BISTANGO
Address:
19100 Von Karman Ave., Irvine
Phone:
(949) 752-5222
Event:
Costume party benefit for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund
Date:
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 6:30 p.m.
Price:
$85 per person
SAVANNAH STEAK & CHOP HOUSE
Address:
32441 Golden Lantern (at Del Avion), Laguna Niguel
Phone:
(949) 493-7107
Event:
Joseph Phelps Vinyards wine and dinner
Date:
Wednesday, Nov. 7, 7 p.m.
Price:
$75 per person
ROY’S
Address:
corner of Highway 111 and Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage
Phone:
(760) 340-9044
Savannah Chop House to Host Joseph Phelps Vinyards Wine Dinner
Dress up for a very good cause this Wednesday, Halloween night. It’s a special fund-raiser. Adults seem to want to have fun on this holiday, but don’t usually know where to find that frivolity. At Bistango, you can combine an evening of good food, music and costume contests knowing that 40% of all the proceeds will go to the American Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund.
The restaurant and gallery will be decked out in its own spooky decorations. There will be a DJ spinning tunes for dancing the night away. Prizes will be awarded for best costumes. Belly up to the martini bar, dine on signature offerings of chef Hermann Schaeffer, drink some wine, dance as much as you like, compare sartorial notes with other customers about their costumes and laugh heartily.
The party goes from 6:30 p.m. to midnight and the cost is $85 per person, including tax and gratuity (cash bar). Tickets can be purchased at either Bistango or Bayside.
Joseph Phelps Wine Dinner Set
Savannah Steak & Chop House in Laguna Niguel will be presenting the fine wines of Joseph Phelps Vineyards for a food-and-wine-matching evening on Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. The dinner will include smoked breast of pheasant salad, roasted monkfish wrapped in Parma prosciutto with lobster reduction, venison osso buco, and brioche bread pudding with caramelized apples and golden raisins. The Joseph Phelps wines include Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Insignia, the most sought-after wine produced by the winery.
Founder Joseph Phelps is responsible for pioneering certain wines in the industry. The 1974 Insignia, released in the spring of 1978, was the first Bordeaux-style blend produced in California under a proprietary label. French Syrah grapes had been forgotten in California until he released his 1974 Syrah, sparking new industry-wide interest. Since 1990, the winery also has been making a line of Rhone-style wines.
The 600-acre winery was founded in 1972 in Spring Valley, near St. Helena. It produces about 100,000 cases of premium wines each year. Winemaker Craig Williams has kept it consistently at the forefront for connoisseurs. Suffice it to say that I have drunk my share of his wines.
At $75 per person, this is a wonderful chance to enjoy his wines in a very charming setting,you do know that Savannah is dripping with the warmth and fireplace ambiance of a luxurious lodge?
The restaurant is located at the corner of Golden Lantern and Del Avion. Phone (949) 493-7107 now as seating is limited for this dinner.
Roy’s Opens in Rancho Mirage
We may not be wanting to go so far from home as we get our sense of security back, so may I suggest that you take advantage of a new restaurant that’s only a month old in the high desert community of Rancho Mirage? The 27th Roy’s restaurant, under the stewardship of celebrity chef Roy Yamaguchi of Hawaii, is in a new complex at the corner of Highway 111 and Bob Hope Drive.
The menu features more of Yamaguchi’s unique Hawaiian fusion cuisine using freshest local ingredients. A strong point is the specialized wine list for harmonious pairings put together by Randy Caporoso, the award-winning sommelier and vice president in charge of wine purchasing for Roy’s restaurants. He has a history of sourcing global wines that fully complement the unique flavors of the food.
It’s no big secret that I consider the wine list at our Roy’s of Newport Beach, in Fashion Island, one of the best, and the lists in all Roy’s restaurants are pretty similar.
The newest Roy’s is patterned after the romantic, comfortable outdoor-to-indoor living style found in a gracious home of the Pacific Rim.
There’s an all-weather lanai and design elements include lots of exposed wood, woven seagrass ceilings, hand-crafted wrought iron, plus wood, leather and bamboo fixtures. A desert palette of soft oranges, purples and yellows flows gently throughout.
There’s abundant self-parking, but part of the fun is taking the Aloha-mobile, a customized seven-passenger golf cart complete with Hawaiian music that ferries guests from their cars to Roy’s front door.
We never mind the two-hour drive to the desert and along with an overnight stay, or more, this is now one of our musts. Some of my lucky readers have second homes out there; poor me has to stay in a hotel. Serving dinner only. Phone (760) 340-9044 for reservations.
