PROVIDENCE IS A local and national benchmark of white-tablecloth extravagance, rightly famed for Michael Cimarusti’s luxury coddling of seafood. His cooking is less about fireworks and drama and more about technique in pursuit of clarity: Even if frothy corn sauce and fermented radish surround king crab, or truffles and pancetta scent a Hokkaido scallop, it’s the taste of the ocean that long stays in the memory.

If you desire, white truffles will rain down over risotto or golden scrambled eggs; cocktails can be made tableside; and a sommelier might arrange a parade of wine pairings that costs nearly as much as the tasting menu, which is $295 per person. Go ahead and splurge on the optional uni egg gilded with Champagne beurre blanc. Fanciness without human connection feels vacant, and the warm, alert individuality that Providence’s service team brings to the experience has contributed as much to the restaurant’s longevity as the brilliant food. I recently brought a 30-something Times colleague (who doesn’t work on the Food team) for his first dinner to Providence, and at the end of the evening he said, “If I make it to 80 I’m still going to be thinking about this meal.” I sat with his words for a minute, and then I thought: Same.

• 5955 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 460-4170, providencela.com