PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE PARKE
In the heart of the culinary world, where the boundaries of taste and imagination often blur, Elli Benchimol walks alone. A restaurateur and advanced sommelier with a passion for new ways of storytelling, Elli hails originally from the wine country of Northern California. She spent decades honing her craft in San Francisco before moving to Washington, D.C. She opened her first restaurant, Apéro, in 2021; within a year, she earned coveted Michelin recognition.
But it’s at La Bohéme, a separate restaurant located on the floor above Apéro, that her theater geek within truly comes to life. Inspired by seasonal changes and her love of figures as diverse as Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Tim Burton, Benchimol has transformed the space into a theater for experiential dining, meaning that each meal served there engages diners on sensory, emotional, and intellectual levels to create transformative, lasting experiences.
A Fantastic Voyage through Food
In spring 2025, Benchimol created an elven menu designed to transport guests to another world. Candles lit a path up the stairs into La Bohème, where garden plants and florals and gossamer hung from the ceiling, and Celtic music wafted through the air. In this heady setting, every dish had a story, and bespoke cocktails fueled imagination and conversation. Let’s imagine, for example, an elven adventurer about to embark on a journey that night. What would she need to fuel her body, brain, and courage? Well, first she would go to La Bohème and see what Elli had on the menu.
Accordingly, everyone was an explorer that night. The journey began with a choice: an amuse-bouche featuring a cauliflower mousse crowned with gleaming tobiko (cleverly crafted as the all-seeing eye, urging the daring traveler onward) or a porcini paté that evoked an aromatic stroll through ancient woods. The plot developed through courses such as a mille-feuille of potatoes layered with garlic spread, followed by a creamy, indulgent porridge of millet topped with an unexpected eel glazed in black garlic. A high point was the braised rabbit leg pressé with thumbelina carrots, pearl onions, and crispy carrot top; but the meal was one new experience after another. Elli even paid tribute to elven hospitality with an intermezzo of delicate chive and cheddar bread, lovingly wrapped in banana leaves and tied with humble twine.
