I’m going to take you on a quick little culinary journey around Laguna Beach.
How many of you remember that before Katsuya came to PCH, Hush was at its location, and before that it was Mark DePalma’s restaurant?
Mark moved to a Laguna Canyon location in close proximity to the grounds of the Sawdust Festival, but then he left that place and did some private catering and consulting.
Less than five months ago, he opened a solo restaurant at his same old 853 Laguna Canyon Road address.
In a clever play on words, it’s called ReMarks, and customers are gathering again at the spot to enjoy his affordable food—entrées all under $14.50. You might want to check it out: (949) 715-8700.
Speaking of Katsuya, it closed—lasting for less than two years.
I’m guessing it was another case of principals not really realizing our lifestyle and dining expectations.
We are not too bowled over by boutique hotel designers who sideline in designing restaurants. We are not bowled over by chefs with big-time names.
We want good, practical, decently priced places that fit in with our psyche, not ones where the owners think we will fall into their concepts with open arms and palates.
Sadly, it has happened before and will happen again.
One of my latest research projects has been Savannah Chop House in Laguna Niguel. This dinner house that serves regional American fare is a haven of luxurious booth seating, those big semicircular, plush kinds that restaurants now ignore because it’s more economical to cram in more table seating in the same amount of space.
There are plenty of warm woods throughout the interior, a rather luxurious lounge, and a genteel demeanor overall that’s pretty romantic and allows for easy conversing.
In the end, however, it’s always about the food.
In a segue from meals we’ve chosen at random from the a la carte menu, I decided one evening to ask Chef Chris Tzorin, who had proven he was doing some really nice things with the menu, to cook several courses of his choosing (all menu items, though) for a few of our foodie friends. Major impressions emerged, plate by plate.
This guy does know how to take ingredients and make them sing in both artistic presentation and taste.
The chef, in a wonderful surprise to all, came out of the kitchen to check on us with his father, Luis Tzorin, at his side. Luis is a very highly regarded chef now retired from a couple of our fine OC restaurants and whom I’ve known for about 30 years. Seems he pops in on occasion to work with his son.
Some appetizers: shrimp cocktail, oysters on the half shell, crab cakes and grilled filet on skewers with cremini mushrooms and caramelized onions.
Fresh tuna, sea bass, salmon and scallops populate the seafood section of the menu. Among assorted meats, lamb chops and prime rib are promises of goodness—and they really deliver—in baby back ribs and short ribs.
But there’s more depth coming from this kitchen in certain other dishes: a classic beef stroganoff on tender ribbons of pasta, fried chicken done in true Southern fashion, house-made seasonal ravioli and a hearty bowl of cioppino. Appetizers are $8 to $14, seafood entrées are $19 to $32, steaks and chops are $19 to $34, and specialty cuts of meat $19 to $34.
Getting down to absolute bargains are the three-course prix fixe dinners. You have a choice from among three appetizers, six entrées and two desserts for only $19.99. The fried-chicken dinner, I might add, is wildly popular in this category. The three-course prime-rib dinner jumps to the grand sum of $24.95. Entrées are served complete with sides. There’s a good kids’ menu for only $12.95, and the upcoming Mother’s Day Brunch at $34.95 is something to consider.
Savannah has a tremendously loyal clientele. Make this your destination one evening—32441 Golden Lantern, Laguna Niguel, (949) 493-7107.
Restaurants have sprung up like mushrooms over the past few years in the area around the Honda Center.
One that provides a well-priced and very likable food alternative is Prime Cut Café.
Dark wood, from the bar to the hefty tabletops and dining room floors, translates to caring but unpretentious ambiance.
The food follows the easygoing theme, with ample takes on approachable American cuisine. Quality ingredients prevail, and yet prices are quite affordable.
Start with the mixed olive appetizer that sports the essence of preserved lemons. Deviled eggs with a hint of spice are really good. The crunchy and refreshing apple salad incorporates arugula, frisée, candied pecans and Point Reyes blue cheese. I like that entrée salads can be enhanced by proteins, such as filet mignon, chicken and even seared tuna. The homemade dressings are also appreciated.
At lunch, from a long list of sandwiches, the prime rib melt of shaved prime rib, caramelized onions, and gruyere and white cheddar cheeses on grilled sourdough is one of my favorite sandwiches anywhere.
At dinner, if you like short ribs, try them with the fettuccine pasta.
I’m pretty hung up on their prime rib, though. It’s juicy and tender, done exactly as ordered each time I’ve had it ($22.95 to $32.95 for 8-ounce to 16-ounce cuts, respectively).
Fresh fish, prime steaks and lobster, pork dishes, and roasted free-range chicken offered three different ways are but a few other choices.
Progressive, varietal wines flow freely from the busy wine bar. I like that they also have the newer wines from innovative, boutique wineries.
I’m going back this week with a few more friends. Appetizers are $2 to $10.95. Dinner specialty house entrées are from $15.95 to $24.95. Steaks are from $18.95 to $32.95. Lobster: $29.95. Prime Cut Café: 1547 W. Katella, Orange, (714) 532-4300.
Phoenix Side Trip
Since the Greater Phoenix area could be a mere six-hour drive or minutes-long flight, it’s an easy destination for business or pleasure.
You might want to put a note on your calendar for next spring when the Cactus League—spring training for half of the MLB teams—is in full force.
Several of our friends from here are regulars at those preseason games, and we managed to do some research of our own.
But I thought I’d give you a heads up on a few other things of interest in that Sonoran Desert region, not the least of which is some restaurant name-dropping.
I would recommend having a morning or midday meal at the family-run Spicery restaurant, housed in an 1895 home. It oozes the charisma of easier times and loving cooking.
We relished the up-to-date sandwiches on freshly baked bread and salads complemented with seasonal fruits and terrific house-made dressings. A few special entrées per day also appear.
T. Cook’s restaurant is a dreamy place housed in the Royal Palms Resort and Spa that our dear friends Bob and Pam Breen from Sedona introduced us to while they were also in the Phoenix area. It is one of the top-rated restaurants in the region, with seasonal menus crafted from the best locally sourced ingredients and organic produce from Arizona farms.
The Moroccan-spiced fish tacos were the best tacos in my lifetime, and the items the other three people in our group ordered impressed me so much that this place is at the top of the “to do” list for our next trip out there.
Sam Fox is a guy who does restaurant concepts with aplomb. There are at least a dozen of them, mostly in the Phoenix area, but also a few in Tucson.
Love some of the names, like Arrogant Butcher, Culinary Dropout and Zinburger. Sam has his finger in the trendiest of trends, and he has a dedication to fine ingredients. Incidentally, we have his True Food Kitchen in Fashion Island.
Finally, in the suburb of Gilbert, is the highly regarded Agritopia that should fascinate any true-blue foodie. It’s a farm complex surrounded by newly constructed homes, an emerging total community. The acreage is family-owned, dating back to 1927.
All one has to do to gain traction for casual food credibility is to have a restaurant appear on the popular Food TV show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
In the middle of this agricultural mélange of vegetables, fruit and nut trees and herbs is Joe’s Farm Grill, which has been featured on the show. All of this immediate access to freshly picked ingredients shows in the pridefully presented dishes that are a high notch above what we would ordinarily expect from a diner.
Do not miss having a cupcake from The Coffee Shop, the sister restaurant just behind Joe’s. Its remarkable cupcakes won the Food TV show Cupcake Wars, completely separate from the Joe’s Farm Grill win. Proves the agritopia concept is on track and all-encompassing in the best way.
If you would like the winning chocolate marshmallow cupcake recipe, send me an email at chaothyme@aol.com, and I’ll get it to you.
