We had a delightful boxing day dinner at Melisse (1104 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica 90401 http://www.melisse.com) They offer a 5 course garden tasting menu which is out of this world. We stopped frequenting Melisse a few years ago because we felt the quality had dropped somewhat. But they have most definately shored things up. Every dinner we have had there for the past two years has been remarkable in food and service. They deserve their 2 Michelin stars. Some highlights of our meal were the velvety smooth mushroom and chestnut soup with argan oil (very hard to find and well worth your investigation into how this rare oil is curiously produced in Morocco), The main course was a heavenly yuba stuffed with artichokes and ricotta on top of a portobello mushroom with carrots and ‘vadouvan’. Vadouvan is the new ‘it’ spice, sometimes called French curry and is usually comprised of  onion, shallot, garlic, and curry spices (find recipe here http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2008/09/vadouvan) . The portobello, ubiquitious on many lesser menus was not the usually limp and soggy blubber often seen, rather it was succulent and thinly sliced and was thouroughly delicious. For desert, I managed to score one of the last two sticky toffee puddings, always flawless there. Not everything was perfect. The second course of course of kabocha squash ravioli with black trumpet mushrooms (a favorite of mine) was heavy and dull and only slightly brightened by the addition of pomegranate seeds. The cheese cart is as always, quite good. In addition to many familiar cheeses, I sampled Grain d’Orge from Normandy which was very ‘savory’ (the word used by the cheese steward). It tasted of bitter earth and pasture. The Cassica from Beemster in Holland on the other had was rich and earthy as well, but with a hint of sweetness to redeem it. The Sommelier steered us to a wonderful bottle of 2000 Ermitage ‘Le Reverdy’, a very complex and mysterious white which made our meal absolutely perfect.  Such use of rare ingredients (yuba, argan oil, vadouvan) coupled with excellent quality food and masterful chef know-how by Josiah Citrin was a magical combination.  Thank heaven Melisse is back on track and moving in the right direction!