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2006 Brought Restaurant Comings, Goings; Best of List

It’s the time of year when, once again, we reflect on the past year.

Some impressive restaurants debuted. Blue Coral Seafood & Spirits in Fashion Island met our anticipation with panache. It joined Roy’s and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar. Morton’s Steakhouse in Anaheim opens this week. Fairmont Hotel recently opened as a glamorous remake of the former Sutton Place Hotel in Newport Beach and brought with the renovation bamb & #250; Restaurant. It’s a fine looking space with refined cuisine.

Crystal Jade settled in as part of Irvine’s Quail Hill Village Center, giving us a nicely refined place for wonderful Chinese food.

Superstar chef Michael Mina stepped out of his Aqua restaurant venture in the St. Regis Resort, Monarch Beach. He re-emerged earlier this year with a spectacular remake of the space and his own restaurant called Stonehill Tavern. If this is the new definition of a tavern, please bring on more.

The impressive Leatherby’s Cafe Rouge opened as a sleek eatery in the new Ren & #233;e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa. Love the uptown food that’s as artistically presented as the concerts themselves.

Down the street, Mastro’s Steakhouse in Costa Mesa made itself known as part of the serious red meat genre. It joined its sister restaurant Mastro’s Ocean Club in Newport Beach that opened last year.

And Ambrosia restaurant opened its doors in the OC Pavilion building, at 10th and Main Street in Santa Ana. Ambrosia takes us on a wonderful twirl through nostalgia-laden memories with its mid-century elegance (not the least of which is live music with dinner), booth seating, and food that is seriously presented. Owner Mike Harrah formerly had Ambrosia in Costa Mesa, so this is a repeat performance of the pleasure.

Some restaurants that will soon open are generating plenty of buzz. Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Anaheim will debut at the beginning of the year, just a few blocks down Harbor Boulevard from the new Morton’s.

Meanwhile, lots of anticipation is in the air about Kimera, which will soon open between the Google and Equinox high-rises on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach. It’s a sister restaurant to Bistango and Bayside, and the menu, overseen by acclaimed chef Katsuo “Naga” Nagasawa, will feature Japanese/Italian cuisine.

Sapphire Laguna is being constructed at the former Pottery Shack location in Laguna Beach. It is scheduled to open just after the first of the year and is the dreamscape of the tremendously creative and talented Azmin Ghahreman. He will bring us both a globally inspired restaurant and an adjacent food shop with specialty products and cheeses from around the world.






Leatheryby’s Cafe Rouge: sleek eatery in Ren & #233;e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall

A Panera Bread Bakery-Cafe will be coming to your neighborhood soon, if there’s not already one there. This fast-growing chain has a menu of fantastic sandwiches, salads and soups that is garnering customer loyalty at a remarkable rate. Javier’s will open soon in its new building at Crystal Cove Promenade.

And there were losses this year. Sweet little Mirabeau in Monarch Beach closed. One of the owners decided to leave and it was too difficult for the other to continue on her own. It opened in January of 2003 and within a few months was listed in a national food magazine as one of the 10 Best New French Bistros in America. The charming, understated European flair will be missed. Svelte in Corona del Mar,that had long ago been the Pirate’s Inn, then Mistral,also closed.

The end of 2006 also will spell the end of Bangkok Four in South Coast Plaza. It’s the end of an era for Bangkok here in OC (we formerly had Bangkok Three on the Balboa Peninsula). There is still a family-owned Bangkok Five in Rancho Mirage.

And it’s sad to know that Dan Marcheano will have to close The Arches in Newport Beach in the coming year and relocate. The beloved landmark is still a place where we relish the comfort and wonderful food so you’ll find us there often in the coming months.


Then Some Changes

That brings us to some of the changes this past year has seen.

David Wilhelm’s Rouge in Fashion Island became French 75 Bistro in keeping with David’s continuing string of French 75 restaurants. Restaurant Pascal in Newport Beach became Tradition by Pascal and chef/owner Pascal Olhats redefined his ever splendid French country cuisine and his decor.


Some Bests

Let’s get on with some of the best things that come to mind that I’ve encountered during the past year.

Best New Upscale Restaurant: Stonehill Tavern in the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa. The decor alone is a gotcha, but the food is really the fabulous endgame.

Best Little Gem to Open: Break of Dawn in Laguna Hills. Chef/owner Dee Nguyen knocks our socks off with his amazingly interesting and passionately prepared breakfast and lunch dishes. It’s not open for dinner, but who cares when you can have such an interesting lunch instead.

Best Wine Country Style Dining: For upscale dining based on that theme, it’s Napa Rose in Anaheim’s Grand Californian Hotel. Andrew Sutton, the exceptional chef, and manager/sommelier extraordinaire Michael Jordan make us feel like royalty.

For a casual atmosphere reminiscent of a cuddly homespun wine country restaurant with good food and wines to back it all up, Vine in San Clemente delivers with pride.

For a wining and dining experience at a legendary place, it’s back to Anaheim and the renowned Mr. Stox. The wine cellar is a piece of history, and the comfort level overall is terrific.

Best European Bistro: Brussels Bistro in Laguna Beach. Unpretentious with terrific Belgian food,and tucked in the menu, even one of the county’s best hamburgers,and international beers and wines, plus great live music throughout dinner hours.

Best Chic but Casual Restaurant: Village Mediterranean in San Clemente has it all. The room is intimate and charmingly decorated with a North African sea style and we always want to order more than we can eat because all the food is so interesting and flavorful.

The Best Prix Fixe Dinner Menus: Not to put down the many fine restaurants that have various styles and prices for prix fixe menus, I nevertheless have to choose La Vie en Rose in Brea. That’s because they have such affordable three-course prix fixe dinners, ranging from $35 to $50, and choices from throughout the whole a la carte menu can be combined to make almost endless combinations. Country French cuisine is happily ensconced here.

Spur of the Moment Best Pick for Upscale Dining: First Cabin Restaurant in the Balboa Bay Club & Resort is serving amazing food,thanks to & #252;ber chefs Josef Lageder and Yvon Goetz,and has thus become one of our favorite destinations.

Best New Version of Mexican Food: For the second year in a row, Tal & #233;o in Irvine keeps its place. Inspired by the cuisine of Mexico City, owner Nic Villarreal and chef Jose Acevedo take us on an astoundingly flavorful and interesting culinary journey.

Best Delicious Surprises on the Plate at Every Meal: It’s still at the Golden Truffle in Costa Mesa. Chef/owner Alan Greeley constantly puts chic, out-of-the-ordinary dishes on the menu and keeps us totally enthralled with dining.

Best Contemporary Italian Food: It’s found at the Anaheim White House. Owner Bruno Serato continues his devotion to bringing us the latest versions of dining currently on the scene in Italy.

Best Breakfast Buffet: You just can’t beat the price or the great spread of food at Las Brisas in Laguna Beach. Of course, they also get my vote for the deliciously fresh and interesting food that now makes lunches and dinners memorable in this beautiful setting overlooking the ocean.

Best Lamb Entree: The 22 oz. lamb porterhouse (three thick chops) at the new Mastro’s Steakhouse in Costa Mesa is proof on a plate.

Best Florentine Steak: It’s like being in some of my favorite haunts in Italy when I order it at Il Fornaio in Irvine. Tender, juicy and dappled with fine olive oil, it’s a great piece of meat.

Best New Version of Pizza: Panera Bread Bakery-Cafe, which has several locations, takes the prize with its Crispani, which features an ultra-crispy pizza base topped with various complements. My favorite: the sliced apple and sausage topping.

Best Asian Sesame Chicken Salad: Yet another pat on the back to Panera. The dressing is perfect in every way: light with just the right balance of sesame flavor, and the ample grilled chicken cuddling with the greens rounds out the fantastic taste. I have it two or three times a month.

Best Soup: What a shame if you haven’t had a bowl of goodness called Shrimp and Corn Soup at Bayside in Newport Beach. Chef Paul Gstrein’s version takes taste and texture to their zenith.

Best Dessert: It happens at Wildfish Seafood Grille in Newport Beach. The bread pudding done in a souffle manner with a cloudlike topping is the best sweet treat of the year by far. I also have to give them accolades for their marvelous fish entrees that keep us going back again and again. Runner-up for best dessert would be the luscious Tres Leches Cake at Tal & #233;o in Irvine.

Best Restaurants That Remain from the Past: There are four that we call teddy bear restaurants because we feel so comfy and at home in them,the food is never chasing the newest trend but is nevertheless downright delicious. So, I’ll just give you all of them.

Riviera at the Fireside in Westminster is all about booths, tableside service and old-school elegance. They stick with what they know and we love them for it.

Nieuport 17 in Tustin has been a mainstay of terrific dining for decades and yet it looks as new and clean and chic as ever. Slightly similar in demeanor to The Ritz Restaurant and Garden in Newport Beach, Central Orange County is very fortunate to have this marvelous restaurant. It’s in our inner circle of most enjoyed restaurants.

Then, there’s The Ritz itself, a study in chic dining. I’d go there every week for lunch or dinner if time permitted. It never disappoints and I seem to linger at the table forever.

Finally, The Arches is just so unpretentious but on the upscale curve and you can hardly find tuxedo-clad waiters anymore, let alone tableside service of fine meat and seafood prepared with a bit of international confidence.

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