Sometimes, even the most sophisticated professionals yearn for something more casual: how else do you explain Academy Award winner Laurence Olivier in Clash of the Titans, or Sir Michael Caine in...anything? For a high-class chef loosening his tie, check Fig, in the Fairmont Miramar
Resembling a lofty fashion barn w/ massive windows, striped banquettes, and a circular wood bar, Fig's helmed by a chef who cut his teeth at far more uppity places like San Fran's Cyrus and Napa's French Laundry. Grub ranges from standards like steak frites (8oz flatiron, 14oz strip, 18oz bone-in rib-eye), to more unusual dishes (grilled mortadella w/ Warren pears, muscovy duck leg), all of which's anchored by fresh seasonal/local/sustainable ingredients listed by category on the menu: "just arrived", "in peak-season", and "coming soon" -- so seasonal, they don't even exist yet. Similarly fresh cocktails include out-there mixes like blueberry & thyme (w/ Reyka vodka, St Germain, & Yellow Chartreuse), cucumber & lavender (Hendrick's, Canton, & bitters), and rosemary & rhubarb -- finally emancipated of 80-year-old women, and their pies everyone hates
Fig soon also will do breakfast, with creative fare like tomato & asparagus tartine and hazelnut waffles, as well as a specialty juice of the day, from grapefruit-mint to blackberry-pomegranate -- a fruit whose place in Greek mythology is every bit as esteemed as that of the robotic owl.