I have been struggling with whether or not I wanted to post about Faith & Flower because it was such a disaster of a dinner experience. Faith & Flower epically failed, but its failing had nothing to do with the actual food that was served. I’ll backtrack and explain: we decided to try Faith & Flower for the first time for DineLA. It was exactly the type of restaurant we wanted: tapas-style dishes, trendy atmosphere, creative drinks.

The start of our dinner experience did not set off any alarms. The restaurant was running slightly behind schedule, and we were encouraged to check out the bar in the meantime. This is pretty typical of sceney LA restaurants with nice bar setups. I thoroughly enjoyed the English Milk Punch cocktail that I ordered. Forty minutes later though, we were getting anxious at the bar. The messaging had been that they were running 15 minutes behind schedule…did they forget about us? We were finally ushered to our table 45 minutes after our reservation time.

It was the second night of DineLA. We were three people total, and the DineLA menu indicated that each person should pick two appetizers, two entrees, and a dessert. Our server beseeched us to order only two DineLA meals for three people, as he helpfully commented that each of the portions was normal-sized. We went with the following:

Deviled jidori eggs. Korean chili and kimchi. The deviled eggs were delicious, and the kimchi provided an extra kick of spicy flavor.

At this point, we had been seated for 30 minutes and only received one appetizer, so we were beyond hungry. Our server apologetically told us that the kitchens were backed up as well. They brought us bread and a complimentary beet salad.

Beet salad. This beet salad was fine, but I was starting to get impatient with the lackadaisical pacing of our dishes.

Summer squash salad. Fennel, capers, idiazabal cheese. Another 10 minutes later, the salad that we ordered finally showed up. The squash was refreshing, and the fennel was crunchy and delicious. Unfortunately, it then took another 10 minutes for our next dish. By this point, we were starting to get tired. We had been at the restaurant for over 90 minutes, and we were only one-fifth of the way through our meal; we had ordered 10 DineLA dishes in total, and only 2 had been served so far.

Handmade egg spaghetti. Roasted corn, cherry tomatoes, miso butter. This spaghetti was not as flavorful as I expected it to be, as it mostly just tasted like butter. The cherry tomatoes, however, were warm, juicy, and satisfying.

Shrimp and grits toast. Oregon bay shrimp, creamed corn, pickled peppers. After another 10 minutes, our next course appeared. The shrimp and grits toast was too rich and creamy for me, but my friends enjoyed it.

The kitchen must have finally found its groove, because the next dish appeared almost instantly.

BLT pizza. Wild arugula, herbed aioli, avocado. By this point, we were full. We had been served 6 courses, and we were overwhelmed by the thought of having to finish 5 more. Besides, it was well past 11pm on a weeknight, and we were all exhausted. We told our server to box up anything that had already been prepared by the kitchen, and we opted to skip dessert and head home.

Overall, Faith & Flower failed in dramatic fashion due to the slow pacing of the food and the grossly miscalculated portion sizes. I imagine that every full meal that night must have taken well over 3 hours, as ours had been close to 3 hours and we had technically only finished half of it. The portion sizes were irrationally large — why deviate from the standard of one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert per person? I couldn’t fathom the three of us ordering three separate DineLA meals. I assume that Faith & Flower’s operational challenges were short-lived during DineLA. Hopefully, the restaurant was able to solve its issues after a couple of disastrous nights.

So you might be wondering: after my woeful experience, would I ever go back to Faith & Flower?

I would be willing to give it another try based on the strength of the food. The mesquite grilled skirt steak, in particular, was a major standout (even after sitting in my refrigerator for one night). It was one of the best steaks that I have had in recent memory. The juices from the steak flowed out upon first cut, and the tender, well-marinated meat left a lasting impression on me.

Faith & Flower, 705 W. 9th St., Los Angeles, CA 90015