Golden Truffle in Costa Mesa will host a La Follette Seven Wine Dinner this Friday.
Greg La Follette, the founder and winemaker of the boutique Sonoma County winery, has an admirable background in California and some international winemaking under his belt.
Along with Alan Greeley’s inspiring food, this promises to be a great evening.
It begins at 6:30 p.m. with tray-passed hors d’oeuvres and 2011 North Coast Chardonnay.
Boston Scallops with apricot-grapefruit vinaigrette and 2011 Sangiacomo Chardonnay and 2009 Manchester Ridge Chardonnay constitute the first course.
Things go quite upscale for the second round of the dinner with a dark-cherry mole barbecue quail breast with wild mushroom chawan mushi (a savory Japanese dish steamed in the container in which it is served).
Wines for this course are another duet: Sangiacomo 2011 Pinot Noir and the 2009 Manchester Ridge Pinot Noir. A German touch follows with prime short-rib sauerbraten with plum spätzle, green apple and red cabbage. The 2011 Van der Kamp Pinot Meunier plays a role with this entrée.
Finally, the dessert sounds extravagant: compressed sugar shack pineapple with calamondin (specialty citrus indigenous to the Philippines) gelato and lavender paper. The last sips of wine will be the 2009 Late Harvest Lorenzo Chardonnay.
Note: The restaurant now has a full bar license, so cocktails contemporary and classic can add to your dining experience.
The La Follette reception is at 6:30 p.m., and the dinner is at 7.
Cost: $115, plus tax and gratuity. Golden Truffle: 1767 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, (949) 645-9970.
Knight Time
Someone in Orange County is being knighted!
We’ve had a long string of accolades to report on at the Anaheim White House in the past year or so. This is another big one, and there’s a dinner to celebrate the investiture.
The owner of the restaurant, Bruno Serato, will have the title of Cavaliere, Knight of the Italian Republic, bestowed on him by Italian consul Giuseppe Perone on behalf of the Italian government.
The Sir Bruno Cavaliere Dinner will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Come if you would like to be part of the celebration for this occasion.
The royal dinner is priced at $110, plus tax and gratuity.
Here’s a synopsis of some of the honors and the background of it all: This is the only restaurant in the world that we can find that serves dinner every evening of the year—and has done so for several years—to 300 or more latch-key children whose parents have no alternative but to live in motels.
Bruno has been honored as humanitarian of the year at the White House (the real one in D.C.).
He’s been featured in People magazine as a hero; he was twice featured on the national CBS evening news for his extraordinary efforts to feed kids who would often otherwise go to bed hungry.
Bruno was honored with the San Marino Medal, given once a year in Florence, Italy—two previous recipients were Mother Teresa and the New York City Fire Department.
And he was one of 10 international honorees for the 2011 CNN Heroes of the Year. There are more, but that’s enough. For now, we will add cavaliere (knight) to the honors.
Anaheim White House: 887 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, (714) 772-1381.
Save The Ritz
Had lunch with some friends two weeks ago at The Ritz in Newport Beach, and it was crowded. There’s much buzz around town about everyone trying to have meals there before the landlord takes control of the lease next spring. Thus, a website called savetheritz.com has been set up to sign a petition to the Irvine Company urging them to renew the lease.
I’m on board. How about you?
The food is sophisticated and genuine, with bargain lunches of two courses for only $17.50 and three courses offered at dinner for only $35. That, of course, is in addition to possibilities from the full a la carte menu.
Beginning now, every Friday through the summer, the Friday Hawaiian Luau & Barbeque Night in The Garden reappears with live music to embellish the happy atmosphere. There’s a 50% discount on your bottle of wine if you happen to have dinner there on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening.
The Ritz: 880 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, (949) 720-1800.
Foam, Cupcakes and Weird Tacos
Trends abound in the vast restaurant industry. I turn into a bit of a curmudgeon when I think of this subject.
Short ribs everywhere (I’m tired of seeing them on almost every menu); cupcake shops, all touting they are the best; too many creative tacos, many with disparate ingredients that do not belong in my taco shell; more burger joints and pizza outlets than anyone can really appreciate. Lately, it’s French macaron bakeries springing up like mushrooms (they are not the same as our macaroons).
Then there’s the foam of some sort on way too many plates. As we sat with our menus in one restaurant, I saw so much foam on plates going to other tables nearby that I asked the waitress to please be absolutely sure the chef did not put soap suds on any of our dishes, as my husband is not fond of the frothy stuff, either. I don’t mind a meal of molecular gastronomy with each bite fooling the palate if it’s for a fun evening out—still don’t like the foam, though—but every time, I’ll go for a real meal in a restaurant the next day.
I’m a staunch proponent of elevating a product or ingredient to its highest potential, that exquisite taste that it is meant to reference on its own. The major ingredient should shine through and not be distracted from by an abundance of flavors added carelessly or by such manipulation that you can no longer identify the main ingredient by sight.
So now I’ve got myself all riled up and will be going to restaurants where fresh spring peas burst with their sweetness and shimmer like little green marbles on the plate, where the quail is crisp and moist at the same time and tasting exactly like the kind of protein that it is, or where a fresh fruit cobbler trumps any other dessert in recent memory.
I know where to find these things and will share them in a later column, but this is my opportunity to ask my readers to get back to me with your suggestions and finds—places that serve a piece of fish that’s satisfying and real, where some other dishes are true to their innate flavor. There are so many restaurants, and I would love to hear from a lot of you on your dining preferences. My email address is chaothyme@aol.com.
Real Eating Down South
Most Orange County diners find themselves, on occasion, dining in Los Angeles or San Diego environs. Truthfully, trafficwise, it’s easier to go to San Diego, and the travel time is about equal. I can’t give you a full rundown on fine eating down south, but two places where I know you will find refined but unpretentious dining are in hotels.
The Marina Kitchen at the Marriott Marquis & Marina hotel in San Diego was selected by readers as Best Hotel Restaurant in San Diego Magazine’s 2013 Best Restaurants in San Diego poll.
I can vouch for this one, because we have dined in that hotel several times over the years. I even gathered a group of OC friends, and we made a gourmet weekend of it by having the chef prepare his selections from the menu and then staying overnight in one of the towers overlooking the beautiful marina. Â
Now Marina Kitchen has stepped up even more its dedication to gourmet presentations made from the best local ingredients. So I can relate with my own taste buds why it was selected by the San Diego public for such good food. Nice-looking room and very good service back up the culinary factor.
Another hotel restaurant that I think everyone should experience is actually in Del Mar, specifically the intriguing 1540 at L’Auberge Del Mar, which has picked up a bundle of prominent awards locally and nationally. It’s another property overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and for this one, make a note that private cabanas surrounding the romantic patio make for very intimate dining, although the dining room is also superbly defined.
My husband Patrick and I gave ourselves a stay at L’Auberge del Mar when its public spaces, rooms and suites were completely redesigned four years ago by high-end interior designer Barclay Butera, who has showrooms in Newport Beach, West Hollywood and Utah. His local showroom is at 1745 Westcliff Drive. This property and its restaurant are so lovely and serene in a friendly sort of way for us, and we often recommend it to friends. Marina Kitchen has a more laid-back attitude, while 1540 is the more sophisticated restaurant by far. And each menu item is a definitive work of camera-perfect art. Of the two, Marina is a bit more expensive, with dinner entrées in the $18 to $42 range. There are many signature entrées at 1540 in the $29 to $33 range, and the word “stunning” suits the gorgeous food that comes from this kitchen.
Marina Kitchen in Marriott Marquis and Marina hotel: 333 W. Harbor Drive, San Diego, (619) 699-8222. 1540 in L’Auberge Del Mar: 1540 Camino Del Mar, Del Mar, (858) 793-6460.
