Let’s open with some chatter about new restaurants that will open soon, one that opened six months ago and two that closed.
We’ll be watching for the opening this summer of Mozambique Restaurant and Coastal Lounge, which will occupy the former Tortilla Flats space in Laguna Beach.
It’s advertised as a place that will serve “great steaks, giant prawns and crisped chicken cooked over a wood fire.” It will hook onto the Mozambique connection via the company’s own Mozambique Spice Blends that will be used in preparing the foods.
Another steak house scheduled to open soon will be housed in the old Carmelo’s space on Pacific Coast Highway in Corona del Mar.
Does anyone remember that not long ago we were obsessed with cutting down on red meat consumption?
I never gave up enjoying a fine steak or my rack of lamb, so I am happy that we’ve come to some culinary sense in enjoying meats again, and other good foods, too, in moderation.
Meanwhile, David Wilhelm’s Culinary Adventures plans to add a new restaurant to our scene. It will be called French 75 Brasserie and is set to open soon in the space that so suddenly was vacated a few months ago by SensAsian on the Irvine side of The Marketplace at Jamboree Road and Bryan Avenue.
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David Wilhelm’s French 75: opening brasserie based on the restaurant |
There are plans for the company to open other French 75 Brasseries in Pasadena and the Los Angeles area.
Considering the beauty, sensuality and popularity of his French 75 restaurant, as well as David’s Chat Noir and Rouge, we might as well start making our plans now to try this newest sibling.
Ozumo is a Japanese restaurant that opened in December in Fashion Island. Wow! What great Japanese food in such attractive surroundings.
The original Ozumo has been one of San Francisco’s hot restaurants for a few years now. This is a sophisticated step above what we are used to finding in the Japanese realm in Orange County.
The chef, Katsuo “Naga” Nagasawa, has a prestigious background in L.A. and Marina del Rey, which I will tell you all about in a future article. I’ve sent him many, many customers from OC over the years. How lucky we are to have him here now.
Hard Rock Cafe in Fashion Island closed two weeks ago. It was a surprise to many. There are undisclosed plans for the location to take on a new restaurant concept. As soon as I know, you will get the news.
Those of us who enjoy doing a bit of Texas two-step between courses of food, or without food at all, will have to wait out the reinvention of Crazy Horse Steak House.
The Crazy Horse had moved to Irvine Spectrum five years ago from its decades-old location off Warner Avenue and the 55 Freeway.
But the lease was up and was not renewed. We’re told it will rise again in a new location. We just have to wait and see.
Wines to Impress at Hush
Laguna Beach’s hush is having a Trefethen Vineyards Wine Dinner on Tuesday at 7 p.m. (yes, the restaurant spells its name with the lower-case “h”).
We all know what great wines have come from that winery.
In the event you have not seen this modern restaurant and its more-than-impressive wine displays, this wine dinner is a very good reason to do so.
The Trefethen evening begins with a crab salad mille-feuille (layers of puff pastry with Haas avocado, cr & #269;me fra & #238;che and riesling gel & #233;e). The Trefethen Vineyard 2003 Dry Riesling will be poured with this course.
The main part of the dinner finds three more courses, each with its own wine match. The Trefethen 2003 Estate Chardonnay will accompany a seafood course of Alaskan halibut done in Mediterranean fashion with picholine and kalamata olives, red pear tomato and basil pistou.
In order to allow food matches with two of the winery’s most popular wines, there will be two separate meat courses.
The third course of grilled veal chop with summer garden vegetable risotto is meant for pairing with the Trefethen 2001 Estate Merlot.
Then a pan-roasted venison loin with hazelnut potato croquette and chanterelle mushrooms is presented with Trefethen’s 1999 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.
The finale of the evening is the 2001 Late Harvest Riesling along with apricot and riesling soup with fresh berries and a citrus lace tuile cookie.
Considering the many fine meals I’ve had at hush, the super impressive wine list, the scaled down glamour of the whole place, I’m hoping that many of you will take advantage of this evening.
Price of the dinner is $125. For more information and reservations, call (949) 497-3616.
The restaurant is at 858 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach.
The Best of Italy’s Arch
The monthly regional dinners at Il Fornaio in Irvine, and at all the chain’s locations, long have been part of the interesting menu factor and they represent dishes from Italy that you simply can’t find elsewhere.
This week only, Monday through Sunday, you have a chance to experience the best dishes from Basilicata (the arch in the boot of Italy).
The savory dishes are the foods that Marcello Apollonio, the managing partner here, grew up with.
Each month for these dinners, a chef from one of the Il Fornaio locations shares the cuisine of his particular area of Italy.
It’s our turn to celebrate our own Marcello and his native food.
To set the stage for Basilicata and Marcello, here’s a bit of background. The Basilicata region is dominated by mountainous landscapes. Agriculture is a major economic source,citrus fruits, olives, grapes, vegetables and cereal crops.
We all know the lovely taste and health benefits of olive oil. Some of the best exported olive oil from Italy comes from the Basilicata area.
Various chiles and varieties of peppers are used to accent some dishes. The savory seasoning of the food matches the distinctive qualities of the red wine made from grapes grown in the volcanic soil near Mt. Vulture.
The wine is available for you to try.
In the past few years, I’ve written about the food, the decor, various happenings at our Il Fornaio and about Marcello Apollonio.
Marcello came to our attention when he took over as chef about a decade ago and the food, which always had been good, suddenly took on more depth of flavor and certain dishes reached into the memorable realm.
Now, he’s stepped from chef to managing partner at the Irvine location.
Marcello’s hometown is Calvera, Basilicata. When he was still a youngster, his twin brothers left home to attend hotel and restaurant school.
He was completely fascinated with what they were learning and the seed of interest grew in him every time his brothers came back home and shared their latest cooking experiences with him. He even made them teach him how to open a bottle of wine and he learned about setting and clearing a table.
Marcello began to cook with his mother, who made her food with health in mind.
Of course, we know he ended up in restaurant kitchens, first in Italy and then in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills before joining the OC dining scene.
The food on the special supplemental menu he shares this week celebrates the best of Basilicata.
Suggested first courses are white bean soup, eggplant carpaccio (thinly sliced grilled eggplant topped with roasted bell peppers, kalamata olives and warmed goat cheese) and tuna carpaccio comprised of thinly sliced fresh tuna topped with fennel, red onion and caperberries.
I’ve had pasta al forno before and highly suggest it as a pasta course to share or as your entree. It is toothsome rigatoni with eggplant and tomato ragu, fresh basil and two kinds of cheese baked in the wood-fired oven.
The spaghetti with clams Basilicata-style finds broccoli rabe mingling with garlic, tomato and crushed red pepper in the broth.
Marcello suggests the ravioli stuffed with roasted eggplant and, my goodness, the risotto is so compelling. Lots of shellfish join fresh asparagus in the hand-stirred Arborio rice as it absorbs a rich lobster broth.
A trio of meat and seafood dishes have their own delectable personalities. Double chicken breast is grilled with lemon, olive oil and roasted garlic.
A big, meaty lamb shank is braised with vegetables, fresh herbs and sangiovese wine. And a filet of bluenose sea bass is sauteed with tomatoes, white wine, basil and chopped garlic.
All of these generous portions are served with appropriate starch and vegetable side dishes.
I may be full after demolishing some of those dishes, but I’ll probably not pass up the fruit flavored gelati because it is light and refreshing.
A trio of the Italian ice creams that are almost sorbet-like comes with a top hat of whipped cream, delicious Amarena cherries (the most sought after wild cherries in Europe) sprinkled about, waffle cookies for a sidebar of texture and a little triple sec liqueur dripped atop it all.
The Il Fornaio menu in force all the time is loaded with wonderful dishes but these particular ones only are for this week, so don’t miss the culinary opportunity or the chance to meet Marcello.
Il Fornaio: 18051 Von Karman, Irvine, (949) 261-1444.
