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Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
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CHEF OF THE YEAR

This year, I have chosen Paul Gstrein, executive chef of Bayside restaurant in Newport Beach, as our Chef of the Year. He’s an extraordinary cook and an exceptionally honorable person.

Paul has been tremendously influential in the progress of fine dining in Orange County and his modesty is remarkable given his talent. He has been at the forefront of our metamorphosis from a county that was dismissed for fine dining two decades ago to an area sought out for globally tinged cuisine honed in beautiful establishments.

About 25 years ago, there were really only a handful of decent restaurants for us to choose from. And by decent, I mean places other than local cafes that afforded some modicum of decor and what was then a menu that probably had a couple of steaks as highlights and the best fish dish was trout almandine. Vegetables were cooked to limp nothingness. Dessert was mostly crepes with some fruit folded inside or cherries jubilee.

Our culinary tide turned when chefs like Paul began to forge a new vision of food for us. He began garnering Southern California attention when he worked in Los Angeles before coming to OC 22 years ago. He was the chef at Bistango in L.A. and came here to open Bistango in Irvine,restaurants owned by the Ghoukassian family. In 1999, he segued to the family’s new Bayside restaurant in Newport Beach. From the time he arrived in OC, with his ability and European training, he created an interest for diners that had not existed before.

Paul turned ingredients into compelling works of art on the plate that dazzled us with presentation and amazed us with the layers of flavor. He taught us that the best ingredients are paramount to good taste and that there truly is an art to accenting ingredients in the right way. Paul opened the doors to global influence that can be woven into dishes to elevate them to a new level of interest.

The Ghoukassian restaurants provide beautiful backdrops and in concert with Paul’s food, the buzz about them has not stopped.

Paul grew up in the hospitality business. His family owns and operates a hotel and restaurant in the Austrian Alps (the family business dates back more than 400 years) and he was raised on the premises. He began his French culinary training at Villa Blanca Culinary School in Innsbruck, Austria, and then worked for a famed restaurant in Germany.

He was only 21 when he came to America. He visited some of the country’s most respected restaurants to study food trends. His culinary skills were impressive enough to allow him kitchen time at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Beverly Hills, Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, Bradley Ogden’s Lark Creek Inn in San Francisco and Mark Peel’s Campanile in Los Angeles. Then John Ghoukassian convinced him to become Bistango’s chef.

Today, a chat with Paul is sprinkled with mentions of special purveyors who provide him with the locally grown products he uses. His passion for fine food shows when he talks about new varieties of mushrooms that someone delivers to him, or a species of pristine fresh fish that’s new to the American table or myriad meats, vegetables, fruits and artisanal cheeses and breads that are worked into his dishes.

Paul is truly a superb culinary artist, yet he’s so humble it’s remarkable. He has continued to change the way we relate to food and he makes meals memorable events without ever a hint of pretentiousness on the plate. He’s our Chef of the Year, but more than that, he’s been a culinary light for this county for more than two decades. Thanks, Paul, for furthering our interest in food and for making us always want to go back to Bayside for another meal.


BAYSIDE

900 Bayside Drive

Newport Beach

(949) 721-1222

Our Chef of the Year, Paul Gstrein, and John Ghoukassian and his son and daughter Karyn and Marc Ghoukassian, owners of Bayside, Bistango and Kimera, are quite a team. They are all artists in different disciplines.

Paul is one of those chefs who manages remarkable food that never falters in its eye-appeal, consistently delivers in high-profile taste and yet remains fully understandable and impressive to the American palate.

John Ghoukassian has spent a lifetime as a connoisseur of fine art and he’s translated that into gorgeous surroundings at both Bistango and Bayside and into a completely trendy and happening atmosphere at the newest restaurant, Kimera. Both the chef and the Ghoukassian family bring forth art as part of life. Time spent at the dining table becomes something we want to do again and again.

Marc is the hands-on operator of Bayside and the collaborative effort he shares with Paul in the kitchen translates into mutual respect and passion. They get to live out their love of the restaurant business in a building that is modern, architecturally artistic and even features varying scenarios for dining.

Bayside appeals to a wide range of people from casual Sunday brunch guests to connoisseurs of fine dining. There are three distinct settings within one restaurant. An airy terrace with a water view is one of the most popular outdoor locations in the area. There’s a bright and open wood-accented room with huge framed windows and a more intimate soft-hued dining room with booths for privacy and nice artwork on the walls. It’s a blend of dignified symmetry.

Paul describes his food at Bayside as new American cuisine. I’d say that it also could be described as rather dramatic globally tinged California cuisine,distinctive and seductive for sure. At lunch, he usually offers three fresh seafood entrees. Selection varies among salmon, swordfish, John Dory, prawns and/ or halibut, depending on the season.

A prix fixe lunch is a deal you can’t pass up at $19.75. Choose from a soup or salad and a main course. You also get a choice of a glass of pre-selected chardonnay or merlot, a martini or iced tea. You know how popular that is.

A la carte, the Tartar of Tuna with its splash of soy-ginger is clean and light. Roasted red beets with goat cheese bruschetta and toasted walnuts is on my most wanted list. It’s one of the best dishes in the area. Grilled quail with a scallion cake has become a well known local dish. Sweet tiger prawns on sweet corn and saffron risotto is another addictive dish. And, there’s the smoked salmon atop blinis with lemon sauce.

This is a menu loaded with things you want to eat. Once you try it, you’ll be anxious to return. The emphasis on fine seasonal ingredients is evident in every bite.

Aiming to please as much in the wine category as in the food, there are 565 wines on the list, including 40 half bottles and 35 wines by the glass. There are several wines that would go nicely with lunch. I love introducing the unsuspecting to a nice Sancerre. Here, the Reverdy-Ducroux Sancerre is a crisp, herbaceous white that complements a wide range of the lunch items due to its food-friendly acidity. Gouguenheim Malbec (Argentina) is quite palate-pleasing with fresh fruit notes of berry and pomegranate with a clean finish. For another red wine that works well when you don’t want it to be too big and bold, try Newton Vineyards Napa Valley Claret. It’s a very approachable blend of cabernet, merlot, cabernet franc and syrah with nice structure and balanced tannins.

Whether you are just relaxing with friends or talking serious business, thanks to chef Paul Gstrein, Bayside is a place to revitalize every palate.

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