Heritage - Long Beach
Dining room and counter with a view
Rating: 14/20
Where: Long Beach, CA
When: Dinner for 2 on 18 February 2026
Cost per Person: Tasting menu $175, Wine Pairing $95
Accolades: 1 Michelin Star
Why: Elevated Californian cuisine in a neighborhood vibe restaurant
Good food, even the Michelin-starred kind, can be enjoyed in many different surroundings. There is of course the over-the-top, jacket-required, candle-lit, white-table clothed setting. But there are also neighborhood restaurants that push the envelope, while remaining primarily a draw for local regulars rather than the fickle jet-setting fine-dining crowd. One such restaurant is “Heritage” in Long Beach, California. Occupying what looks like a former single-family home, it is located in a mostly residential neighborhood.
The restaurant's interior design follows a simple, wooden, rustic style. One can sit either at the tables in the two dining rooms, or on a few stools (without backrests) at a counter bordering the open kitchen. Unlike a “typical” neighborhood restaurant, though, Heritage serves only a fixed tasting menu. Officially, dietary restrictions were not accommodated, but the kitchen was willing to repeat a dish in order to make the meal pescatarian for my dining companion - a nice gesture. An optional caviar bump was offered for $25, and came with a glass of sparkling wine. There was also a wine pairing consisting of seven glasses for $95. The pairing was actually pretty good, with decent pours and nice wines coming exclusively from California. The corresponding bottles mostly retailed in the $20-$30 range, but the wines were clearly well-chosen within that restriction. However, I was a bit surprised that the wine glasses were not replaced between pours, as long as the new wine had “the same color”. To be fair, our server asked whether that approach was ok, so I assume that it was meant to (re)emphasize the “neighborhood restaurant” theme. A sommelier at a three-star restaurant would probably get a heart attack at the idea.
Our dinner started with a trio of small bites, accompanied by a cup of sweet tea. First, I tried a little pastry cup filled with beef tartare, egg yolk and mushrooms. The cracker had a light crunch, and the filling was nicely balanced: creamy, with some umami and a bit of acidity to offset the potentially heavier tartare 15. An “uni toast” was a little piece of brioche topped with avocados and a sizable piece of sea urchin. The uni was creamy, the brioche lightly crunchy, but overall this dish had slightly duller flavors than the preceding beef tartare 13. Finally, as a palate cleanser, we got a little cube of pineapple topped with espelette pepper powder, sitting in a lightly sweet sauce full of basil seeds. Sweet with a spicy finish, this was not an overly complicated bite, but quite tasty 15.
At this point, we were served the optional caviar bump on the back of our hands. It was a nice, clean caviar that went well with the provided pour of Californian sparkling wine. There was no actual preparation here, but compared to many other caviar dishes that we've had, it was nice to actually taste the caviar for once. No rating since this was “just” served straight from the tin.
From here on out, the servings became more substantial. Three thick slices of kanpachi were served with cultured cream, jicama and a passion fruit sauce. This dish had a nice combination of flavors and textures: the fish was tender, the pickles on top were crunchy and acidic, and the passion fruit sauce was slightly sweet. Arguably, the fish's main contribution to this dish was texture rather than taste, but otherwise this was quite good 14.
Next, we were served a rice dish. The rice in question had been partly toasted to add some crunch. It was mixed with broccolini, and topped with slices of abalone and a black garlic/sesame aioli. The toasted rice was reminiscent of the crunchy rice at the bottom of a rice pan - a lovely texture. The abalone was pretty tender with only a slight bite - since the pieces were so small, their texture was hardly noticeable, though. The creamy aioli was a nice addition, making for a tasty, rustic dish, whose only downside was that is was a bit too salty 16.
A diver scallop was served on its own shell, and came with a dashi beurre blanc and some smoked trout roe. The lightly seared scallop was fine - mine appeared to have a bit of sand in it, though -, but the star of the dish was the sauce. It had complex flavors, and was savory with a hint of sweetness. A good dish, but a tad more sauce, and maybe a bit more flavor-intensity overall, would have made this even better 15.
A filet of black cod was served with artichokes, razor clams and a leaf of miner's lettuce. Even more so than the previous dish, this one could have benefited from stronger flavors. As it stood, the artichoke was probably the best part of the dish, with a crunchy consistency and solid flavor. The fish was fine - on the firmer side. Unfortunately, the clams in their buttery sauce didn't taste of much 14.
The final savory course was based on duck. On a plate were two slices of duck, an apple jus and a celery root puree. In a separate bowl came a mix of duck leg meat and beluga lentils. The duck was nicely prepared, with tender meat, but its skin was quite thick and practically soaked in fat - I'd have preferred something leaner here. The lentil/duck leg mix was quite different: meatier in flavor, more rustic, heavier, and oddly feeling a bit dry. A decent presentation, but with some upward potential 14.
Moving on to sweeter dishes, we first received a yogurt mousse topped with a herbal tea gelee and poached kiwi. This dish was light, fruity, creamy, and sweet, but not too sweet - a nice combination 16.
The main dessert was a carrot cake paired with candied walnuts, a mascarpone cream and a dollop of “carrot butter”. Usually, I'm not a big fan of carrot cake, but this one was pretty good. It helped that I liked the mascarpone much better than the traditional sugary frosting. This cheese topping was slightly sour, not too sweet, and noticeably lighter than the “normal” frosting. The carrot butter was slightly sweet and didn't taste much of carrots - this dish would have worked equally well without it 15.
Two petit fours concluded our dinner. A pear/fennel pâte de fruit was neither very sweet nor very distinctive tastewise - I probably wouldn't have guessed the ingredients 14. A 66% chocolate praline had a rosemary/butterscotch filling. This caramelly filling had a nice rosemary aroma, but the chocolate covering felt overly thick for a praline of this size 16.
Overall: This was a fine dinner of Californian cuisine paired with wines from the state, presented in a restaurant with a warm neighborhood vibe. There were a couple of memorable dishes, but the majority felt a bit shy of a Michelin star - in several cases, they could have used a bit more flavor oomph (or simply more salt). The flavor complexity was there, but not the corresponding intensity. Having experienced the friendly, homey atmosphere, though, I can definitely see why locals would happily return 14.
