Amid recent outings came one of those little gems that has taken us on a tasty, unexpected culinary journey with its delicious Lebanese food and a friendly nod to those who might prefer some tasty burgers, sandwiches and salads.
By the time we had we finished our inaugural meal at Bon A Pita in South County, it had already made a first-rate memory that shot this place to my “Bests” list. It is one of those authentic ethnic spots that are abundant in L.A. and in very short supply here.
This simple location in a local mall was no great shakes for décor on first arrival. Sam and Nada Chehayeb took the storefront with a hope of bringing some Mediterranean family recipes to the forefront, and now they give us a family-friendly oasis that completely reveals its soul in the food. Simple tables and a trio of booths suffice for seating, but there are some colorful pictures of Mediterranean scenes on the walls and sweet little Tiffany-style hanging lamps—plus its sparkly clean.
Along with their food, Sam and Nada are about the friendliest restaurant couple you are likely to meet—aided by their college-age son and daughter who also help out with service and smiles on various shifts. It percolates with regular customers, like a local friendship gathering enjoying food camaraderie and good conversations. We have had some good repartee.
Open for breakfast, lunch and early dinners (Bon A Pita closes at 8 p.m.), a vast array of morning egg dishes, griddle items and combo plates get the day started. There are even some south-of-the-border breakfast items. American lunch and dinner items are aboard, but the 30 Lebanese dishes on the menu (and a few daily Mediterranean specials) are my total focus.
Hummus a Hit
The hummus is a smooth mélange of chick peas, garlic, lemon and tahini (sesame) sauce. I have always taught my cooking students to make baba ghanoush; it has been a decades-long favorite for me after I was introduced to it by one of my students.
The falafel patties (blended fava beans, chick peas, spices) are crunchy on the outside, giving way to a softly textured interior. A comfort dish of stewed eggplant, tomatoes and spices has a silky texture and seriously delicious taste (ask for the Lebanese version of moussaka). The kibbe tartare is refreshing when slathered on my pita wedge and topped with red onion and mint leaves. Other things that have been very impressive for me are grilled beef kabob called kafta, along with tender marinated lamb kabobs; flaky phyllo dough triangles with an aromatic spinach filling, fatayer (a bread-type dough stuffed with sumac-flavored spinach, lemon and onion); roast leg of lamb with highly accentuated basmati rice; and a veggie dish of Mediterranean greens to die for.
You can accompany your meal with some nice beers or wines. We had not known how smooth Lebanese beer was until Sam suggested it rather than wine. Otherwise, Chateau Ksara 2008 Reserve du Couvent might win your palate if you like red wine that is well-rounded with a classic berry fruitiness and nicely layered components with receding tannins. Ksara wines date back to 1857 and have recently won a couple of gold medals at the annual International Wine Tasting in Paris.
My readers can now do themselves a favor and add Bon A Pita to their repertoires of cultural integrity. Small, totally unpretentious and such a find for food!
Bon A Pita Café: 24310 Moulton Parkway (in Vons Center, next to Home Savings), Laguna Woods, (949) 380-0465.
Go, Bruno
This is very important for Orange County and children who might go to bed hungry. The well-known restaurateur Bruno Serato of Anaheim White House has just been chosen as one of the Top CNN Heroes of 2011. He is one of only three Americans in the CNN Top 10 now competing for the top award.
As many know, Bruno has been honored by CNN, the White House (yes, the one in D.C.), by Katie Couric on her national evening broadcast, and by People magazine for his passionate dedication to the latchkey motel kids who depend on his nightly dinners at the Boys and Girls Club of Anaheim.
It’s sad to imagine how many kids would go to bed without a decent meal were it not for the 300 free dinners that Bruno supplies through his restaurant each night. He could serve many more children if he wins the CNN Heroes award.
After being chosen as one of the top 10, it’s now imperative that we vote for Bruno for the top recipient of the CNN Heroes Award. If he gets the most votes, $250,000 will go to his Feeding the Children effort. It’s really easy and should make you feel good to help out in this endeavor that requires only visiting https://heroes.cnn.com/vote_en.aspx and casting your vote. We have until Dec. 7, and 10 votes per day are allowed to each of us.
The actual live broadcast of the awards will be shown on CNN at 5 p.m. PST on Dec. 12.
Please vote—a lot!—so that Bruno can win and comfort the tummies of so many children.
Book Signing
There’s also an upcoming lunch to help the cause and a book signing too at Anaheim White House. Bruno’s book, Feeding the Kids in America, was just published. It’s a heart-catching memoir of the many events from his birth and early years in Europe to now and ensuing occurrences all along the way that put him in such a charitable mode and gave him the burning passion to do something about the rising poverty level in America.
With holidays coming, I envision this as a wonderful gift idea.
For details on the lunch, the book, more on CNN voting and general dining at Anaheim White House, go to https://www.anaheimwhitehouse.com or call (714) 772-1381. The restaurant is at 887 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim.
Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest rolls around again, and it’s the marker of the fall season for me. First Cabin at Balboa Bay Club is the one place that I want to be every year to celebrate with the special food because there’s absolutely no place that does it with more panache and authenticity. The special menu runs through October.
It helps that the president of the club, the director of food and beverage, and the executive chef come from the parts of Europe that were birthplaces of festivities like this. Combine their passion for the seasonal food, the superb views of water and yachts as we dine, the upscale amenities of the resort itself—and the downright affordability of the full Oktoberfest menu—and it becomes impossible for others to replicate.
Of course, we always end up dining more than once on this festival of German delights so that I can satisfy my Oktoberfest cravings. I wait the whole year to eat the marinated herring, goulash, sauerbraten, pork or veal schnitzel, bratwurst, roasted pork shank (gebratene schweinshaxen), apple strudel and several other special dishes. Special beers and wines are available for matching, if desired.
Just in case there’s someone in your party that prefers something other than these seasonal dishes, the full regular menu of First Cabin is also always available.
Balboa Bay Club & Resort: 1221 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach, (949) 645-5000.
Wood Ranch Opens
Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill has just opened in Irvine Spectrum, occupying a brand new building near the theaters. This is not a new concept: the first restaurant opened in 1992 and there are now 14 of them. The Spectrum restaurant is the third in OC.
The location has substantial good looks within their concept of premium-casual food with an accent on efficient and friendly service. Prodigious amounts of heavy timber, brickwork and trendy open ceilings with exposed structural elements rule. The massive ceiling fan (I’m guessing it’s a 10-footer) at the entry is certainly fascinating. The three-sided bar is impressive with its central location, all white color and seating for 20.
Wood Ranch has been acclaimed the best barbeque by many in the media and it’s among the tastiest I’ve found. It has honed a concept that satisfies almost any barbecue aficionado with a consistency of quality that’s kept the corporation growing. That translates into a two-step process of meat preparation. Barbecue items are first slow-roasted overnight and then finished on the mesquite grill with sauce when ordered.
Meats are truly juicy and succulent. It’s cool to order sandwiches or sliders tucked with beef tri-tip or pulled pork (I love the Carolina touch via a bit of vinegar added to their signature barbecue sauce for the pork) or have full entrées of those meats, ribs of two persuasions or free-range chicken. One of my favorite appetizers is the Killer Wings (buffalo style or fiery). I like the fiery ones, which are mildly hot, bathed in a delicious sauce containing honey, soy sauce and pepper flakes.
Though barbecue is their mainstay, some of the most significant salads around come from this kitchen. There are some premium, hand-cut Angus steaks, shrimp and fresh seafood items too. Fifteen side dishes are of interest on their own (smashed sweet potatoes, peanut cole slaw, hot green beans, etc.).
Wood Ranch: 57 Fortune Drive, Irvine, (949) 337-4850. It’s currently open from 4 p.m. for dinner only; on Oct. 10, both lunch and dinner service begin.
Reservations Required
Are you ready to experience Broadway and a performance that’s invigorating and doing SRO business?
You will need reservations, as the brand new Broadway by Amar Santana in Laguna is packed nightly (it only serves dinner) with wall-to-wall serious foodies. With good reason since Amar Santana and Director of Operations/Partner Ahmed Labbate have unfurled a new vision of modern American food and coupled that food with a tangible sense of enjoyment between the staff and customers. Friendly synergy mingles with lots of rubbernecking to see what everyone else is eating.
Inside tip: table 35 (a four-top) is a super place to watch the kitchen, the bartenders and view almost all of the dining room.
I had the opportunity to meet the third partner, Rich Cadarette, who founded and developed the largest orthopedic implant distributorship in Southern California over the pas 23 years. His hobbies and great personal passions encompassed cooking, dining in fine restaurants and wines. He sold his business in 2009 and stepped forward in his admiration and friendship with Amar and Ahmed, leading to this concept. I think they are on to something important at Broadway.
There are 17 small plates from $5 to $22. Full-fledged entrées vary from $26 to $39. While you might recognize main ingredients, components like Moroccan argan oil, yuzu, Chinese sausage, bone marrow, stuffed dates and salsify find themselves married into some of the preparations.
Pan-roasted sea scallops mingle with sea urchin risotto and sea beans. Spaghetti squash meets butternut squash sorbet. Crisply seared duck breast is enhanced by braised endive, caramelized salsify and a cassis jus.
Every ingredient is of highest quality. As soon as I tasted the butter, I recognized that it was far more delicious than the usual, even in fine restaurants. I found that it comes from a special dairy in Vermont. Beef is prime grade, pork is Kurobuta and chicken is Jidori free-range. Vegetables, herbs, fruits and berries are from farm to table as much as possible and organically inclined.
The vision of all three partners is that only the best ingredients will come to this kitchen in order for Amar to present his unique dishes. I had already admired Amar’s cooking at Charlie Palmer, but this menu shows a whole new side of this graduate of many years in fashion-forward restaurants and attendance at America’s premier culinary academy.
Lots of wines by the glass and in half bottles make for easy wine-matching. Much of the list is made up of American labels with about one-third from global wineries. Try the elegantly complex Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling as a white that will match a wide swath of this food.
The food manages to be unpretentious, albeit in a high passion regard to keeping us on notice that this is food staking its claim as different and tremendously enjoyable to encounter.
Broadway by Amar Santana: 328 Glenneyre St., Laguna Beach, (949) 715-8234.
Evening With Mina, Parr
Stonehill Tavern presents An Evening of Epicure on Oct. 12, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., $95 per person. The occasion is to meet the star chef and founder of Stonehill Tavern and several other restaurants, Michael Mina, and the director of wines for all restaurants in the Mina group, Rajat Parr.
Wines from Flowers Vineyard, Quintessa and Illumination will be poured, and favorites from the Stonehill menu will be served, while live action cooking demos and book signing by Mina and Parr are also on the agenda.
Space is limited, so call in your reservation now. Stonehill Tavern at the St. Regis: One Monarch Beach Resort, Dana Point, (949) 234-3405.
Pelican Hill Pick
Restaurant Andrea at the Resort at Pelican Hill is always on my go-to list as an upscale restaurant that’s beautiful and does not gouge us in price for the premium Italian food in which it specializes. Because chef Luca Cesarini not only cooks with passion but wants to share his food with the broadest range of customers, he’s just introduced a new gluten-free menu at Andrea.
Saffron spaghetti with seafood, gnocchi with squash and mushrooms, rigatoni with roasted eggplant, beetroot risotto with gorgonzola, pork sausage pasta and pipette (little pipes) with pancetta and peas are a few of the items. Gluten-free pastas are made fresh from a variety of flour alternatives in a special-temperature and humidity-controlled room, which shows the care that is given to products.
It’s no secret that Pelican Hill is a must-experience here in OC. They are utterly gracious to everyone, valet parking is free, the surroundings are pretty breathtaking, and it’s decidedly Italian glamour at its best. Take a stroll around the property and discover Andrea and the other restaurants, the spa, the vistas over the pristine golf courses; then you’ll know that you want to come back.
Here are five things worth noting: This is the #1 California Golf Resort as ranked by Condé Nast Traveler readers, and the two courses rank among Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses. It is a three-time AAA Five-Diamond Award recipient, the spa has been given a five-star ranking by Forbes, and restaurant Andrea has been chosen as one of the Top 50 Italian Restaurants in the U.S.
Andrea: 22701 Pelican Hill Road South, Newport Coast, (949) 467-6833. Give them a call, request the public relations office, and ask to be put on their email list and to be sent the vast list of entertaining and holiday possibilities.
Manhattan on Main
There’s nothing more annoying to owners and customers than to have construction interfering with a business. Work crews have been in force on Main Street in Orange for some time, part of the roadway rebuild right in front of Manhattan Steak & Seafood. It’s now over, and we can access the restaurant easily once again.
In case you aren’t aware, this is a good-looking place serving American food with bare hints of Asia, Italy and French here and there in the preparations. If I were to speak of nothing but happy hour, I’d inform you of their extended hours. Specially priced drinks and bar food are available from 3 to 7 p.m. on Mondays and 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays.
Lunch and dinner are served. Midday, there is an amazing array of salads and sandwiches available as well as a long menu of meat and seafood main dishes. Dinner extends the reach of well-encountered entrées in a friendly fashion.
Some of us like the central lounge and bar (dining rooms on either side of it) for its nice ambiance. Another plus is the live music on certain evenings that keeps things even more upbeat. The owner, Armond Khosrovian, is there most of the time, so you’ll probably get a welcome from him.
If you’re shopping in the Main Place area, near the hospitals in the sector of Orange where Manhattan resides, or merely looking for an enjoyable dining alternative in a nice looking place, give it a try.
Manhattan Steak & Seafood: 202 S. Main St., Orange, (714) 978-6161.
