The Arches
3334 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach
(949) 645-7077
I do not know of another bar where drinks are treated with more respect. That even means that all the citrus juices are hand-squeezed. Order something with grapefruit, orange, lemon or lime juice and you’ll see it squeezed into the drink.
There’s a commitment to everything from libations to food within these walls that is not happening much anymore. If you want to see a celebrity while having your meal at the bar, this is probably your best chance in Newport Beach. The owner, Dan Marcheano, is one of the funniest men I’ve ever met, and when I asked him about celebrities who’d come through the door, he asked me, “In which decade?” Every major CEO in the county, plus sports greats and current stars of stage and screen come and go,along with those who are merely fans of this legendary place and don’t need to be known for their name. I’m old enough to remember when we’d read in the paper that Humphrey Bogart and John Wayne and Howard Hughes had been seen dining at the Arches. Marcheano adds, “We are not known for being trendy: here today, gone tomorrow.”
This important bar, where the drinks are generously poured, is overseen by head bartender Abe, no last name needed or used. He knows everybody and before I got this idea, he already had a coterie of regulars who had a salad and burger or full meal at his bar. Contrary to the plethora of modern drink creations being sold in some places, Abe fills an awful lot of requests for classic cocktails. From the simplicity of a bourbon and water to a Manhattan, Gibson or daiquiri, they are all at home here, along with any trendy new drinks to which you might have become accustomed.
Can you imagine anything better than having some fresh stone-crab claws with your cocktail? I am happy at this bar having the absolutely classic Cobb salad or the Caesar made with equal respect. They probably sell more beef than most steak houses,what other menu in OC has a Delmonico, for instance? Patrick is crazy about the pepper steak and it does cry for a good glass of Cabernet. Here, we can still relish ch & #226;teaubriand and beef Wellington. I haven’t done this yet, but so much of the food here is finished tableside that an order of steak Diane is in my future, I’m sure. I’ll just have to turn around on my bar stool and watch the final preparation there beside the bar, just as if I were in one of the restaurant’s very cushy booths.
Bayside
900 Bayside Drive, Newport Beach
(949) 721-1222
Smart location, very smart-looking bar. The long curve of this modern bar is fronted by a dozen of the most comfortable tall armchairs I’ve ever found. I dare not call them bar stools, for they are the antithesis. The custom-designed iron chairs are works of art unto themselves, and they are so luxuriously padded that it’s hard to wrest yourself from them. So, why not stay at the bar and eat?
The head barkeep is Doug Charles. He used to be on a construction crew in Alaska. One evening the bartender at a local bar didn’t show up and the owner, who knew Doug slightly, asked him to help out. Knowing nothing, he says, “I held a bottle of something clear in one hand and something colored in the other hand and that’s what everyone got, no matter the name of the drink.” Back in his hometown of Las Vegas, he was a casino dealer for a few years before deciding that he really did want to learn bartending. After 24 years in this profession, he became part of the “family” at Bayside when it opened last year, and he has quite a following already.
It’s fun to have Doug shake up a signature cherry bomb martini. With much verve, he pours three Absolut vodkas: Kurant, Citron and Mandarin. Then, he adds a splash of sweet and sour and gives it all a shake. On top, he floats Peter Herring (a reddish purple cherry liqueur), which is heavier than the other ingredients and sinks to the bottom of the glass. I call it the perfect Newport drink. Of course, since the restaurant itself has such a large and serious wine cellar, the wine sales are tremendous. But, then again, you often find connoisseurs ordering small-batch bourbons: Basil Hayden (80 proof), Knob Creek (100 proof), Baker’s (107 proof) and Booker’s (125 proof).
There is a California tapas menu for the bar, perfect for a grazing meal. One at a time, we eat crab fritters with crushed avocado, a grilled lamb chop on potato puree, a chunk of grilled salmon with both potato and tomato garnish, a little rare venison, or rare tuna with Asiatic undertones. From another section of the bar menu, the tiger prawns in a martini glass are well conceived. Love the Black Angus steak sandwich or, when in a more chic mood, the seared foie gras-and-quail combo. A plate of pasta with chicken, roasted peppers and olives is also fine. The full restaurant menu is available, should you desire. We sometimes share one of the extraordinary desserts with our last sips of wine or our after-dinner drink at the bar.
Bistango
19100 Von Karman Ave., Irvine
(949) 752-5222
Michael Danahy has been presiding over the 16-seat bar for 18 months, after several years of getting a “Ph.D.” in bartending at other places. Since this is a heavy-duty restaurant for the business crowd at lunch and both a business and romantic crowd at dinner, he gets his share of interesting customers on any given day. When this restaurant opened more than a decade ago, the long zinc-topped bar and the very comfortable lounge itself got lots of press. It was beautiful and unique and remains so. Is it still the only lounge in the county that has live music every night of the week?
Michael admits to loving the soaring glass walls, the total excitement and surroundings of Bistango. In fact, there’s something about the sleek look of the Atrium building and the restaurant itself that makes us want to stick with classic drinks. However, much of this crowd is very trendy and so the cosmos and the martinis of every description are wildly popular. The customers of every age we’ve talked to at this bar have an air of sophistication about them and seem to be well-schooled and well-traveled. They have a broad outlook on life. Since cigars have become so popular in the past few years, bourbon and Scotch, especially the small-batch varieties, have experienced a resurgence, because these two beverages have an affinity for cigars like no other. Michael has invented the chocolate-covered cherry that has become the amusing drink for many. It is a fine after-dinner drink for me: a combination of Kahl & #250;a, Amaretto, Grenadine and white cr & #269;me de cacao.
Customers have grown used to having the complimentary pizza at happy hour. But, there’s an interesting bar menu as well. Thinly sliced bresaola (Italian air-dried beef) with shaved Grana Parmesan cheese is perfect bar fare, as is the tartare of tuna with chile vinaigrette. Classic cantaloupe with salty prosciutto ham, a zesty salad Ni & #231;oise, or smoked salmon with Mediterranean vegetables are fine for us. From the regular menu, we like having the risotto with peas and mushroom ragout, the veal chop with wilted spinach or a nicely grilled steak with shoestring fries. Comparing stories here with other customers and with Michael while we eat is very appealing to us.
Chimayo
327 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach
(949) 640-2700
This is our dose of Southwestern style in surroundings and food. Ramon Garcia is behind the bar. He used to serve us at Las Brisas and has been here for five years having fun with the customers occupying the 12 seats. I like the dreamy desert colors and the pueblo-style architecture of this building. Sitting at this bar reminds me that drinks ordered in hot climates are often different than what is on the bar agenda in other parts of the world. True to that, the call for tequila-based drinks is strong here and they are ordered in about the same percentage as vodka drinks. Ramon makes a signature cosmopolitan, substituting tequila for the vodka. A popular margarita contains tequila, Cointreau, a splash of lime juice and a splash of cranberry juice.
Sangria is ordinarily a red wine-and-fruit mixture common to Spain. Now, sometimes a customer will want white-wine Sangria, reports Ramon. He told me that the most expensive drink he ever made cost the customer $45 because he wanted a special barrique tequila by Presidio used in his margarita. If you make that call, you pay the price. I like the fact that when you don’t know what you want to drink and ponder the question seriously, Ramon will ask you your favorite liquors and what you usually drink and will come up with some original suggestions. I have not been disappointed in his creations so far.
There’s a bar menu with 16 selections. The restaurant’s famous chile rellenos crusted in pumpkinseeds, rare ahi and spinach in tortilla rolls, barbecued chicken on skewers with carrot and papaya salad, and either the soft tacos or burgers make ideal fare for us. But sometimes we want something more substantial from the full menu. In that case, the black bean-and-corn soup is a fine beginning. Patrick is very fond of the scampi-style polenta as a first course. Follow that with striped bass with a ragout of wild mushrooms, the carnitas-style pork on cheddar potatoes, baby back ribs with tequila barbecue sauce, or one of the very special Santa Fe dishes that fit so well with this ambiance. In the latter category is a fine pork posole, a stew introduced to American cuisine by the Indians of the Southwest.
The earthiness of the desert meets the golds and purples of the sunset inside this building, and the friendly people around us at the bar while we eat always makes this a fun adventure.
Chimayo At The Beach
Pacific Coast Highway at the Huntington Beach Pier, Huntington Beach
(714) 374-7273
Although this is a sister restaurant to Chimayo, the scene and the food are entirely different. This is like being at a big, private hacienda on the Mexican waterfront. The exotic colors of a Pacific island at sunset blanket the atmosphere. There’s a huge mural of women in a typical rural village scene. And the bar overlooking the sandy beach and the ocean just beyond is of rough-hewn iron with glass shelves beneath a split-rattan ceiling. We’ve stopped by early in the evening and stayed through sunset and into the night hours watching the feeling turn more romantic as darkness falls outside.
As for names behind the bar, we have two to mention here. First, there’s Neil Moxon, who sets up the bars at all of David Wilhelm’s restaurants, this being one of them. He’s commiserated with the best of them across the bar top; from CEOs to Don Adams and Robert Englund (who plays Freddie Krueger); he’s got stories to tell. The head bartender is John Tosh, who is a communications major at Cal State Long Beach by day and adept at keeping you entertained here in the evening hours.
Together, they have come up with some killer cocktails. I find it hard to pass up the extraordinary mango martini. Fresh mango slices are marinated in vodka and that infused firewater is used as the base for the martini. There’s also the nifty Brazilian daiquiri blending Bacardi Solera, banana liqueur, fresh lime juice, pineapple juice and real cream of coconut. It’s an original cooperative effort of David and Neil.
This is an exceedingly friendly and busy bar. Since they can’t hide anything from you, the dining experience can be a wonderful adventure with an astounding view as a complement.
When it comes to food, the bartender is your server in permanent residence. There’s a fairly extensive bar menu from which we can make a most pleasant meal. The shrimp, corn and crab cakes with papaya salsa and the rare ahi rolls with avocado get us going. Carnitas soft tacos match the aforementioned drinks just fine. From the full dining room menu at lunch and dinner, we like the grilled seabass sandwich, linguine with filet mignon and the sweet corn tamales with grilled shrimp. Oh, and there’s the ever-interesting group of pizzas that just love having my Pinot Noir or glass of Merlot play backup. The menu’s big, the surroundings are Riviera-friendly, the bartenders are entertaining, and we could linger for hours.
The Clubhouse
South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa
(714) 708-2582
Patrick and I have no problem lingering at this magnificent alabaster bar lit from beneath with its soaring back bar and gold-leaf ceiling. Tony Minassian, the top guy on the other side of the counter, is good for eclectic conversation as long as you linger. And, he and his exceedingly friendly staff mix some of the best drinks in town. Originally from New York, where his uncle had a bar, he’s been in the swing of things here since the Clubhouse opened. He has a degree in biology and has applied to the University of California, Davis, where he would like to major in oenology.
There are 30 seats around this convivial semi-circular bar that is anchored at each end with the tallest table lamps you’ve ever imagined. An architect with a bent for designing his own furnishings as well is one of the partners in this project and envisioned this whole glorious building. From the time this restaurant opens for lunch, until it closes in the wee hours of the morning, the bar is lined with 8-oz martini glasses filled with crushed ice. Talk about a powerful subliminal message. We’ve talked to several single ladies at this bar from time to time and one thing is consistent: They all feel they are treated with a great deal of respect.
While I’m having a really classic gin martini, there are others at this bar having the trendiest of drinks. One is called the lemon meringue, which features crushed ice, cream, Absolut Citron vodka and Triple Sec blended to a froth and gently layered on top of lemon-flavored simple syrup. Cosmopolitans are also big here, as is the Blue Limon martini made with Bacardi Limon, blue Cura & #231;ao (thus its color) and a splash of lemonade.
There is no separate bar menu. We often have appetizers from the restaurant menu: marinated chicken on skewers, a full pound of steamed clams, or crusty bruschetta brushed with olive oil and topped with freshly chopped tomatoes and lots of basil. Sometimes, we have entrees here, too. The meat loaf is a dish that seems right at the bar, and the honey peppercorn salmon is one of the best fish preparations in the county, so I have no problem having that with my glass of Burgundy as the evening wears on. I won’t kid you; Patrick and I love this bar. We always seem to run into someone we know.
Disneyland Hotel
(The Lost Bar and Hook’s Pointe
and Wine Cellar)
1150 W. Cerritos, Anaheim
(714) 778-6600
When you’re dreaming of being on faraway islands rather than being stuck in the sameness of everyday life here, the Lost Bar is a find. It has the feeling of the tropics and used to be a completely outdoor bar. Now, there are beautiful glass walls around it that are framed in fine wood shaped like the limbs of great trees. When the weather is inclement, the walls are closed and you’re cozy. When the prevalent California weather is cooperating, the walls, which are on tracks, are completely opened and you’re in a garden-esque exotic place.
Head bartender Ron Watts is full of fun and for 17 years has been pampering a mixed clientele parked on the 24 bar stools. He’s served legions of celebrities: Rich Little, Tommy Lasorda, Michael Jackson, Lloyd Bridges and Julie Newmar among them. If, instead of having dessert, you finish off a meal here, order the adult milkshake. Ron swirls up some Kahl & #250;a, vodka, Bailey’s Irish Cr & #269;me, and vanilla ice cream. In this setting, often-ordered drinks include mai tais, brandy Alexanders and other classics. There are a few drinks I find quite amusing in content. One is called the purple hooter: vodka, Chambord and sweet and sour mix. Another is the Scooby snack: Malibu Coconut Rum, Midori, splash of pineapple juice and a little whipped cream shaken together. Yummy. The menu here consists of only some jazzy little jalape & #324;o-cream-cheese poppers, burgers, fries, and a chicken sandwich. But, that’s what you’d probably be eating at the beach bar in Hawaii.
The Lost Bar is located just outside the gorgeous Hook’s Pointe Restaurant and Wine Cellar in the Disneyland Hotel complex. Perhaps you will want to have a look at this wine cellar. Should you want to taste innumerable wines by the glass, or select a bottle of wine to accompany a meal, you can select from the full menu of Hook’s Pointe in this splendid cellar sporting a large bar. Forgetting even the lush woodwork and the art, the Italian lamps and sconces alone make this a must-see place. In this bar setting, we might have some grilled tiger prawns, a Cognac-marinated steak, the risotto with chicken, or even spicy sausage with fettuccine and a pizza. When lighter eating is on our agenda, the open-face grilled vegetable sandwich goes so well with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc or Zinfandel.
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
455 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach
(949) 720-9633
Mike Alvarez is leading the bar crew, after having done stints at Palomino (a restaurant concept we need here) and Ruth’s Chris. He quips, “We have the best bartenders in Orange County and we have a really nice, good time with our customers. There’s a wonderful, happy energy here.”
I would add that this bar is as appealing to women as it is to men.
Mike not only mixes a very good cocktail, he has that list of 101 wines by the glass that his customers peruse endlessly and order from. One very interesting aspect of wines at this bar is that there’s a nightly flight of red wines, and one of white wines (three 2-ounce pours in each flight) so that you can compare different vineyards in the same winery or sometimes it’s three like wines from different wineries.
This restaurant is only open in the evenings and the lovely cherry-hued mahogany open bar is always busy. There are lots of cocktail tables, but merely 13 barstools where you can repartee one-on-one while the action takes place. A recent celebrity at the bar was Kevin Costner.
Mike says that the classic dry martini made with Bombay Sapphire is popular,don’t tell anybody, but next to a Citadel gin martini, this is my favorite drink. Mike says that he’ll mix anything anybody would like. That includes the occasional bourbon, Scotch or brandy in equal parts with cream (these supposedly for those who suffer from ulcers!).
Since this is a steakhouse, we tend toward foods that like being paired with red wine. In fact, sales of red wines overall run 70% here. There is no separate bar menu, but some have beaten me to the dining-at-the-bar scene because there are always plates of food in front of some customers when we arrive. We like this bar so much that we will wait for a barstool just as others are waiting for a table, merely to have this more intriguing dining adventure.
Since wine and cheese have an affinity for each other, we sometimes have an assorted plate of cheeses to start the evening. The wonderful buttermilk onion rings cry for a cocktail back. Saut & #233;ed scallops or a crab cocktail also get us going in fine style. All beef is prime quality and hand cut, so steaks are a natural choice. We like to share a Porterhouse. The center-cut pork chop is also one of our favorites as is the grilled swordfish and the lobster. It’s a treat to visit this bar any time.
French 75
1464 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach
(949) 494-8444
I don’t know of another restaurant whose name pops up so regularly in the conversations of my foodie friends. Just last week, when a big group of us were sharing some courses at another South County restaurant, someone mentioned how pretty French 75 was and the whole table of 12 people chimed in about the d & #233;cor, the food, the true French feel of it. If you have perchance missed it, and I cannot fathom that, then you are seriously in the minority. Having spent a lot of time in Paris, we feel like we’re back in one of our favorite beautiful bistros in the St. Germain district. The attention to detail that was put into this restaurant is remarkable.
The charming lounge, as a whole, is difficult to ignore. We can scarcely go to a table with friends without first having a drink in this intimate enclave just inside the front door. Take one of the 12 seats at the bar fashioned of rich wood and that’s an even more gorgeous experience. The ceiling overhead is a hand-painted scene of cherubs and Champagne bottles and clouds that lends a fairytale quality to the experience. It was Mike Shahoud, with a 20-year history behind the bar, who introduced me to the truly seductive French gin named Citadel, and I am still thanking him. Patrick never has to be coerced by me to have a drink or a meal at this bar.
Mike gets lots of calls for his watermelon martini, but he didn’t share the recipe. He also says that in this atmosphere, Champagne cocktails are the big sellers. They have seductive names. There’s the French underground with Campari and a lemon twist added. The raison d’ & #281;tre (reason for being) has Calvados, Cointreau and lemon mixed with the Champagne. Parisian blonde is dressed up with Grand Marnier, cognac and an orange twist. The signature French 75 cocktail is composed of Hennessy VS Cognac, lemon, Champagne and a lemon twist.
We devour a heap of authentic French fries with Roquefort dipping sauce. We love smearing the duck liver mousse on the toasted brioche and topping that with a dab of sweet garlic “jam.” Mussels steamed in Muscadet wine with pommes frites (more of those crispy little French fries) is first-class bar food. Farmhouse chicken with roasted shallots, sea bass with an herb crust and New York steak are other entrees I recommend as bar food. Just call this place tr & #269;s chic.
Memphis
2910 Bristol St., Costa Mesa
(714) 432-7685
I never tire of the serious redux of this place. After too much high-caliber carousing, at bars and dining too extravagantly, it always gets my feet back on the ground. Memphis has no intention of relinquishing its roots under former ownership as an erstwhile biker bar with a dirt parking lot out front. While the lot has now been paved and the building now houses a very good restaurant, the sense that this is where the ego stays outside is prevalent still. The wooden floors are worn, as are the walls. The furnishings did not require the services of a skilled decorator and the old wooden bar creeping along one long wall remains. The old adage “if these wall could talk,” was never more at home than here. There’s no more down-home place to sit at the bar and stay parked there for a meal. It helps that the food you’ll be served is astonishingly good and interesting.
Let me introduce you to “Krispy” Markley, one of our two female barkeeps in this article. She’s been bartending for eight years, the last four here. She was born in Louisiana, but raised here. She feels comfortable with the food served at Memphis, since it has some Southern intent. If you occupy one of the nine barstools, you will engage in lively conversation and watch her mix drinks with an abundance of enthusiasm.
Krispy has a famous drink she calls the Cappotini, made with espresso, vanilla Stoli, cr & #269;me de banana and Kahl & #250;a. It’s served “up” in a martini glass. She laughs when saying, “Instead of getting sleepy, you can keep drinking and stay wide awake. Just a joke, we don’t encourage people to overdo it.” She creates a martini of the week or drink of the week. It might be an apple martini with vodka and apple liqueur, or a watermelon pucker with watermelon liqueur as the infusion.
If you’re sitting at the bar during happy hour from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., all of the small plates on the house menu are half-price. We enjoy the beet salad with pecan-crusted warm goat cheese. The Southern-style crab cakes are made of rock crab meat and corn and peppers and have a potato-green bean salad on the side. A Cajun appetizer plate offers us some fried prawns, blackened sea scallop, and grilled chicken andouille sausage. You will never catch either Patrick or me passing up the wonderful Zuni fry bread topped with pizza ingredients. It’s the best! For bargain eating, this is nifty stuff. Large plates on the menu encompass everything from fried catfish to jambalaya, roasted chicken to meatloaf, steak and chops to vegetable plates. Love it all.
Morton’s of Chicago
South Coast Plaza Village, Santa Ana
(714) 444-4834
If the luck of the Irish is with you, then you’ll be stopping by this bar to meet head bartender Patrick Brian Quinn, better known as Irish. He’ll be mixing up his specialties and old classic drinks for all the folks taking up the barstools. Irish arrived from Ireland in 1982 and has been bartending for 16 years, five of them here, since Morton’s opened. He’s a good storyteller. The private-club feeling of this restaurant and bar makes me feel safe and rather hidden away from the world of troubles and stress outside. It’s decorated with a back-bar wall of etched glass windows and lovely art deco sconces.
One of his signature cocktails is the Shanahan (Amaretto, Southern Comfort, 7-Up, and sweet and sour mix). It was created for John Shanahan, who founded Hooked on Phonics and now owns his own pub called Shanahan’s on the Green in Dublin. Shanahan, it seems, sat one evening sipping a shot of Louis XIII (price ranges in various bars from $115 to $150 a shot). He decided to try mixing some flavored liqueurs with the expensive libation and after several tastes of these concoctions, Irish himself mixed an affordable drink and named it after the multi-millionaire. The Shanahan is a wonderful after-dinner drink.
While the lounge and the newly opened adjoining patio are spacious, there are but 10 barstools. It’s fun to perch on them at happy hour and nibble on the complimentary little steak sandwiches. To have a meal at the bar, there’s a plate of these sandwiches, enough for two, with the thinly shaved beef surrounded with several of the little rolls and accompanied with horseradish spread. Otherwise, the entire Morton’s menu is available. We’re inclined to have some oysters on the half-shell, a little lump crabmeat in mustard-mayonnaise sauce, broiled sea scallops wrapped in bacon, or a bowl of their rich lobster bisque. We can forego sitting at a table to have one of their famous steaks, and the lamb chops or shrimp Alexander seem to fit right in with the charm of Irish and the people around us. I have not yet figured out why I always walk away with a bit of an Irish lilt in my own voice after dining at this bar.
Pinot Provence
686 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa
(in the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel)
(714) 444-5900
John Dunn, the congenial head bartender and native of Boston, has been in Orange County since 1986. Before his stint behind this very classy bar, he spent 10 years at Prego remembering the favorite drinks of his customers. He loves the freedom bartending affords. He lives at the beach and takes full advantage of that lifestyle in the daytime. John says that designer bourbons are making a comeback. And the popular drink being made with those designer bourbons is the Manhattan, according to John. Vodka is still the biggest seller, mainly because it can be mixed with any flavor component, whereas gin or bourbon, for instance, have distinct flavors of their own that do not lend themselves to all creative efforts.
“People are sometimes influenced in what they drink by the very name of the cocktail,” says John. “A lemon drop martini, a baccarat cocktail, a cosmopolitan are all examples of interestingly named drinks.”
One thing that makes bartending more interesting than it used to be, he says, is all of the flavored vodkas now available. Almost every fruit flavor you can think of is infused into vodka, and that gives bartenders an endless opportunity to create new drinks.
When we think of Proven & #231;e, France, it’s usually the casual side of that sunny territory and the ancient villages that capture our imagination. This restaurant, named after that great gastronomic region, is anything but down-home nonchalant. It is not intimidating, but it is bathed in a certain sophistication that makes a seriousness of purpose known. Limestone used in forming the massive arch into the main dining room, old barn boards lining the ceiling, stone garden tables and urns and even the very tall and narrow doors to a side salon were imported from Proven & #231;e.
The bar dominating the entry area is made of polished hardwood and adorned with wonderful French-style lamps. A great cocktail appetizer is the plate of assorted olives, one of the signature items on the menu. There is no bar menu, however, much of the regular lunch or dinner menu lends itself to the unpretentiousness of dining at the bar. As in France, a tomato tart and the brandade of cod are ideal with a before-meal drink or as a snack.
As entrees, we are happy with the caramelized day-boat scallops, a fresh fish entr & #233;e with a tomato and olive sauce typical of the South of France, braised oxtails, prime rack of pork and lamb infused with rosemary. Well, we shouldn’t forget the wonderful steak with a stack of real French fries. Forget needing a reservation, just perch on a barstool and have a wonderful meal with John Dunn for company.
Salt Creek Grille
32802 Pacific Coast Highway (at Crown Valley Parkway), Dana Point
(949) 661-7799
This is one attractive restaurant and bar. The craftsman styling of the building allows for widespread use of warm woods and a very welcoming ambiance. The 30-seat bar is a place where good conversation seems to come naturally from those sitting around it and from those on the serving side. Head mixologist is Matt Cummins, who has been shaking those drinks and doing repartee with guests for the five years since Salt Creek opened. He’s had Reggie Jackson and, just the other day, Martina Navratilova, sitting at the bar. For Matt, this is an ideal job, since he aspires to be a novelist and has the time to write during the day. He also finds time to play guitar and draw.
Customers can sometimes request strange things. One couple came in and wanted the best Merlot by the glass available. They then asked him to turn it into a spritzer, which of course he did without comment. One of the signature drinks is the Christini martini: Stoli raspberry vodka, Champagne and Chambord in a sugar-rimmed glass, the whole garnished with fresh raspberries. Another popular libation is the Salt Creek margarita: Cuervo Gold tequila, Triple Sec, splash of fresh lime juice and sweet and sour syrup, and a finish of Grand Marnier. The wine list here is studded with good wines in every price range and many customers opt for wine rather than hard liquor.
There is no special bar menu, but lots of customers are delving into food from the restaurant menu. I love sharing some of the tumbleweed onion rings with those around me. Their thin, crispy texture and two sauces for dipping make them perfect bar fare. The same for the fresh, meaty calamari with mustard sauce for dipping. A lemon drop martini is fine sipping with the chicken roulade (baked boneless breast stuffed with mozzarella, prosciutto and garlic) served over linguine with a lemon beurre blanc sauce. The mesquite-grilled swordfish has a flavor that goes with a snappy wine or a classic tonic-based drink, and who would argue with having a tender filet mignon with whole grain mustard sauce as bar food? Even a burger tastes extra special when you’re swapping stories with others at the bar and finding many reasons to smile. We are so comfortable in the ambiance of this bar.
Savannah Chop House
32441 Golden Lantern (at Del Avion), Laguna Niguel
(949) 493-7107
We like the resort lodge atmosphere of this restaurant overall and there’s a feeling of great comfort and relaxation that makes us want to linger for a very long time in the lounge with its big river rock fireplace. The bar itself is faced with only 11 seats and that makes it all the more convivial. There’s plenty of wood accents and soaring ceilings to remind us that stress is not at home on these premises.
Head bartender is Tony Rice. He’s been happy in the profession for the last seven years and since a lot of the clientele are locals, he knows most of them by name. Tony says that drink orders are pretty evenly divided among the old classic cocktails, which he does think are getting more popular again, the wine-by-the-glass customers, and the trendy “everything goes” genre of today. He laughed when recounting that sometimes there are weird requests.
“I just had a customer who wanted an expensive glass of red wine mixed with Coke,” he said.
Rice has a few customers who are quite knowledgeable about the connoisseur’s selection of aged Scotches, some of them 25 or more years old. If you want to try something tasty, rather tropical and interesting, he suggests his Hawaiian punch made of Southern Comfort, Amaretto and a couple of secret ingredients he’s not sharing.
There’s a pattern about Savannah that sorts out the strict dining room crowd (those who always prefer a table for eating) and those of us who like having alternative dining plans ready at all times, the more adventuresome crowd perhaps. We have dined here with so many friends so many times, always at a table because it’s the only way to really visit with more than one other couple when eating. But, when there’s just the two of us, and sometimes with only one other couple, we gravitate toward that friendly bar with a preconceived notion of having our meal there.
There’s no bar menu, but you surely don’t need one with all the interesting dishes on the dinner menu. In this summertime weather, I relish the tuna carpaccio with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and oysters on the half shell disappear quickly. The Louisiana gumbo with chunks of chicken, shrimp and andouille sausage is perfect with a dry cocktail, while the chilled seafood selection is as happy being consumed at the bar as anywhere. More substantial dishes whose flavors seem to fit bar dining are the halibut with Thai red curry sauce and toasted coconut rice, baby back ribs with mahogany sauce, a ribeye steak with fries (request some of the good B & #233;arnaise sauce for your steak), and the fantastic buttermilk fried chicken. Have an Irish coffee and the summer strawberry shortcake for dessert. Above all, have fun.
Scott’s Seafood
Grill & Bar
3300 S. Bristol St., Costa Mesa
(714) 979-2400
This is a beautiful Southern plantation-style building where the social expression of congeniality is paramount. So, why wouldn’t we want to sit in the bar and eat with the natural wood and white interiors all around us? The hanging fans overhead, the cool garden-like manner of it all reminds me of gracious times I’ve spent in the south. Manners seem to be intertwined with fun at this genteel bar. This is a wonderful place to watch mainstream sporting events since they are discreetly shown on the TVs and this is the antithesis of a sports bar. Allan Roy has 25 years experience behind the bar and that gives him an educated edge about where trends at the bar have been and where they are going. Originally from the Bay area, he started working in restaurants while in college at San Jose State. Thank goodness he liked bartending so much. We get to repartee with him about so many fun things. Allan’s the kind of guy who introduces you to others around you. He says he loves making your drink at the bar or dining at the bar a wonderful experience that will make you want to repeat it. One of the regular customers is Chick Hearn, the sports announcer.
I occasionally go back to a rum drink, and it’s a good thing to do here. Their signature Jamaican martini starts with three kinds of rum, brown sugar, sliced pineapple and vanilla beans all marinated together for at least a week, so there’s always a batch going. Then, he pours the infused rum into a martini glass with some of that pineapple cut in wedges. It’s a tropical dream. Allan says that these days, anything you can mix and shake together and pour into a martini glass is called a martini, so we’re really extending beyond gin and vodka drinks in that realm. There are classic drinks that have acquired a trendy edge, such as a Manhattan made with Knob Creek small-batch bourbon. This bar sells a tremendous amount of wine by the glass.
The full lunch and dinner menus are available. Let me suggest some oysters Rockefeller, or the beef carpaccio to start. The Maryland crab cakes are also delicious. The flavorful ribeye steak is ready for a glass of red wine on the side, and the salmon in an herb crust and the baked sea bass with a thread of sweet mirin taste running through it can be partnered with a dry-style cocktail or any number of wines. Don’t know where you have your rack of lamb, but you might just find me having mine here with a glass of Franciscan Cabernet from the current wines by the glass list.
Taps
101 E. Imperial Highway, Brea
(714) 257-0101
This is a big bar with 27 seats. Chris Snyder is the leader of the pack behind the bar. He has several couples who regularly eat at the bar and even more singles. “Customers get the best service and there’s a special energy at the bar that makes dining fun,” he says. “You have other people to talk to and it’s not intimidating.” He has several years of local experience as a bartender and enjoys the job most because of the people he gets to meet. “It’s never the same. Every day is different and from the guy who visits regularly from Virginia, to local CEOs, to hourly workers, everybody has a story to tell.” Vodka drinks, wine by the glass and beer are his biggest sellers, followed by various classic cocktails. Chris says that he sells a lot of Manhattans, many of them made with “call” brands such as Maker’s Mark. Other popular cocktails include appletinis, cosmopolitans and a signature drink of the bar called a double barrel made with root beer essence and Stoli vanilla. Since this is a bona fide brewery, there are always at least seven custom brewed lagers and ales on tap, rotated from 35 different brews.
This huge, 14,000-square-foot restaurant and brewery opened only last fall. It resembles a grand old chop house that might be found in New Orleans. Bricks, cherry wood, stone and soaring ceilings were used by the architect to replicate the feeling of a warehouse that has been turned into a restaurant. It is worth mentioning that in addition to the cocktail bar, there’s also a 21-seat oyster bar. We, however, are discussing the former at this time.
There is no bar menu, so we order with abandon from the dining room menu that’s heavily weighted with fresh fish preparations and a good representation of steaks, chops and chicken. You could make a meal of the appetizers alone. Chris slides a pale lager my way as the waiter brings some good egg rolls made with blackened chicken. Louisiana blue crab cakes and a good mixed seafood ceviche are bar food deluxe. Spicy jambalaya laden with shrimp and chicken is beer or Gewurztraminer fare, don’t you think? Finally, if I manage to pass on a steak, I can happily settle for the flash-fried fish and chips. This is down-home fun in a nostalgic looking atmosphere.
Trilogy
18201 Von Karman Ave., Irvine
(949) 955-0757
This is a very popular happy-hour place, but it’s also a hot bar at lunchtime where the conversation flows energetically while customers eat here instead of at a table. We personally like the ambiance of this bar so much, and the evening demeanor of it, that we are quite content here after nightfall. Jill Gillespie is the lady mixologist you’re likely to find on duty. She knows all her customers by name, so be prepared to be remembered as an old friend the second time you sit on one of the 20 bar stools.
We have always liked the cosmopolitan look of Trilogy. The owner came from Manhattan and put some of that chic sensibility into the design. For all the pretty restaurants we have around, for some reason, few capture the feel of dining in New York or San Francisco. That aura is captured here. And the food is most certainly some of the best in the county. We could be happy never wandering farther into the restaurant than the charming lounge and bar that greets you upon entering. You just want to relax for a while. We stay at the bar for a long lunch, or all evening.
Jill loves her job because “I meet the most extraordinary people and everything has a connection somewhere.” She says that a short conversation with a customer will likely bring up some place they’ve been or someone they know and she’ll have some peripheral connection to what they are saying. She mixes lots of the new martini drinks and says that many people are also going back to classic drinks of the glamour era. There’s also a big call for wine by the glass.
There is a small bar menu that is half-price weekdays at the 3 p.m.-to-7:00 p.m. happy hour. The calamari are crispy and come with roasted tomato sauce (good with Scotch or Pinot Noir wine) and yellowfin tuna with the nuance of sesame is especially enticing for me. Sometimes, something as simple as a pile of crispy fries, served here in the real French version with a blue cheese dipping sauce, is perfection for the moment. Not on that menu, but a treat anytime are the fresh oysters on the half shell. Jill says they are big sellers this season with a martini back. From the regular menu, order the duck with linguine, the club sandwich made with turkey and Prosciutto, some seared salmon or the remarkable vegetable risotto. Above all, have fun and sustenance at the same time.
