Eat Out. Test Kitchen.

It's notoriously difficult to open a restaurant, and even more rare for it to be successful. So why not take a test drive, and bring some brave foodie customers along for the ride? Enter the Test Kitchen.

The Test Kitchen is a new sort of restaurant, conceptualized to allow chefs try out new and different dishes in a setting outside of their own eateries. They get the chance to do some experimenting, and customers get the chance to eat dishes that are rare or maybe haven't even been done before. The chefs will also be working with mixologists, meaning there'll be some interesting drinks being formulated as well.

First up in the hot seat is Jordan Kahn, who just happens to be the best sort of example for what the Test Kitchen hopes to accomplish. Kahn is the chef from Red Medicine, a Vietnamese restaurant that hasn't opened yet, but already has a ton of hype behind it because it's being opened by Umami Burger's Adam Fleischman. For Test Kitchen, Kahn will be offering a $40 prix fixe menu ($10 for cocktails) for what is presumed to be Red Medicine's future offerings. And with caramelized chicken dumplings and a coconut cream dessert, it's already looking good. But of course, if you head to Test Kitchen, you'll know first!

But make your reservations now--Kahn will only be there from tonight until Sunday, to be followed by Chef Richard Zapate and others in the following weeks. Keep up with the chef line-up through the website or Facebook, and happy (experimental) eating!
The Test Kitchen is located at 9575 Pico Blvd. in Beverly Hills.

-- Chau Tu