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Café Tu Tu Tango Still Tempts Taste Buds for Less

People always ask restaurant journalists: “What is your favorite restaurant?”

All of us have different favorites for different moods and occasions, but certain ones blur the lines, putting them on my preferred list.

Café Tu Tu Tango at the Outlets in Orange has piqued my taste buds and my happy emotions since its inception in 1998, and I am still enticed by its delicious, easygoing Spanish-American tapas-style food. Inventive Pan-Asian items will be added to the menu this month, so that’s more research for all of us.

There’s unique ambiance, great service and entertainment, and a menu with a preponderance of items priced under $10, making this a place where smiles ace the experience.

Think of this as a Bohemian indy restaurant, a singular entity that stands out in a sea of chain operations and competes boldly with other one-off places. It suits the most casual diner and the entrenched foodies looking for an ultra-interesting menu. It’s a draw for locals, tourists and many celebrities—Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler and Mike Trout frequent it.

It says everything on the menu is made from scratch. Good products have always been sourced, but this year, owner Jim Hall and the executive chef have incorporated “fresh and responsible” into their purchasing vocabulary, building a farm-to-fork thread through the interesting plates.

Café Tu Tu Tango will always be famous for its tapas and acclaimed sangria, but it strives to keep the food up-to-date and fascinating. This year, it’s added a perfect heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad with basil chiffonade over baby arugula, all drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic and sprinkled with Himalayan salt. Order the Cajun chicken eggrolls—crispy exterior encasing roasted corn, cheddar and goat cheese with a Creole mustard dipping sauce; the taunting mango-duck quesadilla; roasted pears with pecan crisps; or picadillo and cheese empanadas to start a meal. I love the duck salad on caramelized onion flatbread.

The loaded Paella entree joins steamed clams with chorizo; steak skewers over cold sesame noodles; blackened lobster skewers; filet mignon with sliced bleu cheese and poblano mashed potato cake; and the hand-tossed margherita pizza as recent repeats for my palate. The latter is one of the superb pizzas the kitchen turns out.

“This Jersey boy will put our pizza up against anybody’s,” Hall says.

A gluten-free menu is also available.  

The Bohemian loft feel keeps with the jaunty theme of “food for the starving artist,” encompassing an ongoing parade of local artists who create their pieces live in the restaurant, where the artworks are for sale.

Many of you know Michael Godard, a well-known artist who sold his first piece at Café Tu Tu Tango! Other local artists are on location creating the pieces. Some of the longtime resident artists include Steve “SKE” Ellis and Capt. Ron Henderson. All local artists are welcome to ply their talents at the restaurant.

There’s the stability and warmth of brick here, a casual meandering of tables inside and outside on the ample patio that overlooks the central courtyard of the attractive multiuse center. The “residents” art displayed on many of the walls and a feel-good atmosphere is unmistakable. I like that there’s an energy here but in a subdued sort of way that allows for the wonderful flow of conversations.

Featured are strolling entertainers, such as tango, salsa and belly dancers. It’s fun to discover Danny Magic, known for his Magic Castle appearances, walking up to your table to perform a little sleight of hand. Entertainers are scheduled primarily in the evening. Artists are on location sporadically throughout the day.  

This is a place that lends itself to having an enjoyable drink. Besides that sangria, there’s a cocktail or wine for everyone. Their mixologists are currently incorporating several pre-prohibition cocktails, such as the Old Fashioned, made here with Whistle Pig 100% rye, orange bitters, a sugar cube and the deeply complex Luxardo cherries. You will also find Tito’s Handcrafted Vodka, a product from Austin, Texas that’s used to make several cocktails with herbs and vegetables, such as cilantro, basil, jalapeños and cucumbers, as enhancements.

The restaurant has also gone local with some of its brews, including Stone IPA, Sculpin and Calico brews from Ballast Point Brewery. It’s currently selecting a special beer from an Orange County brewery to further fortify the local connection. For the wine connoisseurs, it’s added “Jim’s Reserves” to the fun wine list. Labels include Cakebread, Opus One, Ovation and Silver Oak.

Café Tu Tu Tango loyalists will say it has the best happy hour in Orange County. It runs every day from 2 to 7 p.m., and Thursdays through Sundays there is an additional happy hour from 10 p.m. to closing. Theatergoers and those who love the night as I do are quite happy we can have our cocktails and nibbles until 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Some food items are discounted, and an ample list of drinks and wines by the glass are $4.

It partners with many charitable organizations within the community, as well as many youth sports organizations, for which it gets added respect from me.

When you consider the prices are downright inexpensive and the food is downright interesting, this is one of my winner restaurants.

Café Tu Tu Tango: 20 City Blvd. W., Orange (714) 769-2222

Get It While It Lasts!

Don’t linger too long before taking Fleming’s up on its offer of prime rib at only $29.95 on Sundays and Mondays until Sept. 1. Patrick and I just indulged and will be taking advantage of this grand bargain again this month. It’s a big and delicious meal, and you have so many choices of side dishes to go with it.

You begin with a choice of salad, including the New Wedge—the epitome of an artisanal wedge salad that is utterly delicious—or modern caesar, followed by Fleming’s prime rib au jus with creamy horseradish and dijon sauces, served with a choice of one side.

The sides include Fleming’s potatoes, with their subliminal hint of jalapeño; grilled high-country asparagus; signature onion rings stacked gloriously high and as good as onion rings can get; or sautéed or creamed spinach. You end this culinary feast with a choice of dessert, such as chocolate lava cake or fresh berries with chantilly cream.

Hurry, hurry.

Fleming’s: 455 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, (949) 720-9633

New Kid in Town

La Vida Cantina is the new restaurant on the top level of The Triangle in Costa Mesa that has replaced El Corazon, which lasted only a year. It was a pretty good-looking space, but the new owners—who also own Sutra in that same center—have further embellished it.

The patio still plays a big outdoorsy part and now features a larger bar and a lot of lounge-type seating with fire pits. There’s also a warm atmosphere of inside tables. I am planning on a food-friendly visit—that means with several foodie friends so that we can taste a lot of the menu—but you might beat me to the table. More later as I dig into its Mexican-inspired cuisine.

La Vida Cantina: 1870 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa, (949) 612-2349

From Savannah to Republic

Chris Tzorin, executive chef of Savannah Chophouse, has left the premises. He’s now at Tortilla Republic (formerly Asada and before that Javier’s) in downtown Laguna.

This restaurant makes use of the popular location and the layout, which has worked pretty well for former tenants. However, it has taken on a more sophisticated design with a menu that’s based on cosmopolitan Mexican dishes that use local ingredients and organic when possible.

Javier Sosa closed his long run at this location because the success of his other two restaurants in Crystal Cove and Irvine Spectrum—and the more recent addition at Cabo Azul Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico—kept him quite busy and in the thick of big-time restaurateuring rather than being a hometown indy owner. The subsequent Asada was shuttered due to financial entanglements between the lessee and the owner.

For people-gazing and joyful imbibing, this place has always buzzed. I need to get over there and delve into the new chef’s food, but he does have a reputation for fine, fine cooking. Chris has been around Orange County a long time, and I’ve been impressed enough with his forward-thinking Cali-type food that I gathered a bunch of friends to enjoy an off-the-cuff meal from him not long ago at Savannah. It seems this bodes well for Tortilla Republic.

Tortilla Republic: 480 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, (949) 393-4888

Another Side of Bistango

It started with my penchant for dining at Bistango, one of the prettiest and most interesting food places in OC. I am always taken by the curated art that is part of the magic of this culinary encampment. The food has always been as first-class as the decor and the clientele.

I’ve known the owner, John Ghoukassian, since he opened Bistango in the early 1980s but only recently discovered that his wife has her own gallery, Diana’s Gallery @ Bistango. It is studded with very interesting paintings, artifacts, sculpture, books and more in one of the spaces facing the grand atrium of the building that houses Bistango restaurant.

I did not know that she has a long association and love of art on her own. Hers is a unique gallery, in that she has many fine artifacts that have come by way of people downsizing, and it helps in keeping the pricing attractive. I like that she has both large and very small works of art—something for everyone, it seems.

What first caught my attention are the many cookbooks, from collectables to coffee table tomes. Then all the varied art pieces kept me staying longer and longer. I now look forward to my visits to see what’s new, to pick up something special for a friend or relative and to chat a bit with the charming Diana herself.

She’s an avid photographer, although she began that discipline only five years ago. She soon was showing her work at a curated show and has twice displayed her photographs in Bistango as part of its changing exhibitions. She began the gallery with local

art but soon expanded to an international scene.

I can’t think of a more interesting place to pick up something for your own home or office or a gift for someone that will be treasured. For those who love food and cooking, the books will obviously fascinate you. It’s great to happen upon the unexpected in life, the kind that adds beauty to our world and a peacefulness to our being. That pretty well sums up a visit to Diana’s Gallery. If you are interested in finding some sort of art piece but don’t know how to go about it, talk with Diana, and she can probably help you with that, as well.

Open by appointment. Call (949) 752 4284. The address is 19100 Von Karman Ave., Ste. 130, Irvine. She lives close by and easily accommodates anyone who wants to come and peruse the interesting items.

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