Spencer Bezaire

The Path

A polished Los Angeles run started at Eszett, where, from 2021, Spencer Bezaire served as chef/owner. That post established the working terms of the kitchen: precision over flourish, ambition kept in check by discipline, and attention to the details that make a plate feel resolved rather than merely finished. Today, as Executive Chef / Oyster Director of L & E Oyster Bar, Spencer Bezaire applies that same focus to one of the city’s most specific tables. The room is built around oysters, which makes the craft unusually unforgiving: acid has to cut, richness has to land, and a garnish has to sharpen the dish instead of dressing it up.

The Work Today

Rockefeller oysters and Casino oysters are the traditional Oyster Bar preparations he works with there. These are not static historic labels; they are formats that can take on garnish, heat, and richness while still remaining recognizably themselves. That balance is the point: the old pleasures of the Oyster Bar stay intact, but they are given fresh pressure and precision. The asparagus and fava bean salad with bottarga and blood orange shows the same approach in a different key. It is modern and farm-driven, using green vegetables, cured roe, and citrus to stay close to the season while keeping the coastal salinity that anchors the plate. The result is brisk without being delicate, bright without losing structure. His own summary of the menu is plain and complete: “I love everything on the menu from top to bottom.” In a room organized around oysters, that reads less like sentiment than operating principle: the standard applies across the whole list.

Signature

Spencer's signature dishes include Rockefeller, Casino, Big Fries, Charcoal-Grilled Chicken Wings, and Kampachi Crudo Melt.

In Their Words “I love everything on the menu from top to bottom.”

Acclaim

Bezaire’s recognized work is tied to specific Los Angeles addresses and specific dishes rather than abstraction. Eszett gave diners Big Fries with Meyer lemon kosho, charcoal-grilled wings with koji and salsa macha, and a kampachi crudo melt layered with Alpine cheese and kumquat mostarda. Today, the marker is the Oyster Bar: Rockefeller oysters, Casino oysters, and a vegetable dish sharpened by bottarga and blood orange. The through-line is material intelligence: salt used cleanly, acid given a job, fat kept in tension, and familiar formats treated with close attention.