These OC Landmarks Are a Rare Combination of Quality and Longevity
ANAHEIM WHITE HOUSE
887 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim
(714) 772-1381
Lunch and dinner
This is, hands down, the county’s definitive contemporary Italian restaurant. It’s situated in a Victorian-esque mansion with a rolling meadow of lawn with a winding pathway leading to a columned verandah furnished with beautifully napped tables. Open the leaded glass door and inside find more refinement with not only the tables draped in white, but chairs covered in white as well. By day, the light dances through the delicate curtains highlighting flower arrangement and sparkling table settings. By evening candlelight flickers romantically everywhere. I love to sit in the room with the fireplace and just linger over lunch or dinner. I always feel that this restaurant is really a world apart that we all deserve to experience.
Awards galore are in evidence in the foyer. A Grand Award for its wine list, years of top honors from California Restaurant Writers group, one of the top 100 restaurants from Epicurean Rendezvous, lavish commentary from Zagat Guides and, of course, owner Bruno Serato is a former Business Journal pick as Restaurateur of the Year. Bruno was born in Italy and still has family ties there. He frequently visits and takes note of new dishes in Italy at the moment. Then he comes back and offers us the same dishes.
Some signature items, though, always stay on the menu. One is the lobster ravioli with the spark of prosciutto and tangle of crispy leeks. They happen to be the best of the genre that I’ve found in OC. Imagine a scallop martini, pan-roasted crispy skinned whitefish with a lemon beurre blanc served over lobster mashed potatoes, roasted filet with morels and rabbit with saffron risotto (my all-time favorite).
Don’t imagine, taste.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention that this is some of the most beautifully presented food in the county as well.
ANTONELLO
3800 South Coast Plaza Drive, Santa Ana
(714) 751-7153
Lunch and dinner
Such a beautiful and classy restaurant. Such comfort in the grown up Italian food. Such feelings of Orange County continuity. Owner Antonio Cagnolo and chef Franco Barone have seen this county grow and fed the dealmakers all along the way.
Walking into Antonello is like looking directly into someone’s soul, Antonio’s own soul, since it is designed as a gorgeous village square in Italy. I have a place in my own heart that gets me to the table here with friends for lunch or I just call at the last minute to gather about five couples together to pamper ourselves with an evening meal.
Antonio and Franco are the epitome of dedicated restaurateurs. Together they reminisce about foods they ate in Italy as children and that they always have when they visit relatives there now. Those real foods have worked their way into the menu, along with the signature dishes we have always known at Antonello.
On the must list of appetizers for me are the original mozzarella cheese that’s lightly fried until it oozes out when you cut into it, and the salad of green beans, arugula, mache, fennel and shaved parmesan cheese. I demand that everyone have Antonio’s mother’s miniature ravioli stuffed with veal, called Ravioletti di Mamma Pina. If you like gnocchi these are exemplary little dumplings, fluffy and light in a tomato and basil sauce with fontina cheese melted over them. The marinated thin medallions of filet mignon cooked in a clay pot are a beef lover’s dream. They are Antonio’s favorite food, and I love them too.
The menu is quite large, the food gorgeously presented, the wine list legendary and the service is always top-drawer.
THE ARCHES
3334 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach
(949) 645-7077
Lunch and dinner
The Zagat Guide says, “best steak Diane anywhere.” The Wine Spectator has bestowed honors since 1983 for having one of the top wine lists in the country. This place has been here since 1922, but it is gregarious owner Dan Marcheano, who purchased it two decades ago, that has given it an almost flagrant conviviality and comfort level that we relish. In the golden era of Hollywood, Humphrey Bogart used to park on a barstool for long stretches, while at tables all around, the cream of the Hollywood celebs drank and dined. The movers and shakers of OC and searchers of unadulterated real food now make up the clientele.
When I need or want the ultimate in “feel good” comfort, I run to The Arches. This is the only restaurant around with truly cushy, sexy red booth seating for everyone in the two main dining rooms. It’s the place where we can still get that steak Diane and many other dishes made tableside. It’s the place where the waiters know their customers by name and remember their preferences. And for me, the most sterling thing is that it is the only place this side of Jimmy’s Kitchen in Hong Kong that has a truly “Continental” menu of quality food. Pasta dishes, plates piled high with crab legs, frog legs, beef stroganoff, prime rib, lobster thermidor, shrimp curry, soft-shell crabs, fresh sea scallops, lamb and veal dishes, calamari, scampi, bouillabaisse, abalone, bratwurst and sauerkraut and dozens of other dishes like this put it in a wonderful world of its own.
As if this weren’t enough, at lunch you have a large menu of Blue Plate specials at only $9.95. And for dinner on Sunday and Monday evenings, 19 entrees are offered as full meals including choice of soup or salad, potatoes and vegetables for only $15.95 and $16.95.
Oh, and they are open till 1 a.m.
Simply put, The Arches has no peers.
CAF & #201; EL CHOLO
840 E. Whittier Blvd., La Habra
(562) 691-4618
Lunch and dinner
This is one of the restaurants belonging to the family of Ron Salisbury, whose parents started the first El Cholo in Los Angeles in 1926. That restaurant still sets the national standard for authentic Mexican dining and few restaurants can match their years upon years of accolades from America’s premier food magazines. It remains one of the top celebrity hangouts in LA. This caf & #233; in La Habra is a slightly smaller version using the same acclaimed recipes, with some amazing New Century additions for added interest.
There’s a bright, fiesta-like atmosphere, but with a definite sophisticated edge. You walk into a room that promises a good time from the outset. Everything from nachos to chimichangas, chiles rellenos to burritos and all the familiar Mexican cuisine in between is on the menu. The seasonal green corn tamales, available till the end of this month, are ordered by connoisseurs across the country. You should rush to the restaurant to have them within the next two weeks.
You also need to know where the kitchen goes beyond even that. Crab taquitos and crab enchiladas, the nine-ingredient tostada, top sirloin tacos, the most succulent carnitas served with nopales and all the condiments, shrimp fajitas and a ravishing tortilla soup are highlights in my mind. From the old traditional favorites, I adore the Sonora Style Enchilada. This is not something wrapped in a tortilla. Instead, it is layers of tortillas, with savory sauced chicken and cheese sandwiched in between, topped with olives and a fried egg. Nowhere else this side of the border have I found it so flavorfully done.
This is more than comfort food; it’s an education in dining. PS: the green corn tamales are also available at the El Cholo Cantina in Irvine.
THE CAT & THE CUSTARD CUP
800 E. Whittier Blvd., La Habra
(562) 694-3812
Lunch and dinner
This is a restaurant dripping with charm. Old English to the hilt, with the warmth of brick and polished wood, beamed ceilings, fireplaces aglow, lush carpeting, terribly comfortable seating and a pleasantness that we are accustomed to finding in the manor houses of Europe. Linen-draped tables are set with sparkling china and glassware, romanced with candles and flower arrangements. It envelops you.
This is also part of the Salisbury family of restaurants and sits beside the El Cholo, but it is a continent apart in concept. Ron’s son, Creed, is the master here, cooking food that is filtered through a California prism. Nothing is jarring. He uses ingredients of the highest quality and sticks to understandable dishes, but gives them polish and bearing through sauces and intriguing side dishes.
Best examples I can give you for appetizers are baked goat cheese with wild mushroom sauce, sea scallops with Dijon mustard cream sauce and shrimp ceviche. Entr & #233;e enticements are many. I admit to having a long appreciation for the flavors that Creed can coax from his ingredients. Roasted duck (so crispy skinned, yet with tender moist meat) comes with corn pudding, tequila shrimp with fettuccine, lamb tenderloin with blueberry-Merlot sauce and pork medallions are most comfortable with their Port wine sauce. Indonesian satay perfumes the filet mignon on a lunch salad; Montmorency dried cherry sauce dribbles over seared medallions of deer on a dinner favorite. Then again, there’s the unadulterated, tender, wonderful grilled rib eye steak with a frazzle of crispy onion straws that yells nirvana. Fresh fish such as salmon and halibut are always on the menu, too. Everyone should drive to La Habra for this excellent food and atmosphere.
DIZZ’S AS IS
2794 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach
(949) 494-5250
Dinner only
It’s always full, always the same, always a bit of a throwback, and therein lies all of the charm of this old Laguna standard. If you’re into high profile, expensive dining, this is not it. If, however, you like the uniqueness of things seen through a Laguna artsy prism, then you will fall under the spell of this restaurant.
It dates from 1977, under the ownership of Belgian-born Marcel Pitz and his wife, Monique. Now the kids run the show. First of all, let’s look at the d & #233;cor. It’s really a remake of a 1920’s shingled house. A flower garden ushers the way in. French doors open into the parlor. There have always been the two little dining rooms with the bar right out of a ’40s movie. There’s also patio dining. This is the realm of mismatched plates and silverware. Kitschy pink flamingos join sketches of old movie stars on the walls and the heyday of understated Art Deco is alive and well overall.
The menu is concise. All dinners include a generous slice of house p & #226;t & #233;, soup or salad, and wonderful sourdough bread. On to the entr & #233;es. Remember filet Oscar? Still here with the topping of asparagus spears, King crab meat and b & #233;arnaise sauce. Other meats include veal piccata style and with Marsala sauce, chicken breast with various stuffings and Cornish game hen stuffed with a mix of raisins, apples, nuts and rice. Seafood entr & #233;es: swordfish with garlic butter, salmon in puff pastry and cioppino with lots of shellfish. Desserts are as comfortable as the rest of the food.
Complete dinners run $16.95 to $28.95 with a nice wine list to complement it all.
FIVE CROWNS
3801 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar
(949) 760-0331
Dinner only
As inviting as ever it was, 35 years after its inception, we are still lucky to have this fine restaurant with us. Way back at the beginning, it was the local haunt of many movie stars and the no-nonsense food was the call of the day. We’ve always dined with prodigious delight in this replica of a downright adorable English inn, where service is always top-notch and delivered with that touch of kindness and pleasant helpfulness.
The brick walkway, strewn on both sides with flowers galore, leads to the leaded glass door that opens to comforting charms everywhere. It’s habit for us to have a cocktail at the fireplace before settling into lushly upholstered chairs at our table attired in linen and fine china. Overhead, beamed ceilings soar and all around us are reminiscences of a gentler style of living. The server brings the wine list (honored with a Grand Award by the Wine Spectator) and the eloquently updated menu of chef Dennis Brask. We can find many fine wines that do not bankrupt us.
The sesame-crusted crab cakes and the ravioli stuffed with porcini mushrooms are outstanding appetizers. Grilled swordfish with white corn, roasted half duckling with a fruit compote and the prime rib, which comes in four different cuts, are all fine entr & #233;es. There’s also an excellent grilled veal chop and steaks done to perfection; none better than the butterflied tenderloin topped with crab legs, asparagus and b & #233;arnaise sauce. Rack of lamb cannot be done better,crackly on the outside, moist in its own herbed jus beyond. Finally, I would suggest you do not miss the Thai style coconut-flavored scallops and shrimp. Back up and let me have yet another finale: the desserts, which are luscious.
GUSTAF ANDERS
1651 Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana
(714) 668-1737
Lunch and dinner
I consider this restaurant a legend because since it opened in 1989 it’s been our only access to refined Scandinavian food. It has been singled out by Conde Nast magazine as one of the 50 best restaurants in America. Did you know that? The owners, chef Ulf Anders Strandberg and manager Bill Gustaf Magnuson, have been honored by the James Beard Foundation in New York, considered the ultimate tribute for a restaurant or restaurateurs today. Their award reflected their contribution to culinary greatness in this country. Did you know that?
This is the antithesis to loud, crowded, energy-driven places. Instead, it is a serene space that really soothes the senses. There’s enough space to give us plenty of room between tables, which incidentally are beautifully set with a definite artistic bent. Speaking of which, while many restaurants feature the artwork of locals that is for sale, they own their fine collection.
Two salads are above the crowd in every way: baby greens topped with slices of rare lamb and lamb jus vinaigrette and the chopped parsley salad that gives new meaning to texture, healthfulness and taste. The gravad lax and pickled herring are cured in-house and are justly famous. Who else does venison with lingonberry truffle sauce? One particular risotto is luxuriously creamy and strewn with flavor bursts of various mushrooms. Wild game, several kinds of fresh fish preparations and some poultry round out the menu. Do not miss the Scandinavian steak!
Breads are quite famous here; baked every morning in hauntingly delicious varieties, and the desserts like Princess Cake are more than memorable. On those two counts alone, you may want to leave your concern for calories at the door and spend a few extra minutes in a workout since it’s almost sacrilegious to ignore them.
THE HOBBIT
2932 E. Chapman Ave., Orange
(714) 997-1972
Dinner only
Since 1972, this place has positioned itself as unique dining venture. It began and remains in a former home, whose rooms now make up various dining rooms. You dine at 7:30 p.m. with a full bar and lounge being opened an hour earlier. It’s always a seven-course affair of contemporary continental food based on different cuisines, the whole thing priced at $58 plus tax, gratuity and wines. There are always one or two alternate entr & #233;es, which can be ordered at $5.75 additional cost. The menu changes every week. Occasionally there are dinners featuring a top-notch winemaker where the prices are somewhat higher. Plan on three hours or more to work your way through the meal.
It all begins with appetizers in the wine cellar. There’s a certain method in having the diners gather there first. Since the wine collection is vast (11,000 bottles with 950 labels on the list), this affords the opportunity for diners to select their wines for the evening. Upstairs, Debra Philippi plays host during dinner and husband Mike is the chef. The meal unfolds with various fish, salad, sorbet, entr & #233;e and dessert courses, six in all at the table. There’s a time out mid-meal so that diners can walk a bit and relax and take a hiatus from the long seating time. The style of dining makes for conviviality, and that’s good in these stressful times.
LA BRASSERIE
202 S. Main St., Orange
714-978-6161
Lunch and dinner
Chef Joe Vieillemaringe and host Paul Rossi opened La Brasserie 24 years ago and have kept their own French accents intact just as they’ve kept a coterie of appreciative customers all along the way. This gracious restaurant reeks of European charm and its cuisine is solidly French. Interiors are similar to a country home where the hostess has put out her linens and china to entertain you and made sure an aura of friendly warmth surrounds you.
The chef starts his day early, tending to long-simmering stockpots that send the delicious aromas of downtown France wafting out into the neighborhood. I usually begin with escargot but there’s also a fabulous onion soup and a smooth terrine of foie gras. I have eaten my way though this menu many times over in years past. Love the tender sweetbreads and Dover sole. There are several steak and beef preparations, lobster, abalone, King crab legs, and an imperative preparation of calf’s liver. Beef Wellington, steak Diane, frog’s legs meuniere and coq au vin entice as well. Veal is done no less than seven ways here. Duckling remains a favorite with its sleeker than usual orange sauce. Fresh vegetables, always cooked al dente, provide additional panache.
Meals here are actually complete offerings. All entrees include choice of soup or salad plus the vegetables of the day. I do admit that at lunch especially, I am prone to have a la cartes of the foie gras, the definitive mushroom salad, a bowl of the onion soup and one of Joe’s wonderful French tarts for dessert. They do not overwhelm you with pages and pages of wines here, but rather present a list of a few pages that is sprinkled with lovely boutique wines at even lovelier prices.
LA FAYETTE
12532 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove
(714) 537-5011
Lunch and dinner
I do sometimes get tired of the plethora of modernism that stalks today’s restaurants and occasionally must search for the old, the familiar, the wonderful that evokes fine food as it’s always been without trendiness or rampant creativity creeping into every saut & #233; pan. I always come home to La Fayette for my fix, though it’s off the beaten track. And so do a squadron of chefs, wine connoisseurs, sommeliers and foodies in general who’ve seen it and done it all and yet find so much solace here in the food of chef and owner Edmond Sarfati.
This is the cuddly home to some of the best down-to-earth French food this side of France. Usually we help define our meals with some of Edmond’s personally selected “little” wines from France and our own wine country, wines that are probably still underpriced because the whole world has not discovered their charms yet.
The culinary path here takes you through the likes of salmon quenelles with saffron sauce, quail stuffed with foie gras, sweetbreads in wild mushroom sauce and tian of lamb. It’s the kind of food that the most famous of chefs in France cook in their little bistros they all seem to open after the flush of success hits them. Edmond puts sophisticated flavor subtleties in a country French casserole of confit of duck with fresh garden vegetables. A mere piece of beef or lamb is suddenly made terrific with one of his lovely sauces that are the epitome of everyday quality cooking in the homeland. Then, to finish it all off with one of his handmade desserts is pure heaven. What a treat.
LAS BRISAS
361 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach
(949) 497-5434
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
I got a big laugh out of this one when we were traipsing around Florence, Italy, went into a gallery and, upon hearing we were Californians, the gal tried mightily to sell us a painting of this oh-so-famous building perched above the ocean. The cost was in excess of $4,000. No need, we just come back home and head almost instantly for this wonderful bright spot where the staff is friendly and so professional and the food of chef Javier Zombrano is pretty amazing these days. Anybody who has not eaten here for a long time has surely missed out on the refinement that Javier has brought to this kitchen. And before I even get started, let me say that they even serve a marvelous breakfast every day of the week.
We always start with a margarita because never was there a more perfect place to have one. We sit in the comfy rattan chairs at one of the tables topped with white linen over a tropical print undercloth. Almost all tables have views of the ocean. When we are with others who can share the feast of the seas with us, we order the mixed seafood and shellfish platter to start. I love the calamari steak and the grilled salmon with a salsa that reels with Mexican seaside flavor. In fact, there is lots of seafood, including crab and lobster on this menu that sports a Mexican Riviera sensibility and sophistication. The bouillabaisse is outstanding with its carload of shellfish and swimmers and its saffron-tinged broth. You may have eaten steak at other places, but like the poultry, it too rises above the competition in the south of the border gourmet genre. Tequila in the sauce and a mountain of crisply fried onion straws puts it on that high plateau. There are also plenty of Mexican items like burritos with high-quality ingredients and the desserts are as impressive as the views.
LA VIE EN ROSE
240 S. State College Blvd., Brea
(714) 529-8333
Lunch and dinner
I love France, and I feel the very soul of France in all its facets at this restaurant. No wonder. Owner Louis Laulhere (my Restaurateur of the Year last March) makes several treks each year to the south of France, his native territory. Last year, he was featured in a multi-page story in the French press, which detailed the authenticity his restaurant here maintains and the mark he’s made on OC in the past 20 years. He has forged a respect with the culinarily adroit in France and when they are visiting over here, they are dining at La Vie with him.
One restaurant critic said a long time ago that “this place is so charmingly French you want to pinch the walls.” I can hardly improve on that. It is, in fact, a true Normandy farmhouse that serves as restaurant. Therefore, you have fireplaces and various rooms with wood accents, comfortable armchairs and tables romantically aglow with candles reflecting their light on the table settings.
Louis tries to always reflect the seasons on his menu and the fresh ingredients indigenous to that season. These dishes have pleased us recently. Grilled sea bass that sat in a small moat of vegetable “bouillabaisse” broth, quickly saut & #233;ed shrimp napped in lobster sauce and pork tenderloin with caramelized apples. The duck with a balsamic-infused demi-glace sauce is quite terrific. French desserts are well represented too. A cart is literally laden with tarts and cakes and pastries of the not too sweet variety. I often become very, very French and order warm crepes filled with Grand Marnier custard and fresh berries. Color this restaurant very, very special.
MR. STOX
1105 E. Katella, Anaheim
(714) 634-2994
This was the restaurant that first made a serious commitment to having a world-class wine cellar in OC, now housing perhaps 22,000 bottles with about 900 labels on the list. The owners, brothers Ron and Chick Marshall and Ron’s wife, Debbie, hired a chef more than a decade ago who also had a love of wine and a passion for cooking to match the wines. Chef Scott Raczek has carved out a niche, along with the Marshalls, that draws full houses for their special food- and wine-matching dinners. They call it a “restaurant in the European chateau tradition.”
The restaurant, a Mission-style building, was totally renovated in the last couple of years and is now a sophisticated showplace. Huge brass-accented glass doors invite you into the marble foyer with rooms beyond sporting big booths, good art, piano music and even Axminster carpet underfoot. You sense that this is a place to look into every nuance on a plate and take in every aroma and essence in your wineglass.
They bake all their artisan breads in-house and you may have even noticed them in your markets. Take note: they are addictive. Scott has free reign to purchase the best ingredients and makes the most of it. His menu boasts an assortment of fresh seafood. There are prime steaks, lamb, veal, duck and chicken too. Herbs are picked from their own garden. Pasta is freshly made every day. This is the only place I’ve found rabbit braised with artichokes, and I waste no time ordering it. Basically, this is California creative cuisine that stays closer to a French edge than an overly trendy one. The pastry chef makes sure we are always as intrigued with dessert as the courses that preceded it. It is a beautiful and serious restaurant.
RIVIERA AT THE FIRESIDE
13950 Springdale St., Westminster
(714) 897-0477
Lunch and dinner
Sometimes going to a place that’s like stepping back half a century is more than refreshing. The thing that pleases me most with this restaurant is that the younger people we invite to come along for a meal with us are so taken with the relaxing, appealing, kindly atmosphere at the beginning. They are so used to high energy and noise, and this has such a calming effect instead. Then, when they eat the food and realize they can recognize what’s on the plate and that it tastes so good, they fall in place just like us older folks who have been going to Riviera for decades.
So beloved by its patrons was this restaurant, that when it moved from its South Coast Plaza location two years ago, the crowds from Newport and South County environs went right along with it. That’s a phenomenon unprecedented in restaurant history here. Clientele never follow when a restaurant changes location more than a couple of miles away. So how did they manage to keep their customers and get them to drive to Westminster? Well, we all love that black leather booth atmosphere with the friendly bar alongside where one can imagine some movie stars sitting long ago. So few restaurants have waiters in tuxedos anymore, and we love that professional attire on this polished crew. It makes a statement that they are here to see that you have a special dining experience.
A lot of the food is prepared tableside, something seldom seen anymore. Before even ordering, you are tempted to fill up on the superb French bread and the crudit & #233;s including house p & #226;t & #233; and a plate of crisp vegetables and olives. Steak tartare is the best; spinach salad with flamed dressing is wonderful; pepper steak, steak Diane, roasted duck, chicken in red wine, frog legs, saut & #233;ed fresh fish and other classics are so compelling. Invite me here any time.
THE RITZ
880 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach
(949) 720-1800
Lunch and dinner
Twenty-five years ago, Hans Prager was sitting in his Ritz restaurant at the foot of the Newport Beach pier. He was happy there. Then the ’80s rolled around and Pacific Mutual made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Would he like to move The Ritz to the ground floor of their building in Newport Center? It was a heady time. He took with him a love of the old San Francisco d & #233;cor that had fit the oceanfront location so well, and with his designers, he improved on it. The new Ritz featured tin ceilings, a longer bar replete with gas-lamp style lighting, red booths in the bar and along the walls of the main dining room and huge pictures of Escoffier himself gazing down on the dining crowd. Glassed in rotisseries showed off roasting ducks and meats and extra dining rooms accommodated everyone. It has worn well.
One of the most famous appetizers in OC is their version of the Lazy Susan called The Carousel. The cured gravlax, smoked sturgeon, cocktail shrimp, Dungeness crab legs, Maine lobster, goose liver p & #226;t & #233;, prosciutto, filet mignon tartare, and marinated herring is served for two or more. Ritzy food continues with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon topped with caviar (with a shot of vodka), crab cakes, fried oysters and escargot. And, those are only appetizers. Dover sole, culotte steak, Lake Superior whitefish, broiled veal chop, bouillabaisse, pepper steak, veal osso buco and the Original Scandia Filet of Veal Oscar are some of the dinner entr & #233;es. The lunch menu is full of lighter but equally fine dishes. Toss in several specials every day, and there’s always plenty to choose from.
This legend reeks of money and power and seriousness about food and wine. Makes me always feel like some of it might rub off.
SPLASHES
1555 S. Coast Highway (in the Surf and Sand Hotel), Laguna Beach
(949) 497-4477
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
There has always been a restaurant here overlooking the sandy beach; however it took on new significance when, a few years ago, the hotel closed the Towers, the very glamorous Art Deco aerie on the top floor of the building. Splashes took up the mantle and stepped in where Towers left off. At first they did a balancing act between the casual food they’d been known for and the higher octane cuisine of the now-closed gourmet restaurant, trying for dishes that melded the two concepts on each plate. What happened quite quickly was that the casual food stepped up a notch but found its own space on the menu and the gourmet fare we’d been dining on above also appeared, turning Splashes into a venue to be reckoned with. Now, we could have sandwiches and salads with more panache, and we had truly inventive cuisine that boasted fine ingredients.
On the current menu there’s a swell crab dumpling soup, ahi crusted in sesame seeds and sweet day boat scallops (hand gathered daily) with lemon-flavored paparadelle. The Hawaiian swordfish has a very likable lacing of licorice driven by the fennel salsa and pan-roasted Maine lobster is presented with orange cardamom sauce. And those are only part of the seafoods. As for other meats, I am always happy with grilled lamb loin salad. Osso buco made with lamb shank gets a serious dousing of Burgundy wine. The veal Porterhouse is most impressive. They also do a very nice spa menu.
With views of the ocean like this, and food that’s gotten consistently more interesting, everyone we refer to Splashes is coming back happy.
TRABUCO OAKS STEAKHOUSE
20782 Trabuco Oaks Drive, Trabuco Canyon
(949) 586-0722
Dinner only
In the past 30 years, they’ve sold 2 million pounds of potatoes and probably much more beef. Take a beautiful drive to El Toro Road east from the freeway into Santiago Canyon. At Cook’s Corner, turn right and drive under the oaks to the fire station. Turn left and you’ve arrived at one of the most fun places around. The outside’s not much; inside, ties they’ve confiscated from overdressed patrons and business cards cover the walls. A tree grows smack-dab through the middle of the dining room. It has as much kitsch as any place in the county.
Proprietors Steve and Dori Nordeck know better than to fool with a good thing. They just keep up the tradition of serving top grade beef, aged and hand-trimmed to their specifications. Everything’s broiled over mesquite, imparting that smoky hardwood flavor. French fries are also hand-cut, chicken is battered and fried by the order. They even make their own salad dressings and cook the spaghetti sauce from a third-generation family recipe. Quality’s good and prices are right.
Big appetites can go for the 32-ounce top sirloins. I settle for one of the smaller cuts of filet, a 12-ounce New York or 16-ounce Porterhouse. The also serve spaghetti, lamb chops, halibut and shrimp. And, any night but Friday and Saturday, you can have a big plate of barbecue beef ribs that require some finger licking and wet towels. The big ending is called a Hot Cherry Gizmo: cherry filling wrapped inside a flour tortilla and deep-fried. More cherries and whipped cream adorn the top. It sort of fits the avant garde nature of this legend. n
