Crossroads Kitchen in Los Angeles, CA

Crossroads Kitchen is an upscale vegan dining establishment on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles that serves up small plates of decadent food from Chef Tal Ronnen. It has a romantic, sexy atmosphere, with twinkling candles on every table and dim lighting throughout the restaurant. Some people find it a bit pretentious, but I have been wanting to try it for a long time and was finally able to go in October!

I was excited to try out their comforting Italian classics (veganized, of course), like all their pastas, which I had been drooling over on their menu for months! I am Italian, and usually I don't trust any restaurants with pastas, but I was willing to give Crossroads a try. I choose to dine there early on a Sunday night, not only for decent lighting to take photos of food but also since we were going to see Delusion, an immersive horror play (I wrote about that HERE if you are interested!), right after dinner.

My companions and I found metered street parking a block or so from the restaurant. We had made reservations prior, but at that time it wasn't too crowded yet, and we were quickly seated at our booth. I drooled a little more over the menu, and we quickly ordered a flurry of delicious-sounding dishes!

Front: Kit Hill Cheese Plate; Back: Charred Ricotta

First, we tried two vegan cheese plates. The Kite Hill cheese plate came with their assorted cheeses, plus housemade apricot jam, marcona almonds, sultanas, and nutty bread slices. The other plate was charred ricotta with an apricot-thyme glaze served with crostini. You better believe we practically licked those boards clean!

Oven Roasted Truffled Potatoes

We also got the oven roasted truffled potatoes sprinkled with fresh thyme and shaved (vegan) parmesan as an appetizer, which were also delectable! I loved how they were cut into cute stacked squares, and they were a nice salty treat to eat before digging into the main carb courses!

Tagliatelle Bolognese

 Butternut Squash Ravioli

Lasagna

For our main courses we choose the tagliatelle bolognese, the butternut squash ravioli, and the lasagna. My personal favorite was the butternut squash ravioli, which was drowning in this luxurious oregano cream (I could seriously just drink that sauce!) and topped with some crunchy harissa toasted pumpkin seeds. The tagliatelle bolognese was also amazing and took me back to my childhood! It tasted super-authentic, even without using meat! The only dish I didn't really like was the lasagna, which was only so-so. Its almond ricotta cheese was good, but I didn't care much for the taste of the marinara (tasted like pizza sauce to me).

Pumpkin Mascarpone Semifreddo

I never pass up dessert, and I got the pumpkin mascarpone semifreddo with spice cream anglaise, pistachio and pomegranate seeds. It was like little blocks of ice cream, and while creamy it was kinda an awkward dessert and not my favorite. I don't think I finished it. Oh well, it's not like they are known for their dessert.

Overall, I really loved the pastas at Crossroads Kitchen - they were so decadent and dreamy! The atmosphere was also pleasant, and our service was stellar. I would go back again, and definitely want to try their brunch someday!

For more information, visit Crossroads Kitchen's website!