There’s been a lot of conversation about the changes at The Island Hotel Newport Beach since owner The Irvine Company took back management of the hotel last year.
I always had appreciated the luxurious but friendly ambiance of the hotel under the Four Season, its former management company. The food generally has ranked high on the local gourmet dining scene.
So I, too, was cautious about the changes under way at the hotel and restaurant.
For the moment, the hotel’s visual landscape is the same as it was. But soon Pavilion, the attractive restaurant with gardens outside a wall of windows, will get a renovation, probably a different name and a new theme in tune with The Island’s updated concept.
Contemplate a luxuriously appointed island-like garden room. Plans call for expanding the dining space onto what is now the patio. The gardens are set to be redone completely to become a gorgeous part of the theme.
I don’t believe the huge pillars that exist throughout the room are load-bearing necessities. So the renovation probably will bring us more expansive and clean views.
As the hotel eases into renovation, it will be done in phases without disrupting diners.
Even before the renovation, visitors are surrounded by a sense of restrained opulence. There’s a massive granite topped table at the entry to Pavilion. A grand flower arrangement also greets guests.
Fine dining is hinted at through the immaculately napped tables ready with special settings, sparkling wine glasses and the attentive staff that makes you feel valued as a customer.
I had a compulsion to get over there and try the food after allowing the executive chef, Bill Bracken, a few months to settle in.
Bill was hired from the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel, where he was executive chef for several years. He is an Orange County guy,Bill was the chef at The Island when the hotel first was built, so this was sort of a homecoming for him.
I’m so impressed at the level of taste and art that Bill has brought with him. He’s added a Rodeo Drive kind of elegance that arrives course after course.
We had fun one evening noting the attention our table was getting from a small group of businessmen drinking very expensive wines at a neighboring table.
Four of us were gourmeting it through a litany of dishes and some interesting wines and our neighbors seemed fascinated with our ongoing reading of the menu and subsequent arrival of food. Not to mention so much conversation about all of the food and wine with our waiter, the sommelier and finally the chefs.
It was a terrific introduction for us and certainly set the stage for our next visit.
I hadn’t seen chef Bracken for some time. It was amusing when he came to the table, discussed the dishes we were having and then went back to the kitchen for a while, only to emerge again with a copy of an article that I’d written about him and Pavilion in 1991. That was just three weeks after I’d begun writing for the Business Journal.
It quickly becomes apparent that Pavilion is upping the artistic ante.
It’s often said that some food is so beautifully presented that one is loath to destroy the dish by poking a fork into it. Here, I can say that this concept is completely true, though curiosity about how the eye candy tastes ultimately got our utensils into high gear.
The menu is not overblown. It is, though, a compilation of small and large plates that plays nicely to those who prefer smaller portions or want to taste or share a variety of dishes.
The larger portions are for those who want a full-blown entree. Vegetarians are given consideration at Pavilion.
Delicious starters begin with a small square plate with a tartar of tuna sitting in a plump stack just off center and small portions of pickled onion, Alae Hawaiian sea salt, crisp nori (seaweed) tidbits and lotus chips sitting around the edges like tiny hills.
The crab cake is intensive with meaty chunks and nicely crisped on the outside. This comes with a black bean r & #233;moulade, pickled ginger and Asian slaw.
As rich as it is, foie gras almost always is a must for me when it’s offered. Smooth and silky and the very essence of an epicurean’s dream describes this pan-seared version with delicate little enhancements that make the experience all the more sensual, one of those being the tiny caramel milk shake that accompanies the foie gras.
I smiled when I saw that this upscale dining room served macaroni and cheese. Naturally, there’s a twist that makes it a fashion statement.
The de rigueur elbow pasta is laced with taleggio cheese and crushed truffles and gets added texture from the Parmesan crisp. It’s a fantastic combination of comfort food and elegant taste.
A cup of suave chowder is made with lightly smoked clams. Ours came with a mini gruyere cheese panini sandwich.
Salmon is smoked in-house and the slices get an unusual flavor marriage from the scallion pancake and tendrils of cr & #269;me fra & #238;che topped with American caviar.
Loin of lamb in a small version is reminiscent of the Mediterranean in its spicing, while the pine nuts and mint raita on the side are in step.
Larger plates embrace a dozen fashionable dishes with their own creative accompaniments.
The chef turns Kurobuta pork, the finest available, Colorado lamb and tenderloin of veal into meats with chic personalities. The specialty pork chop takes on a country like homage with its siblings of cabbage, figs and apples alongside, albeit still a superb artwork of presentation.
The lamb and veal have dashes of integrated flavor via highlights on the side. Duck is treated to a fusion-style hoisin glaze, which I found very near in taste to the duck we’d recently had on a culinary and cultural tour of China.
This duck breast, cooked medium-rare unless otherwise requested, is wonderfully tender and nicely complemented by sage risotto as its starch component. The zinger that transforms it is the lovely cranberry-ginger chutney that the kitchen whips up.
Steak anyone? It’s on the menu.
Shellfish and finfish also are on the menu. The sweet meat of poached Maine lobster paired with butternut squash gnocchi and a glossy lobster emulsion had us sighing with pleasure.
Baby corn, English peas and trumpet mushrooms dance across grilled swordfish. There’s sea bass and a splendid black cod with almond rice and yuzu butter made by blending butter with yuzu juice. (Yuzu is a Japanese citrus that looks like a tangerine but has more of a lemon-lime flavor.)
When it comes time for dessert, we thank pastry chef Michael Owens, who also came from the Peninsula.
One night we were still in an over-indulgent mode despite a long time at the table. We were finishing off a bottle of Torii Mor 2002 Olson Vineyard Pinot Noir from Oregon that’s smoother than silk and loaded with dense wild cherry, blackberry and wafts of oak. Then we sank into further debauchery with a slew of Michael’s creations.
One was a chocolate pyramid with cr & #269;me br & #369;l & #233;e center instead of the trendy molten chocolate center featured everywhere else. We had a banana cr & #269;me br & #369;l & #233;e. The vanilla ice cream with an absolutely immoral peanut butter-fudge sauce went on everyone’s favorite list.
Meyer lemon cheese cake was like a column of mousse topped with a slice of kiwi. Just for down home comfort, some chocolate chip and M & M-infused; cookies took us further down the path of calorie decadence.
I’m fascinated with Pavilion’s wine list. It’s 13 pages long and quite a read.
I like that there are so many half bottles of French, Italian, American and Canadian wines. It makes it easier for couples to share more than one kind of wine that’s beyond what’s available in wines by the glass.
Going gangbusters with friends over many different foods within one meal, as I am wont to do, can be problematic for wine choices.
This list reminds me that everything but heavier red meats and wild game usually matches with a riesling. As a first wine for a meal, there are several good choices from Germany and France on the list, several of them elegantly dry.
There was a special white Burgundy that we had one evening: 2000 1er cru, Chartron Pere et Fils, Clos du Cailleret Vineyard, Puligny-Montrachet. This is a memorable wine with layers of flavors revealing peaches, honey, almonds and a bit of rocky terroir in a gentle personality m & #233;lange that gives way to a long, lush finish.
Though I didn’t have it here, the list has the lovely 1997 Austrian wine, E & M; Tement Zieregg Sauvigon Blanc that comes from a major district along the Danube. Its creamy texture with a shy backbone of lychee is a welcome change from the chardonnay rut.
Those who seek out the nuances of red meritage blends will find a long selection of noted labels and boutique finds.
Get into cabernet wines and you have almost three pages of gems from Bordeaux and California. Also, while others still are mostly ignoring syrah and shiraz wines, this list has several from California, France and Australia.
The Island’s cushy lobby and adjacent Gardens Lounge always have been favorite places of mine to share time with friends.
We recently began an evening with some Dom P & #233;rignon champagne in the lounge before moving on to Pavilion to dine. Just another long evening of marvelous friendship, amazing food and plenty of wine to complement it all.
I think Bill Bracken and his crew would love to serenade you with food that sings. The reservation is yours to make.
Final thoughts: I have concentrated on the dinner menu and chef Bracken will change it periodically in order to integrate the best seasonal products.
The restaurant also is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Oops, There’s Dinner, Too!
A note from the editor’s table: There was a key ingredient missing from the March 20 review of Ambrosia restaurant and the OC Pavilion in Santa Ana.
Because of a production gaffe, Fifi’s article didn’t include the accurate hours for lunch and dinner.
Here’s what it should have read: Ambrosia is open for lunch Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The phone number for the restaurant is (714) 550-0880.
This is a marvelous new addition to OC dining that Fifi hopes you will experience very soon.
AT A GLANCE: PAVILION RESTAURANT
Address: 690 Newport Center Drive Newport Beach
Phone: (949) 760-4932
Cost: small dinner plates $10.50 to $15.50; large plates $22 to $42
Parking: complimentary valet with restaurant validation
