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The Ranch Loses Wine Expert, Keeps Abiding Quality

Michael Jordan, the acclaimed master sommelier, restaurateur and OC native who was part of the inventive team that gave us The Ranch Restaurant & Saloon in Anaheim, has left that enterprise.

Michael will now be using his extraordinary wine knowledge working with Jackson Family Wines. That company includes Kendall-Jackson and a broad portfolio of artisanal handcrafted wines from this country and from several others around the world.

He will travel to those wineries and estates and help broaden the scope of Jackson wines even further. It’s ideal for him, but we’ll miss him very much at The Ranch.

Michael is part of a very elite international group. He’s one of only 201 wine aficionados in the world who has ever been able to pass the exorbitantly stringent Master Sommelier exam—about 2,000 have tried it, and only 201 have succeeded since it was introduced in 1977. The exam is by invitation only and takes place over a wickedly stressful few days.

Adding to Michael’s personal prestige is the fact that he’s also passed the complex Certified Wine Educator exam and is one of only 15 people worldwide to hold both diplomas. Sixty-three people from 19 states and three countries attempted the latest exam for Master Sommelier certification. Only four passed.

Chef Michael Rossi is our assurance that The Ranch will maintain its importance as one of the best restaurants in Southern California. He’s been there since the very notion of the restaurant came to light under the ownership of Andrew Edwards, president of Anaheim-based Extron Electronics. Edwards has several acres of farmland on which The Ranch team grows some of its organic produce, and he’s fastidious in his insistence on quality throughout the menu.

Some of the items are on my all-time favorites list, among them the Petaluma quail and the totally different take on gazpacho. The restaurant itself is a gem for the dining public.

We wish Michael great continued success and congratulate Jackson Family Wines for acquiring such a talent. Meantime, I’m always game for another meal at The Ranch.

The Ranch Restaurant & Saloon: 1025 E. Ball Road., Anaheim, (714) 817-4200.


J-FAT Comes to OC

David Wilhelm, the visionary creator of the former stable of restaurants that made up the Culinary Adventures company—French 75, Chat Noir, Savannah Chophouse, Sorrento Grill, Chimayo, Rouge (all gone now except for Savannah) recently opened Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern, referred to as J-FAT, at the Dana Point Marina Plaza. This is an environmentally friendly restaurant that I’m already hoping will expand to other locations so it will be convenient for everyone.

David’s been down in San Diego for the past couple of years at the original J-FAT and has been working on this first of the company’s expansion plans. This is like a dose of roadhouse chic in looks and American comfort food, with a flair on the plate. A central bar is paramount to the overall theme. Walls of windows allow good marina views. Comfortably casual seating and lots of wood chime in. Patio seating is very popular.

The food is completely geared to comfort. My very first taste of the food, a flatbread with fig jam, prosciutto and honey drizzle, was memorable, and it’s been good going beyond that. For appetizers, you should consider the meatballs perked up with a spicy buffalo wing-style sauce, the killer onion rings with chipotle ketchup, and ahi poke with yuzu cream. An interesting herbed tomato bisque with butter-grilled cheese panini joins several salads at lunch and dinner. The charcuterie board has a nice variety of cured meats and cheeses.

Steak choices include a tasty flatiron. A group of burgers have unique regional American personalities. Baby back ribs and bricked chicken (flattened with a weight while being cooked) are other goodies. They serve real Southern fried chicken all the time. Several types of seafood also beckon.

Going green is very good. Here are some admirable things J-FAT has on its website that it attributes to making it a certified green restaurant: It doesn’t use polystyrene foam in the take-out packaging—instead, everything is biodegradable and made from recycled materials; it prints exclusively on recycled paper and use only recycled materials for disposables; many of the building materials were recycled products, and appliances are energy-efficient; drought-resistant plant species are used in landscaping; low-flow water fixtures are utilized throughout the restaurant, and J-FAT triple-carbon filters the drinking water and serve it in reusable carafes; and the restaurant composts all food waste and recycles all plastic, glass, cardboard and cooking oil. It’s a partner with the Long Beach Aquarium’s Seafood for the Future program and serves only approved sustainable species of seafood and utilizes certified organic and naturally raised livestock, fruits and vegetables. It’s a long but worthwhile list.

Sunday Brunch is as eclectic as the daily fare, and even the late-night bar menu is different than we’re used to. There’s a lot to delve into, and the tastes are making me smile.

J-FAT: 25001 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point, (949) 388-8900.

Mimi’s Gets an Updo

I’m glad I chose to have a closer look at the way Mimi’s Café is looking back and moving forward. Menu revamps, new dedication to what’s in its recipes and how they taste, and a gradual renovation of the interiors is putting a new spark in the restaurant’s dining contributions. Almost three dozen new items will greet customers beginning today, the big rollout date for the totally reworked lunch and dinner items. Some new breakfast items have already been implemented in some locations. The new items are French-inclined specialties taking Mimi’s back to its roots in a quality way.

Mimi’s Café well suited how America was dining when it began 35 years ago.

The country was not yet awash in splendiferous restaurants, creative cross-fusion food and chefs who had people bowing at the culinary altar. The restaurants were a tad like being in France without pretense, and we saved the cost of a trip.

The years and a change in ownership took their toll.

Mimi’s, under the last owners, didn’t deliver the same product that originally brought it its share of fame as family restaurants. The decor in many locations had become shopworn, and they seemed to be fluttering about in an ocean of casual dining places.

Big plans from Le Duff America, the new owners since February, have already been put in motion, and I became a happy consumer when tasting the French-influenced items now being offered. Almost the whole menu has been given an overhaul with use of finer ingredients and eye-catching presentations.

Katie Sutton, corporate executive chef and graduate of the French Culinary Institute, had come on board under previous ownership. Name dropping: Her husband is Andrew Sutton, whose food has put the Napa Rose restaurant on the upscale radar of fine American restaurants.

But she was about to resign when Le Duff took over and convinced her to stay because she had the expertise to really refine the menu if given quality ingredients to work with. Her sense of pride and being truly happy at her job was important to the new owners. I can tell you, she’s happy now.

One of the new versions of eggs Benedict is served atop Lyonnaise-style potatoes with a layer of sautéed spinach, making it a fine breakfast treat. There are a few others with French intent that I have not tried, but the French names alone make me a willing participant. The pure butter croissants and absolutely crisp and satisfying waffles are a couple of other breakfast items that get a happy nod. The waffles, three small but fat ones marching across a rectangular plate, topped with treats such as strawberries or with egg and sauce croque madame-style. All of the breakfast combos we’ve come to expect are nicely redefined.

Onion soup, though good before, is now very honorably French. Baked brie in a hot casserole dish is rich and so scoopable. There’s now a good version of bouillabaisse with the requisite fish and shellfish, while homey coq au vin, crepes enveloping a tumble of seafood, and roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta are a few things joining the parade of new items.

Turkey for your sandwich will have come right out of the oven. No more precut, prepackaged meats. Order a pasta entrée, and the very high-quality pasta is cooked to order. The newly refined Cobb salad, like all other salads, now features freshly made dressings.

Main dishes waiting for you to order include bistro steak with mushroom-au gratin potatoes; sole meunière with Provençal potatoes; grilled salmon atop salade Niçoise; and chicken roasted with herbes de Provence.

Mimi’s Café has many locations. I’m sure there’s one not very far from you.

Tidbits

• Chef Josef Lageder has left the Balboa Bay Club after many years at the helm of the kitchens.

• Dennis Silva, the longtime manager of Quattro Café at South Coast Plaza, has departed and is now working with Cathy Pavlos at Lucca Café. We were delighted to discover him working with Cathy and Elliott Pavlos. She does have a talent for picking good people for her restaurant team. She and Elliott will soon be staffing their new restaurant, Provenance, now being constructed in Eastbluff Center in Newport Beach.

• Nadine Hotong, former longtime manager at French 75 in Laguna, is now the directeur de restaurant at Florent and Amelia Marneau’s classy Marche Moderne at South Coast Plaza. I have long said that Marche Moderne is one of the best and most important restaurants in OC. Had lunch there again just this past week, and my assessment holds steady. Florent’s food is always compelling.

• Meanwhile, at the old French 75 space, originally a 1934 Laguna Beach home, construction ambles on as the building morphs into another restaurant owned by a sports celeb. Anaheim Ducks player and hall of famer Teemu Selanne will have his name on it.

• In Newport Beach, the old Villa Nova space is gutted, and construction there for the second location of The Winery is inching along. The coastal crowd is very anxious to have The Winery in such close proximity. Along with partners in The Winery in Tustin—J.C. Clow, William Lewis and chef Yvon Goetz—the new location will have their newest partner, Thad Foret, on board. Thad is the former managing partner of Antonello Ristorante. He’s such a gem with the public, another ace for customers when the restaurant does open.

• A couple of new restaurants will open at University Center in Irvine, and several closures are coming. Britta’s Café, the cute and quite good restaurant owned by Britta Pulliam, is one that has closed. Steelhead Brewing also closed.

• Rich Mead has ended his stint with the landlord in Anaheim Hills where they had Canyon for the past three years. Rich says he already has another restaurant in the works.

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