Moulin in Newport Beach has long been my go-to spot for coffee and croissants.
Sitting on the Moulin patio reminds me of being at a café in Paris, which is exactly what Moulin owner Laurent Vrignaud, the Business Journal Restaurateur of the Year for 2019, had in mind when he designed his charming restaurant seven years ago.
Now, Vrignaud has five locations: Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente, and SOCO in Costa Mesa, which he opened shortly before the pandemic hit.
I caught up with Vrignaud at his Newport café one morning last month while enjoying my coffee and almond croissant.
Vrignaud had recently returned from a two-week trip to France, his homeland. He told me things there were similar to Orange County; France had been on half lockdown, he said.
Here, it’s confusing because it keeps changing, and it’s different in the OC versus Los Angeles, which temporarily banned outdoor dining, he noted.
“I think we’ll be fine here because we are not urban,” offered Vrignaud, speaking before Gov. Newsom’s latest orders this month that curtailed in-room and patio dining.
“In Europe, they refer to the virus as the urban virus. Where there is density of people, there is tons of virus. Where my stores are located, our numbers are fair compared to inland.”
“Hopefully things will not change here.”
Patio Focus
What has changed is how Vrignaud operates his restaurants.
His stores are now open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, although the SOCO location is Saturday and Sunday for now.
All his locations have extensive patios.
“I was never big on the indoor dining,” admitted Vrignaud. “I was forced to take chairs and tables from inside, so with the extra space I increased the amount of product we sell. I always wanted to be a French market, so the market has increased in all our stores. We offer things we were not selling a year ago, like flour, and we expanded our wine selection. We are now a mini French Pavilions.”
Vrignaud said he’s been able to deal with the numerous state edicts of 2020.
“It’s a safe environment,” he said. “From day one we did not mess around with a mask. I have yet to meet a doctor that said you do not need to wear a mask. One day I won’t wear a mask, now I do.”
Secret Sauce
Vrignaud’s secret to success has always been to create an authentic French experience.
Everything from the sandwiches and cheeses to the exquisite desserts are French. The market is all French. The music is French. Many of the chefs and staff members are French. Vrignaud’s daughter, Kaya, is often working behind the pastry counter.
“I spent a lot of energy and time and money to get the right look and feel and vibe for the experience, because I give you an experience like no other in Orange County,” stated Vrignaud. “The experience has to start when people get out of their cars. When people park their cars, they should be attracted to the patio. I put in a fountain, a trellis, I put in cafe lighting, I put in red umbrellas, I brought the chairs and tables from France. Right off the bat you say ‘wow, this is cool. I want to sit here.’ You walk into the store, we have beautiful Parisian product, people from all over the world helping you, no menus up in the air—Starbucks is good at that. Starbucks is great at what they do, I am really good at what I do.”
The latest dining mandate affects a large part of his business.
“The patio was a must for me, and now all of a sudden we are in an environment where it’s all about the patio,” he said. “In Paris, even in the middle of winter, people want to sit outside and people watch. We have the perfect environment here to be outside.”
Even with the new state mandate that puts restrictions on patio dining, Moulin restaurants have recently been operating more or less as take-out operations and may not be as impacted by the new rules as other more traditional restaurants.
Laguna Beach Prediction
His Laguna Beach location had a small patio until the city ordered part of Forest Avenue closed and turned it into a large area for expanded patio dining.
“That was a blessing, what they call the Promenade,” Vrignaud said.
“I can assure you, even though it’s considered temporary, we will never see a car again on that section of Forest Avenue. We will eventually go from temporary to permanent. It is too successful. People love going there day and night, strolling in downtown Laguna Beach. With this situation, we are seeing more of that.”
Two more examples: the city of Orange has closed a section of Glassell Street for outdoor dining, and Huntington Beach has closed a section of Main Street to accommodate outdoor dining.
OC’s High Bar
The pandemic has not been kind to restaurants. In the strip mall where the Newport Moulin stands, two of the five restaurants that were there a year ago are gone, but two more are under construction with new owners.
“The pandemic accelerated the process for businesses that were so-so,” Vrignaud said.
“If you served average food or had average service, you are unfortunately gone. As sad as that is, it’s a natural progression. The bar is higher in Orange County. People are well-traveled. We have a lot of great restaurants, there’s little room for average. Whoever was good pre-COVID will be good post-COVID. The product is the product.”
Vrignaud spent more than two decades in the action sports industry where, as he put it, “the product is the hero. A lot of people faulter on the branding and packaging. So many people make a good product and don’t go the extra step to package it right. Tiffany makes diamond rings but then they invented the blue box. Packaging is part of the process.”
“A croissant is a croissant,” added Vrignaud. “We just make an incredible croissant. It’s Paris 101. All I was trying to do seven years ago was to bring the products I grew up with to Newport Beach, and it worked. Now we have five locations. People know the brand and the experience.”
Vrignaud had one last piece of advice to pass on: slow down.
“Everyone has had to slow down. We shut down for six weeks, which is not a bad thing when you are trying to evaluate what to do. You have to evaluate for survival. When you employ 100 people, you are responsible for 100 families. If you look all the people that were here a year ago, they are still here. That is a wonderful thing we were able to do. And my daughter works here. When you have done something like this, you can’t just shut down and walk away.”
And in one respect, Vrignaud said the pandemic has made his life better.
“By 4 p.m. I am gone, no more late hours. It’s nice to go home at four in the afternoon.” n
For information on the Moulin restaurants, visit Moulin.com.
