The Cheesecake Factory restaurants in Fashion Island and Irvine Spectrum Center have some new menu items ranging from appetizers and entrees to two cheesecakes.
Perhaps best of all is the debut of their “weight management salads.” They come in the same large entree sizes that the Cheesecake Factory is known for, but all are 590 calories or less. Four of them have grilled chicken, the fifth has seafood.
Here are the weight management salad highlights,all of them are served with low-calorie house-made dressings including sesame-soy, spicy vinaigrette or mustard vinaigrette.
The Asian chicken salad features grilled fresh chicken breast piled high with romaine, snow peas, carrots, bean sprouts, green onions, crispy baked noodles, almonds and sesame seeds. The spicy chicken salad also has grilled fresh chicken breast, this time topped with roasted poblano pepper, red and yellow peppers, fresh corn, black beans, onions, rice and cilantro in the mix, along with mixed greens.
A roasted pear and endive salad also makes use of grilled chicken breast, mingling it with additional greens, blue cheese, candied pecans and tomato. The final salad made with chicken is the California salad laid out in rows of chicken, romaine, bacon, blue cheese, tomato, fresh beets, green beans and hard-cooked egg.
The seafood salad has chilled fresh salmon or rare Albacore tuna with mixed greens, red and yellow peppers, green beans, tomato, radishes, hard-cooked egg, kalamata olives and capers. I love it with the tuna.
Another new item is the made-to-order guacamole, prepared from mild to spicy, as you prefer. Not so calorie conscious as those salads, but delicious with tortilla chips, salsa and sour cream adding to the party. A tasty Cuban sandwich is stuffed with thinly sliced slow-roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard and mayonnaise on a special roll, grilled panini style.
Crispy pork tenderloin with lemon-caper sauce and macaroni and cheese on the side now is offered, along with two steaks and a pasta dish. The steaks are a simply grilled boneless rib eye and the same cut marinated in teriyaki sauce before grilling. Thin spaghetti is tossed with asparagus, shiitake mushrooms, oven-roasted tomatoes, Par-mesan cheese and a light garlic sauce.
For the Sunday brunchers, there’s a new Baja chicken hash to try. The generous plate of food contains two crispy tortillas stacked with chicken chorizo, poblano chiles, cubed potatoes, corn, peppers, onions and cheese. It is crowned with poached eggs and chipotle hollandaise sauce and served with breakfast potatoes or sliced tomatoes.
And that gets us all the way to new desserts,cheesecakes, to be accurate. It’s a long name, but white chocolate caramel macadamia nut cheesecake gives you a sense of what to expect. White chocolate is swirled through the cake in smooth form and in chunks. The other ingredients also march happily throughout. And the whole thing sits on a blond macadamia nut brownie crust.
Since I adore tres leches cake in its original Mexican form, I had to try the tres leches cheesecake. Good decision. This one presents moist cake that’s been soaked in sweet cream and vanilla and then topped with tres leches flavored cheesecake and finished with a layer of Bavarian cr & #269;me and fresh strawberries. Don’t bother to sigh. We all know how rich and decadent their cheesecakes are. Their original fame came from these cheesecakes, and they continue their corner on that market. Their reputation has been nicely amended through the years by a whole menu of food items served in generous portions. And, for all of us who are appreciating more and more things organic, they serve organically grown coffee and tea.
Cheesecake Factory in Irvine Spectrum: 71 Fortune Drive (next to valet parking), (949) 788-9998; in Fashion Island: 1141 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, (949) 720-8333.
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Seafood from Blue Coral: offering preseason halibut |
Fresh Halibut
Blue Coral Seafood & Spirits in Fashion Island has been popular since it opened. The beautiful use of blue in the decor gets big play, but it’s really what’s on the plate that has kept it humming.
You owe it to yourself now to take advantage of the current preseason catch of halibut that Blue Coral is privy to and then continue enjoying the fresh fish during the actual halibut season that begins in March.
Halibut fishing is highly regulated throughout the season. How many fishermen can take the fish, how many hours the fishermen can fish and how much catch they can take is controlled. When the halibut is more plentiful and in full season, the restrictions relax but remain a part of the responsible fishing program.
Right now we are in preseason. There is a system called “tradeboat” where, through a lottery, only a few fishermen are let out for a short time. Blue Coral is receiving these first prized local halibut of the season. Most halibut served elsewhere right now is either frozen or flown in from South America.
Blue Coral has declared since opening that their commitment is to getting the highest quality fresh fish, regardless of cost. Their menu is full of seafood, shellfish and prime steaks with deliciously unique takes on preparing and presenting the food.
Blue Coral is open nightly for dinner. They have a beautiful Web site showcasing some of the food presentations and the whole interesting story of the restaurant concept. Go to www.bluecoralseafood.com for more details. The restaurant is at 451 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. Phone (949) 856-2583.
