ON THE five-course tasting menu at his tiny, 9-year-old downtown den of creativity, Josef Centeno will always serve the restaurant’s North Star dish: rice porridge, the short grains nearly as translucent as tapioca pearls, steeped in Parmesan cream; glittered with yuzu zest or similar citrus; and garnished with seafood, usually uni or abalone. From there — who knows? A premise of Orsa & Winston is to mine connections between Japanese and Italian flavors, but Centeno never stoops to shenanigans to oversell the thesis. He follows the seasons and his inspirations. In the spring, brown butter and a few shavings of black truffle may gild an English pea raviolo. In the fall, the same pasta shape will arrive filled with sweet potato and ricotta and dressed in duck sugo. A bright, taut combination like scallop crudo with passion fruit vinaigrette and yuzu kosho often kicks off dinner; a chocolate tart with just-ripe peaches or sakepoached pears may conclude it. At any moment, though, one senses Centeno could scrap this outline and start fresh. His remarkable balance between improvisation and selfdiscipline is what makes him one of L.A.’s vital chefs.

• 122 W. 4th St., Los Angeles, (213) 687-0300, orsaandwinston.com

Honeynut squash cooked over embers, with Hanaho flower chimichurri and negi.