I’m celebrating my 20th anniversary with the Business Journal this month! It’s been a marvelous two decades reporting on restaurant happenings and such an honor to work with the extraordinary staff of this paper. It was just a year before I came on board that the newspaper, a then-nondescript local publication, got a new media-savvy owner.
He, in turn, hired our highly respected publisher Richard Reisman. Then, Reisman brought Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Reiff from Chicago to be the editor (Rick’s now our executive editor). Our intrepid current editor Jerry Sullivan puts up with my wordy novellas and scattered themes. His patience is much appreciated.
My name originally came up when Richard was chatting with the owner of a local high-profile restaurant. My phone rang, and here we are 20 years down the road.
It’s been great watching the sophistication of the OC dining landscape escalate, ethnic dining take hold and the entertainment/dining combo keep its stride. With more and more new restaurants coloring our canvas, I plan to continue chasing the interesting scenes and best plates and share it all with you.
Katsuya Opens
Katsuya by Starck just opened in Laguna Beach with a dazzling, energy-filled concept, including some cleverly conceived Japanese food. This is the anxiously awaited high-octane sibling of the Katsuya group already inhabiting Brentwood, Glendale, Hollywood, L.A. LIVE and soon to be in Houston and Miami.
Katsuya is under the umbrella of Sam Nazarian’s sbe hospitality, entertainment and real estate collection. Design icon Philippe Starck, sushi chef Katsuya Uechi and Nazarian have revamped and dished up a fine remake of the former Hush restaurant.
It was always such a good location with those ocean views from the patio and the multi-level dining areas. We’re now greeted by a large bar on the entry level, behind which are some rather intimate booths. Up a couple of steps is the main dining room with a fully open kitchen hugging the back wall and, of course, très chic banquettes and tables and a fireplace. A second fireplace joins the seating space that I prefer in the patio, where the briny scent of the ocean is an integral part.
Plan on encountering a good assortment of robata (grilled) vegetables in the $3-to-$6 range, robata-style meat and seafood dishes at $4 to $22 (for lobster). There’s also a wide array of sushi and sashimi specialties ranging from $6 to $19 and house specialty dishes topping out at only $23.
I’ve tried several of the appetizers and a small tasting of entrées so far and am impressed by the attractive presentations and the uniqueness of flavors encountered in select dishes.
I can’t imagine any curious gourmet missing this new experience. I really like the vibrancy and the attitude, although if you like only sedate restaurants, know before you go that this one has a livelier vibe. The servers I’ve had have been well trained in balancing professionalism and just the right amount of friendliness. They’ve been most helpful in explaining fully the temperament of dishes that were new to me and in keeping the right amount of attention on our needs and satisfaction.
I’m anxious to go back and try more and to begin introducing my own foodie friends to it.
Katsuya Laguna: 858 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, (949) 793-4030.
Studio Garden
The new Studio Garden at Montage is a complement to the resort’s Studio signature restaurant and a good place for a summer meal. It sits amid five raised garden beds overflowing with seasonal herbs, fruits and vegetables that are used in cocktails and restaurant dishes.
Warm weather drinks include the Studio Garden Cocktail (cucumber, basil, tarragon, key lime, cachaça, St. Germaine liquor and Brut champagne) and Sweet Citrus (bourbon, kumquats, ginger ale, lime and raw sugar). A couple of summer dishes that work well in this bucolic setting include mint-crusted lamb and seasonal blackberry tart. But one of the lovely salads at lunch is also a go.
There are also a variety of spa packages and a full agenda of things happening during this warm weather, some of which include special meals. Information on all the possibilities can be obtained by calling (866) 271-6953.
Montage Resort: 30801 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach.
Fresh Flavors
The Resort at Pelican Hill changes up things according to season. There’s a ranch-to-table summer menu at one of my favorite dining spots, the Coliseum Pool & Grill. The menu items make use of fresh flavors directly from the vast Irvine Ranch gardens. Keep in mind that August is peak season for heirloom tomatoes, so you’ll probably want to savor them in a dish or two.
Then, there are those romantic private cabanas available after 6 p.m. daily. Reserve one (24-hour advance request, please) and have a secluded three-course dinner, do some sports viewing or have sunset cocktails. How about a combo of all three?
Resort at Pelican Hill: 22701 Pelican Hill Road S., Newport Coast, (949) 467-6800.
Dinner, Theater
North County Dinner and Theater Package invites you to have a giggly kind of fun at the theater preceded by a three-course dinner at La Vie en Rose in Brea, all for the measly price of $45—which includes meal, tax, gratuity and a theater ticket. The stage adaptation of Get Smart is at the nearby Maverick Theater. Take advantage of this any Saturday through Sept. 17.
La Vie has long been one of my regular go-to restaurants and a gathering place for French ex-pats who savor their good Gallic cuisine amid a charming auberge setting. I can’t imagine a better deal anywhere than this: charming dinner in a famous restaurant followed by rollicking entertainment for a decidedly cheap price.
La Vie en Rose: 240 S. State College Blvd., Brea, (714) 529-8333.
Soul Food
Golden Truffle in Costa Mesa is reeling us in once again with the Wednesday night soul food menus. First of all, it’s no secret that this is one the top restaurants on my favorites list. I have long said that owner/chef Alan Greeley is an absolute genius with food. He’s taken us on more voyages to a bunch of countries than I can count, all of them right at a table in his dining room.
He’s known for being eclectic and fun, and his food never fails to dazzle. The regular menu is always strewn with dishes emanating from a few cultures. Once in a while he takes us to one country alone. That is the case with these Wednesday-night deals.
He started off this year with some new, tasty and affordable ideas, this among them. The soul food he cooks comes from one country or region at a time. It might be India, California, Korea, the Caribbean, a quiet European country, anywhere at all.
Aug. 3 will bring some of Korea’s best tastes at only $22. On a following Wednesday, it will be another country or cuisine at those same low prices. It began with his breakfasts, served only on the last Saturday of the month—and, if you’ve not done one of those, you really have no idea how delicious, different and compelling breakfast can be. They are in their own element of popularity, and these dinners are another facet of dining adventures with Greeley.
At any time, this place is impressive for its food; this just takes it one step further. Hours are 5:30p.m.-8 p.m. for reservations, which are recommended. Greeley hopes there is a parking problem; if there is, he says to park in the back where there is ample space.
Golden Truffle: 1767 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, (949) 645-9970.
Food Adventure
You don’t have to go to L.A. to experience Molecular Dining. Through Sept. 12, Anqi at South Coast Plaza will be presenting Molecular Mondays. The food adventure that is a fusion of culinary science, artful presentation and delectable flavors has become quite popular, so reservations are a must.
The chef does a cooking demo, explains the scientific aspects and the ingredients of molecular cooking, and you dine in high style. I’ve had a meal of many courses like this at Anqi and have written about it. True food lovers among us might want to have a seat at the table for any of the next seven Mondays.
Another item of interest is the Late Night Fashionable Fridays with a DJ spinning tunes and late-night bites served from 10 p.m.-2 a.m. in Anqi’s Q Lounge during the summer. I am very fond of the lounge here with its sense of intimacy, so I’ll probably show up a time or two.
Anqi: 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, adjacent to Bloomingdale’s, (714) 557-5679. Be sure to make a reservation for the Monday dinners.
Downtown Dining
I had not been to L’Opera in Long Beach for a long time. In a dinner that found 14 of us around a large table—so that we could be greedy and try several things on the dinner menu—we waltzed through several categories. I guess I should mention that we started at L’Opera’s sister restaurant Alegria Cocina Latina (a cooler, casual place) next door. I know it’s an unusual segue from Latin beginnings to an Italian main meal, but they are next door to each other and we thought we’d use the opportunity while we were right there.
Alegria features lots of smaller plates under $10 and $14 to $20 entrées, all of which take us on a trek through several Latin American territories. We tasted four small items—sweet corn tamales, roasted duck carnitas on plantain chips, tuna tartar in cucumber boats and mini corn tortillas topped with chicken mole—getting us off to a very good start. I asked about a small stage at the front of the elongated room and found that Alegria has flamenco dancing on Friday and Saturday nights and other occasional live entertainment. We’ll go back and have more fun there and drink another round of their sangria made with a trio of alcohols and three fresh fruits aged two weeks for the well-layered flavor.
L’Opera’s Night
But, this was really a night for L’Opera. The setting is impressive, fitting in the sophisticated genre. Italian though it is, the décor is sleek, modern and jazzed up by some funky wall murals. And, this is a restaurant with soft background music, so you can have decent conversations. The food sticks mostly with real Italian recipes from which we had a long, taste-imbued evening.
On this research journey, nine different dishes made their way onto our long table. We did include appetizers, even though we’d done our bit next door. Three items came on the first round: ahi tuna sashimi with arugula and walnuts, fresh mozzarella with tomato and pesto accompaniment, and crostini topped with beef tartar.
On to a fine Italian flatbread (think thin focaccia) with seafood and some marinated fennel topping it. Then, a salad studded with fruit slices, spinach, fresh strawberries and a delightful perfume of tarragon.
Considering L’Opera’s many homemade pasta opportunities, we ended up with pasta squares filled with butternut squash and ricotta cheese over spicy marinara, followed by toothy red and green tagliatelle (long, flat ribbons of pasta indigenous to Emilia-Romagna in Italy) with sautéed jumbo lumps of crab meat and shavings of black truffle. Do not miss this dish!
Wouldn’t you suspect that we’d need a palate cleanser about now? A little scoop of light lemon sorbet was perfect. Although we could have skipped to dessert, we tried small tastes of their grilled rack of lamb with baby artichokes and potatoes and some pan-roasted salmon in a cider-mustard sauce.
Full and content, we asked for a lot of spoons and just a dessert to share. Warm, dark chocolate cake infused with praline truffle and a side of vanilla gelato was that spoonful of sweetness to finish off a really interesting evening that brought home the fact that L’Opera is adding great dimension to downtown dining, as well as Alegria next door. L’Opera’s menu presents specialties from several regions of Italy, and there’s much more I want to try because this was a terrific overall experience.
Lest you think we did this meal sans wine, not so. We had wines from three regions of Italy from their long list of choices. Overall, this was a reminder that we need to have more looks at Long Beach dining. Some restaurants are getting very serious over there.
L’Opera: 101 Pine Ave., Long Beach, (562) 491-0066. Alegria Cocina Latina: 115 Pine Ave., Long Beach, (562) 436-3388.
