No restaurant has been more addictive for us than Break of Dawn in Laguna Hills.
It opened in 2006, and I dubbed it the best little gem to open in the county in a long time. I am sticking with my assessment.
It’s always such fun to have one more meal and meet even more people who have become loyal customers of the former executive sous chef of the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel. This is where we get food that takes breakfast and lunch (they are not open for dinner) to a new stratosphere.
Lately, we’ve been trying some of the new dishes on the summer menu and finding out about the growing catering business. Owner and chef Dee Nguyen cooks such illuminating food in his casually sweet place.
Here we are having alluring cuisine that is every bit as elegant in flavor and looks as that purveyed by our most chic restaurants and yet we are comfortable in our jogging casual or relaxed California attire.
Dee manages to bring his breakfast and lunch dishes down to a level where we enjoy the culinary pampering without any hints of pretense intruding. He honestly has no competition in this genre of dining.
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Crab legs from Blue Coral: part of restaurant’s “shell” offerings |
The restaurant also has taken on new meaning as a place to use for special occasions. Family and business gatherings, wedding rehearsal meals and receptions and charity fund-raisers are finding it an agreeable place.
Since they close at 3 p.m. every day, this is ideal for the customer who wants full access to the facility for private use in the evenings. Catering for customers also has come into focus. And, considering that the food is so impressive, no wonder it’s a place that continues to create a lot of buzz.
The room is sincere in delivering an engaging measure of fashionable casualness. Dee, proud of his culinary training and many years at Ritz-Carlton, has framed his chefs’ jackets from his school and the hotel, turning them into pieces of art.
He had an artist paint in bold calligraphy many of his favorite food and philosophical sayings, with the artist adorning them further with colorful renditions of food integrated into the beautifully flowing script of the large artworks.
The room itself incorporates a long bar on one side that serves as a mixologist’s station for cocktails and wine and a cooking station at one end. The room flows with just the right measure of fashionable seating meeting casual tables.
When one thinks of breakfast and lunch food, eggs and pancakes, sandwiches and salads come to mind. They exist here. But eggs Benedict features your two soft-poached eggs atop fluffy house biscuits with a pesto hollandaise and smoked ham.
We truly love the sausage and rice with its slightly spicy whole Portuguese sausage and a bundle of green papaya and sesame salad on a mound of rice and two fried eggs on the plate as well.
Cr & #269;me br & #369;l & #233;e French toast is made with raisin and cinnamon brioche atop amazing custard of chocolate and coconut. Cinnamon sticky bun makes a dandy impression. It is a large thing, baked in its own cast iron pan with an almond glaze and a pouf of whipped cream for a crown.
Other menu items: enticing versions of breakfast meat and egg combos, oatmeal turned into a br & #369;l & #233;e, pancakes and waffles. Omelets are impressive, and there even is an uptown version of breakfast chilaquiles. Since some of us enjoy breakfast items at lunch, all of the dishes are available throughout the hours of operation.
I have literally tasted most of the savory entrees that have taken us through many personal and business meals (this has become a favorite place when someone wants to combine business discussions and a meal). I can only pick a few items to whet your appetite.
The butternut-kabocha squash soup is silky and deep with flavor, not to mention a swell contrast in texture with the crispy shrimp rolls that accompany it. Braised duck is sided with a chestnut omelet and dappled with a Goji berry sauce. Chicken comes as a lightly curried stew with a crusty baguette. I am enthralled with the smoked salmon and oatmeal galette. This item with an herb-poached egg and marinated tomato works equally well for me at breakfast or lunch.
Pork is one of my favorite meats and it reaches its zenith in Dee’s plate of shredded barbecue pork with an amazing jalape & #324;o corn cake, tropical-style slaw and two eggs tempura that are artfully poached, dipped in delicate tempura batter and flash fried to deliver a crackling crisp coating.
Going very country and finding me vowing to eat this again very soon, is the dish of veal cheek and tongue. The meats are braised to rich, fork tender status and served with nice potato and vegetable accompaniments.
We discussed it with a couple seated next to us who got adventurous and ordered it and then were wondering why they hadn’t known before that this kind of country cooking can provide some of the most memorable moments at the table. Another win for Dee in getting the public to try what chefs themselves adore eating.
Short ribs and meatloaf also will take you to creative territory, as will wild salmon and mahi mahi preparations, noodles with shrimp and baby back ribs.
And if perchance you are in the sandwich or salad mood, you are still in for treats. Try some of that meatloaf or the barbecue pork on a French baguette. An elevated version of the club sandwich also works for me.
Salads can be as simple as romaine with Dee’s house made dressing or incorporate chicken or fish.
The flourless chocolate cake for dessert is my choice, as pleasing as anything chocolate can get with its ultra moist character and stream of dark chocolate sauce making it even more daring.
I can’t stay away from Break of Dawn. It’s open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, but it makes a giant mark on good eating during those hours.
Prices for breakfast and lunch entrees: $6 to $15. And, don’t forget to give your catering needs a boost too with Dee’s food. For further information, call (949) 587-9418.
Break of Dawn is in the Oakbrook Center at 24351 Avenida de la Carlota (behind Laguna Hills Mall and in the corner behind Trader Joe’s). You will know you’ve arrived when you see the big fountain surrounded by the outdoor dining tables and the big awnings with the name of the restaurant on them.
Taste of Summer
Enticing summer menus continue to add alternative adventures for diners at Blue Coral Seafood & Spirits at Fashion Island.
It’s unveiled a seasonal menu that’s overflowing with fresh fish and summer specialties. In keeping with the seasons of seafood, Blue Coral evolves the menu three times a year.
The tastes of summer emerge in new appetizers such as sashimi grade tuna tartare with toasted pine nuts, crisp apple salad, and Bloody Mary oysters served on the half shell spiked with Rain vodka Bloody Mary sauce and fresh lime.
A trio of shellfish flavors are in the presentation of blue crab with a signature mustard sauce, king crab with horseradish cocktail sauce and Louie-style colossal shrimp on one plate. Vodka-cured pepper salmon is creative and nicely sided with julienned vegetables and dill sweet mustard and a retro almond crusted shrimp with a duo of dipping sauces makes a nice first course too.
The menu also features a summery salad of garden fresh greens with crab and shrimp in a traditional Louie dressing.
For those who like grazing, a sampling of these first courses can make the perfect meal. But if you are taking on more substantial dining, the new entr & #233;es of globally sourced and pristinely fresh seafood step up the pace.
Highlighted summer “fins” include Scottish salmon that is grilled and enhanced with b & #233;arnaise beurre blanc for presentation. I am always happy to encounter Arctic char. It is a member of the salmon family,with a taste profile somewhere between salmon and trout. It is found in icy waters in salt and fresh water. Here it is pan-seared and judiciously glazed with a citrus curry sauce that is most pleasing. Yellowfin tuna is seared rare and sliced with delicate chive butter as its dressing.
Grilled mahi mahi on the seasonal menu is perfumed with Hawaiian alaea sea salt and swathed a lemon caper aioli. Pacific wild swordfish is served either “Oscar” style or mojo verde marinated with roasted lemon and citrus-chile drizzle.
The restaurant is also offering a hearty new cioppino featuring gulf shrimp, jumbo sea scallops, Alaskan king crab, manila clams, Prince Edward Island mussels and hand-cut fresh fish simmered in a zesty tomato broth; and a number of “shells” including the signature Lobster en Fuego that I relish, scampi, pan-seared sea scallops, Alaskan king crab legs, and more.
New to the restaurant’s menu is a broiled Tristan Island lobster tail; and a surf & turf combo featuring a petite filet and the Tristan Island lobster tail.
I’m noting my pleasure at all the rich blue color that envelops the space via a dramatic wall of vodkas from around the world backlit in blue, a theatrical hand-blown glass sculpture of blue coral and the iridescent blue mosaic tiles walls that drive this multi-sensory dining experience. It’s a place that manages to blend serenity with anticipation very nicely.
Blue Coral is at 451 Newport Center Drive in Fashion Island in Newport Beach. The restaurant and lounge is open every night for dinner, with the lounge remaining open for an hour after the dining room closes each night. For reservations and information, call (949) 856-2583.
