What better way to start out the year than with a good cup of coffee?
And I know where you can find one. A brand-new coffeehouse in Costa Mesa called Buon Giorno proves how serious the Italians are about their coffee.
At the helm is a fellow, Athos Fiori, who many in Orange County know from his years of taking such good care of us in Italian restaurants in the Newport Beach area. Athos was the one who got all of us to flock to Mamma Gina when it first opened.
About two years ago, he decided that since he’d already acquired the American distribution rights for one of Italy’s finest coffee importers (Costadoro of Torino, Italy, dates back to 1890), he’d concentrate on opening his own coffeehouse with a bit of tasty noshes to go along with the brew.
Athos has turned the original Diedrich Coffee on 17th Street into a warm and charming place. He opened silently and was astonished at the immediate response. The grand opening was on Saturday.
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Buon Giorno: Costa Mesa site used to be original Diedrich Coffee location |
Buon Giorno opens at 6:30 a.m. and the fresh daily pastries with Italian accents are great sidekicks to the morning coffee. Crispy cannoli tubes hold creamy whipped fillings in vanilla and nutella flavors. The Italianesque cakes,toscanella and tartufata,join a delicate apple pastry, biscotti of various inclinations and an airy light tiramisu.
About a dozen sandwiches,made on fresh rolls and served as is or grilled panini style,offer a tasty and easy meal. A few of the sandwich fillings are prosciutto, bresaola (like prosciutto but made of air-dried beef), salami, turkey, Italian ham and mozzarella, provola and fontina cheeses.
At some time, please do order the cappuccino smoothie. It’s a sleek drink, smooth and bright with coffee flavor. The quality of the coffee is a sure thing, both hot and cold.
Buon Giorno: 474 E. 17th Street (at Irvine Avenue), Costa Mesa. Open 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Phone (949) 645-3900.
Frankie’s Steak and Seafood
Franco Vessia, owner of Irvine’s delicious Vessia Ristorante, has expanded. His new restaurant, just a few months old, bears some similarities to the Rat Pack theme in that meat and seafood are its mainstays and the decor is a blend of Tuscan color and steak house demeanor.
Frankie’s Steak and Seafood takes a bit of travel to get to since it’s in Temecula, where Franco lives and tends his single vineyard.
We know Franco from Vessia, which opened in 1998, and even before that as the head of Prego in Irvine in its heyday.
Gino Buonanoce is his chef and partner at Vessia and now is executive chef overseeing the new restaurant.
The restaurant is in a newer shopping area of Temecula. It has quite a welcoming aura with a fine bar and lounge area sitting alongside the wine cellar in one section and the main dining room featuring curved arches, wood ceilings, soft colors and nice artwork from locals. There is a buzz of energy in the dining room but it is not overbearing.
We settled into one of the booths for a long evening of sipping and tasting. The sommelier came by to open our bottle of Vessia Cabernet and let it breathe for a few minutes. We concentrated on appetizers at $9 to $18.
My husband Patrick is a soup fan and had the onion soup that proved to be a long-simmered broth thick with onions and satisfying flavor. Crispy calamari was ordered because the jalape & #324;o tartar sauce sounded interesting. The oysters Rockefeller were delightful with bits of prosciutto adding their salty expertise.
By now, we were sipping the cabernet and truthfully surprised that a first effort would turn out so well. This Vessia wine is adequately layered with cassis and wild cherry, tinges of chocolate and coffee, all laced with a bit of earthiness.
Patrick and I ended up sharing our entrees of a rib eye steak and a recommended grilled pork chop. The latter was certainly a nod to superb tasting pork with the still juicy flesh mingling with a fine caramelized onion and balsamic vinegar reduction. The steak was perfectly tender and topped with a dapple of garlic-herb butter. Several other steaks are offered. There’s pasta with shellfish, rack of lamb, sea scallops, venison chop, lobster tail and more.
Entrees are $28 to $37 and come with both starch and vegetable.
The wine list comprises about 100 wines (kept in a state of the art cellar) and plenty of wines by the glass. About 75% of the list is priced at $25 to $50 per bottle,$48 for the Vessia Cabernet,and most of the wines are less expensive than we pay in OC.
Dining in Temecula is looking up with this restaurant to help us out. It is very conveniently located, and, I am sure, you will enjoy both the hospitality and the food.
Frankie’s Steak and Seafood: 41789 Nicole Lane (in the Creekside Center), Temecula, (951) 676-8040; dinner only. Vessia: 3966 Barranca Parkway (in the Crossroads Center), Irvine, (949) 654-1155; lunch and dinner.
