathan Gold recently took a thinly veiled swing at The Bazaar in his 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants for “slinging the more reproducible artifacts of molecular cuisine without respect to season or place.” While it’s true that The Bazaar should probably change its menu more often to capitalize on SoCal seasonality, it’s hard to knock them too much on that front. After all, their massive menu features dozens of traditional and modern tapas. It’s nearly impossible to deliver both seasonality and selection. The Bazaar chose the latter, and it’s a tradeoff that I can more than live with.

My experiences have generally been very positive at The Bazaar, including Brunch at The Bazaar, Sherry Tasting with SLS Beverage Director Lucas Paya, dineLA Restaurant Week Event and The Tasting Panel Magazine‘s recent Albariño tasting. This was my first blowout dinner at The Bazaar, and most of the dishes were good to great.

The Roja y Blanco space isn’t my style, but it was visually arresting, with an open kitchen that offered views of the army of cooks that The Bazaar requires to prepare their mammoth menu. My favorite aspect was probably the “graffiti” that covered the chalkboard columns and walls. Behind the bar opposite the kitchen, they keep Spanish hams that are shaved to order with millimeter precision.

We went all-in and then some, ordering the tasting menu ($65 per person) and springing for several add-ons. Here’s a dish-by-dish rundown of the experience, including prices for individual dishes, in case you decide to forego the tasting menu.

We each started with Bar Centro’s cocktails, which are some of the best in L.A.

Most people chose New Classics ($16 each), which were primarily re-imagined classics like The “Liquid Cherry” Manhattan. We were given a choice of Rye, Bourbon or Canadian Whiskey. Our waitress suggested Michter’s Rye, which added some spice when shaken and poured into a martini glass with a spherified cherry.

The “cherry” at the bottom of the glass was the night’s first encounter with spherification. To spherify something, mix a liquefied or pureed ingredient with sodium alginate and dip in a bath of calcium chloride. At The Bazaar, this technology was also applied to an “olive.” Unfortunately, the cherry didn’t have the explosive sweetness that even a Maraschino delivers, but it was interesting.

Our waitress poured a “Magic” Mojito from a shaker and strained it over cotton candy. This was a missed photo op, since the cotton candy melted into the martini glass as soon as the citrusy yellow liquid made contact. Presentation aside, this was still a well-balanced mojito and wasn’t overly sweet despite the “candy.”

Our first bite came in a paper bag. Sweet potato chips ($10) were delicious when dipped in tangy yogurt topped with a tangy-sweet spiral of tamarind and star anise.

Side-by-side, we received olives ($10) both traditional, pitted, sliced and stuffed with sweet piquillo peppers and briny anchovy…

…and modern, with a spherified “olive” that hovered in olive oil and burst in my mouth. Despite the novelty of the spherified olive, my favorite was old-school.

My American caviar cone ($9) was practically translucent, featuring a wafer-thin cone slathered with dill cream cheese and topped with bursting salmon roe.

The Organized Caesar ($8) would have been much better if the ingredients were integrated. As it was, some romaine cylinders were piled with grated Parmesan and other romaine was topped with sous vide quail egg. The entire row of alternating components was sprinkled with airy crisps that were supposed to mimic croutons. Overall, the salad just didn’t work.

Brussels sprouts ($8) salad was seemingly simple, but delivered a burst of acidity thanks to lemon purée, sliced green grapes and intensely flavored lemon air.

Crunchy jicama purses contained ($9) creamy guacamole, crispy corn chips and what sure seemed like granules of sea salt.

Ottoman carrot, pine nut and apricot fritters ($7) were inspired, like sweet, more supple falafel embedded on chunky pistachio sauce.

Oven roasted cippolini onions ($8) were outstanding, caramelized until candy sweet and topped with Clementine segments, then plated with sweet yellow passion fruit oil and sweet-acidic Pedro Ximenex vinaigrette.

“Just shrimp cocktail” ($12) “Yeah right” featured pristine shrimp speared with a squeezable vial of tangy cocktail juice and dusted with dill, sesame seeds and aromatic flower petals.

Here’s a close-up of the shrimp cocktail.

Seared black Mission figs were nearly candy sweet on their own, but paired with silky-salty Jamón Ibérico Fermin ($12) and drizzled in sweet Pedro Ximenez reduction, they became almost otherworldly.

Achingly tender braised veal cheeks ($12) were cooked sous vide and served with California orange segments. Sometimes they use Clementines, depending on availability.

Green Japanese baby peaches were plated with Stonehenge-like strips of sweet orange peach and tangy tzatziki that was sprinkled with “red” sea salt, lime and orange zest and more of that Pedro Ximenez vinegar. It wasn’t quite dessert, but had enough sweetness to deliver a satisfying conclusion…not that we were close to done.

Sangria Rojo Pitcher ($48) came with a tableside presentation and was loaded with fresh fruit, cherry vodka, brandy, Cointreau, crushed mint and a bottle of 2006 Ercavio Tempranillo. The overall effect wasn’t as good as expected, with too many tannins and not enough sweetness.

We started the bonus round with a platter of Jamones Y Embutidos, ($32) an assortment of Jamón Serrano Fermin – Dry cured ham; Jamón Ibérico Fermin – Dry cured, free-range Ibérico ham; and prized Jamón Ibérico de bellota Fermin – Acorn-fed, free-range Ibérico ham, all served with Catalan style toast brushed with tomato.

At carnivals, foods on sticks are always more fun and seemingly taste better. The Bazaar has a playful side, as evidenced by their cotton candy foie gras ($5), a cube of cold foie gras terrine rolled in corn nuts for crunch and swaddled in vanilla-infused cotton candy. This was a winner.

We added SOME LITTLE SANDWICHES, beginning with “Philly cheesesteak” ($8 each). For this reinterpretation, “Air bread” was piped with molten Fiscalini cheddar espuma and topped with seared Wagyu beef, onion jam, a drizzle of olive oil and a shower of chives and sea salt. Tim said that the cheddar overpowered the beef, so why use such good beef? Valid point.

The foie gras sandwich (3 for $15) was simple but terrific comfort food, a warm, buttery, fresh-baked brioche lined with sea salt and cradling a cool layer of foie gras pate and another layer of sweet quince paste.

We planned to transition to the patisserie, but there weren’t enough seats available, so we ate PATISSERIE DESSERTS in the restaurant.

Traditional Spanish Flan ($12) was nice and creamy, topped with caramel, a gigantic dollop of vanilla cream and California citrus.

Apples “Carlota” ($12) turned out to be a soft log of bread pudding plated with saffron cream sauce, a generous dollop of whipped cream and a crunchy dark chocolate-coated stick.

Pineapple and Fennel Salad ($12) was by far the best dessert, featuring fresh coconut, a slab of caramelized fennel and a scoop of tangy goat’s milk sorbet.

SLS Tres Chocolate Mousse ($12) was one of the dishes that didn’t benefit from a re-imagination. We received three distinct layers of chocolate pudding, plus pop rocks and a squeezable vial of dark chocolate sauce. There was even a dark chocolate disc stenciled with SLS’ signature chalice-wielding monkeys. The dessert just wasn’t cohesive.

Some dishes were better than others, but given the overall effect, The Bazaar delivered one of the more memorable meals in 2009.