It was an all-black everything kind of day.

You know, the kind where the past week you basically ate every dish that came your way without regard for consequences. It starts out great, but then you regret it later? Yea h, one of those kinds of days. By this point, that gluttonous behavior was catching up with me and I was bursting at the seams, literally. I was walking down the street to Commerson on La Brea in mid-city Los Angeles and before I turned the corner to approach the restaurant I said a quick prayer.

“Dear God, in between trying to instill world peace and saving what’s left of the world You so beautifully created but we humans are ruining, can You make me look somewhat skinny? Thanks in advance, I love You, and amen.”

It was the third attempt at the prayer today and as the button on my pants made itself undone, I had a feeling He wasn’t listening. It was ok, there are bigger problems to solve. Ushering a necessary level of confidence, my struggling denim and myself walked into Commerson and were seated. The restaurant was open and bright with large windows letting in the sunlight bursting throughout the city. It was only a matter of minutes before my brunch date, Danielle, arrived. We spent a few minutes catching up on things that have happened since our last meal nearly a year ago. With this meal more than overdue we scanned the menu, ordered, and went back to storytelling.

Through talks of starting a new business (that Danielle) and talks about traveling (this Danielle), our food and drinks arrived. I had told myself I wouldn’t have any cocktails since I could barely keep my pants together, but here came the Bottomless Peach & Thyme Mimosa ($35) and the Coffee Saliza ($14). I like any other person actively seeking a weekend brunch rationalized that the mimosa was 90% orange juice and the saliza was 90% coffee. I’m about 100% sure both of those facts are wrong, so don’t quote me on them. Either way, I put my better judgement to the side as I sipped and sipped the drinks away. The cold mimosa was incredibly refreshing and fruit-forward with the peach flavor that I was tempted to believe my own fake facts. Switching to the cocktail, the saliza had Bepi Tosolini almond liquer and caffe luxe coffee was smooth, creamy, and had just enough coffee to jolt me to fully awake and alert. Didn’t know I wasn’t until the cocktail kicked in. Thanks, I think.

As the sips decreased in frequency, the bites increased. Danielle ordered the Ham Sandwich ($13) which took a pretzel bun and squeezed in a house made jambon de Paris, pickles, arugla, tomatoes, and a mustard–mayonnaise. Since I hadn’t seen her in so long, I thought it would be rude to devour the food she ordered. Instead, I took a few glances at her face as she ate and could see she enjoyed it. I played in my mind the thought of how rich the sliced ham tasted against the slightly sour pickles and the shard mustard-mayo sauce. Then I stopped because I started to think that may have been weird, plus my food was waiting for me.

Stepping out of the ham sandwich imagination game, I came back to reality to try my food. My first plate was the Smoked Cod Tartine ($16). The dish was served with a single item whose appearance was so vibrant that it was hard not to stare at it and whisper, “Woah.” A slice of country toast was covered with large helpings of cod, thin cucumber slices, pickled red onions, a handful of alfalfa sprouts, roe, and a smear of dili cream cheese. From the pink of the onions to the forest green in the cucumber it was beautifully colorful that I was apprehensive to dive into it and ruin the aesthetic of it all. That though faded as I smelled the dynamic ingredients all together.

The trouble with a tartine is I never know how to approach it. Do I eat it like a lady with a knife and fork, or do I go full Neanderthal and eat it with my hands. I attempted the polite route, but the dish began to fall apart once the knife sliced it. Instead, I took my chances of looking unrefined and treated it like a slice of pizza. It ended up being better this way because I was able to taste all aspects of the dish at once. There was the crunch from the cucumbers, the burst from the roe, the somewhat tart cream cheese, and the filling cod. As a whole it was just right and as pieces fell from the toast and to the plate, it was still delicious to gather it with my fork for small tastes of what was a much bigger dish.

I packed the rest of the tartine into a to-go box so there would be enough space for the Grass Fed Cheeseburger ($17) and Truffled Fries ($9). This was effortlessly a dish I loved because Commerson knocked the burger out of the park in regards to taste with the fries to follow. The beef patty was topped with caramelized onions, Tillamook cheddar, onions, iceberg lettuce, S.O. sauce, and an easy egg. After removing some of the lettuce to get a better grip on it, I went in! I immediately loved the patty because it was so rich, flavorful, and was such a quality selection of meat. But it was when the cheese melted across the patty that it added in a creamy flavor perfectly. The yolk couldn’t be forgotten as well as it blended so nicely with the sauce layered on the bun. I loved how big the burger was and that it still managed to maintain its structure even when moved around. I also continued to grab handfuls of the fries that were lightly truffled. I was thankful that the truffle wasn’t covered heavily on the fries because it wasn’t overwhelming which made it a perfect companion to the burger.

By this time I should have stopped eating especially when considering, my pants had unbuttoned before even sitting down. While I should have put my fork away, I didn’t because the dessert arrived. The  Chocolate Parfait ($11)  had honeycomb brittle, warm ganache, and almond butter ice cream all in a white bowl. To say that it was mouthwatering would be an understatement. The ridiculously sweet, crumbled, and chocolatey brittle made me want to dive my spoon into the bowl almost involuntarily, while the ice cream was subtle and silky. Add to it all, the ganache and all its warmth was velvety and inhaled the gold flake sitting beside it. From beginning to end, this dessert was one I fully enjoyed and would recommend to anyone resisting their better judgement of putting down the fork.

Discovering the brunch at Commerson was a great way to start of my weekend and considering I got to do with a lovely person like Danielle only made it better. From the mimosa to the burger to the parfait, I was so pleased to see that Commerson has created a menu of items that are both creative, beautiful and delicious. Sure I left with my pants struggling to stay on the same way when I walked in but this time it was worth it and thankfully the walk to the car wasn’t a long one. Otherwise, it would have been hard to explain why my pants were sitting at my knees heading down La Brea.

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Address: 788 South La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: 323-813-3000
Hours: Tuesday through Thursday – 5:00pm to 11:00pm, Friday 5:00pm to 12:00am, Saturday – 10:00am to 3:00pm; 5:00pm to 12:00am, Sunday 10:00am to 3:00pm; 5:00pm to 11:00pm, and Closed on Monday.
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