The first time I ever dined at the French Laundry in Yountville was a seminal experience, one punctuated by a whirlwind of wee dishes that somehow possessed such outsized, intense flavors that they left me feeling as if I were tasting food for the very first time.

Earlier this month at Somni, I relived that same type of vivid, jolting excitement — but with even more whimsy, humor, and daring.

No wonder this Los Angeles restaurant garnered three Michelin stars this year practically right out of the gate after opening in November 2024.

To be fair, Somni’s original incarnation that opened in Beverly Hills in 2018 had already earned two Michelin stars before it was forced to close when the pandemic hit, the same week it would have celebrated not only its second anniversary, but Chef-Owner Aitor Zabala’s birthday.

After hunting high and low, he found the ideal space in West Hollywood to relocate in what was previously a Donna Karan store and a former music studio frequented by Jennifer Lopez.

While the original Somni was all of 10 seats, this one is actually double the square footage and features 14 seats at a luminous chef’s counter.

There is only one seating per night. All 14 guests arrive at 7:30 p.m. for a 3-hour evening attended to by a staff of 17, each outfitted with an ear piece to communicate with one another. This is no stuffy affair, as you’re encouraged to readily chat and ask questions of the staff.

Not surprisingly, this is experience is a major splurge. Every guest is required to choose a beverage pairing with their tasting menu. So, the per-person total tab with food and drink, exclusive of gratuity, is $745 with the non-alcoholic pairing, $820 with the classic wine pairing, $1,010 with the high-end wine pairing, $785 with the hybrid pairing of non-alcoholic and wines, or $1,595 with the premium wine pairing.

Over the course of the evening, I enjoyed about 25 courses, each meticulously crafted. It’s so much food that I wasn’t hungry again until lunch-time the next day.

There is no lag, either. Each course follows promptly one after the other, with servers and cooks setting the dishes down in front of every guest simultaneously like a choreographed dance.

This is food that delights, providing not only childlike wonderment but pure goosebumps.

Or as the staff likes to say: It’s food that’s often not what it may seem.

If that sounds like shades of Ferran Adria’s El Bulli, you wouldn’t be wrong. The Spanish-born Zabala was chef de partie at that pioneering molecular gastronomy mecca for four years, as well as part of the El Bulli test kitchen team. He then worked for a decade as creative director for Adria disciple, Chef Jose Andres, which led to him opening the original Somni with him.

Somni is Catalan for “dream.” And dinner at this 2.0 version very much feels like one.

The evening begins in the courtyard. It sets the elegant yet mischievous mood for what’s to follow with its candlelight ambience, towering maple trees, suspended silvery mesh clouds, and playful, lighted giraffe sculpture.

You’re seated at small tables with your party, and welcomed with flutes of Champagne and a glass of jade-green liquid, made from pea shells, lime and mint to resemble a non-alcholic mojito but with the concentrated taste of spring peas on the vine.

Next comes a parade of canapes that will have your jaw dropping.

There’s what looks like a fuchsia-colored finger sandwich that turns out to be “bread” made of beet meringue, light and crispy, with a creamy filling. What appears to be an almond in its shell is actually a crunchy fried almond praline shell with almond cream. What seems like white feather quills are creamy Parmesan. A mussel shell holds not a real mussel but a delicate, filled squid ink cracker shaped exactly like one. A storybook-looking mushroom is in reality a truffle cheese mille feuille sandwich that tastes deeply of porcini, too. The winner for most audacious was the “sardine on toast.” Composed of a thin, crisp flatbread in the shape of a sardine, it’s topped with a real cured Japanese sardine that’s been sliced hasselback-style so that it almost looks like a tightly coiled Slinky. And yes, a chef actually had to make each of those exacting cuts by hand.

After that, you’re led inside to the elegant, minimalist dining room to your seats at the counter. A few of the seats at the end provide a small peek into the kitchen. But all have an up-close and personal view of the back counter, where dishes get their finishing touches.

Because I chose the hybrid pairing, I was served “Blood of Tomato” in a dramatic martini glass that had shapely legs at the bottom. Made with tomato water with a kick of spice, it made for a light and lively non-alcoholic Bloody Mary.

It was paired with a dish so completely captivating that I still can’t get it out of my mind. Somni’s Margherita pizza is like no pizza that I’ve ever had before. It boasts the deep taste of sweet, tangy tomato sauce, the creaminess of burrata, the smokiness of glistening pieces of Iberico ham, and the saltiness of caviar — only its crust is pure egg white. It looks for all the world like a slice of pizza. It tastes like one of the best pizzas you’ve ever had. It is even crisp like one. Yet rather than bready and heavy, it is absolutely, mind-bogglingly ethereal.

Ice-cold, bracing gazpacho arrives next, with its bowl surrounded by tomato vines to enhance its fragrance. There are peeled Firebird tomatoes that burst with juice, pieces of cucumber that refresh, ice plants that crunch, lovely olive oil with a buttery roundness, and eel cream that adds smokiness. Each taste makes you feel as if you’re sitting outside at a cafe in Barcelona in the heat of summer.

Sweet crab with finger lime and peeled pomelo gets finished at the counter with a spoonful of frothy coconut foam flavored with the crab shells.

It’s a light, refreshing dish that paves the way for the indulgent one that follows: medium fatty tuna tartare with bone marrow that’s blanketed completely with kaluga caviar and tiny flowers to create a beautiful mosaic. A cauliflower cracker accompanies it, baked into the shape of a maple leaf in a nod to the maple trees in the courtyard, as well as to the counter and plates made of maple wood.

It’s recommended that you spoon half of the tuna into the center of the cracker to eat, then enjoy the remaining tartare with a spoon. The tuna is lush, meaty, and rich — even more so, thanks to the bone marrow.

What arrives next would be right at home at a wedding place setting. White flowers edged with blue encircle a pedestal that is covered in yet more flowers, this time edible yellow, violet and deep purple nasturtiums. Hidden below is shiso tempura, the leaf brushed with the batter, then fried, so that a lacy, delicate shell forms a pocket around it that gets topped with the silky beef tartare finished with fried capers and shallots.

My next non-alcoholic drink is time-sensitive, I’m told, as it’s set down in front of me. That’s because the raspberry drink is ice cold, but gets finished with a cloud of warm elderflower foam on top. Take a sip and it’s initially warm and floral, but almost instantaneously turns cold and fruity. The juxtaposition might not seem that novel at first thought, but it sure has the intended effect of leaving you amazed.

A tender toasted corn ravioli in the shape of a sunflower floats in a pool of creamy corn sabayon with spot prawn and trout roe hiding underneath. The sweetness of the corn accentuates that of the spot prawn. Alongside is blue-corn bread that’s ever so buttery with the pinpoint taste of roasty-toasty corn.

Spanish turbot arrives in a series of dishes. First, a slender, crispy-skin fillet finished with fish consomme, and served with a blood sausage puree, pistou, and peas interspersed with tiny balls of spherified squid ink to heighten the taste of the sea.

Second, there’s turbot engawa, a particular muscle on the fish that’s considered a delicacy like the cheek. Soft, with a slightly chewy, gelatinous texture, it’s seared, smoked, and brushed with teriyaki glaze and finished with shiso buds.

Lastly, there’s turbot skin chicharron, a guilty-pleasure morsel that’s deeply golden and crispy like the best potato chip.

A circular pool of curry sauce arrives on a plate, accompanied by a ridged steamed bun with a delectable filling of tender oxtail with black garlic. Dip the bun in the sauce and enjoy your new dim sum-like favorite.

The final savory course is Iberico pork shoulder, juicy and succulent, with an Iberico ham rose atop an artichoke, along with the sharpness of cheese espuma, and a deeply earthy chanterelle and matsutake sauce.

The “Cow and Her Milk” cheese course will prompt an ear-to-ear grin. How can it not when a cutout of a black and white cow is presented atop creamy, whipped Brillat-Savarin, apples and hazelnuts?

Dessert is a play on a Melba with a mousse-like amaretti semi-freddo with peaches, raspberries, and basil ice cream.

Then, just as the evening began, it ends with a procession of small bites.

They include: quenching summer melon compressed with ginger; spoonfuls of frozen strawberries and cream that you have to eat in one bite as they gush with liquid inside; gummies that look exactly like blackberries and raspberries; “gyoza” that are really mochi dumplings filled with rice pudding; and adorable sprinkle donuts that shatter and disintegrate with the first bite to reveal caramel cream inside.

When this culinary magic show comes to a close, you receive a copy of the menu made of maple-tree paper. Turn to the back to find a stamped series of digits representing what number diner you were at the restaurant.

Entranced and enchanted, my husband and I couldn’t have been happier to be #3046 and #3047 at this fantastical meal for the ages.

More: Dining in Los Angeles, Part II: Splendid Italian Cuisine at Bestia