Clear Your Palate, Mamma Vessia’s Back in Town
Chipotle Offers Free-Range Pork; Peruvian Food in Casual Setting at Nory’s
EXECUTIVE DINING by Fifi Chao
There are things I never miss when the opportunity again presents itself. That includes having the signature dishes of Franco Vessia’s mother when she is in residence at his restaurant in Irvine. She’s here during March and her dishes are available at Vessia Sunday through Thursday evenings.
To jog your memory, Franco was the longtime manager of Prego before opening this restaurant a few years ago. He corralled a fine Italian chef, Gino Buonanoce, to head the kitchen and predictably the connoisseurs in the crowd who knew one or both of them followed along to form a core audience for the terrific Italian dishes that they still serve. I’ll confess that this has become one of our favorite spur-of-the-moment restaurants.
When the restaurant opened, Gino commiserated with Mamma Vessia on certain dishes, since she’s an awesome cook in her own right. Then, her specialty dishes became the focus of her occasional month-long stays here. This is the time to have Passatelle in Brodo, rustic chicken soup that’s enhanced with pasta and Parmigiano cheese and a hint of nutmeg. Good on these cool evenings. Her Piselli e Pasta is composed of small cut pasta pieces tossed with pancetta, green onions and peas in a very light broth. Fortunately, this favorite dish of mine from past occasions when she was here is back for the month: Bocconcini di Vitello, which is a veal cutlet that’s stuffed with mushrooms, sage and Romano cheese and topped with a white wine-shallot sauce. The other entr & #233;e of Mamma Vessia is Branzino in Umido: baked sea bass sitting in a bit of fish broth sparked with olives, green onions, fresh tomato bits and Italian parsley. Finally, the most refreshing dessert imaginable is her Crostata d’Arancia. This is a sublime orange torte that as I recall has not been featured in her last few visits. But, I’ll be having it more than once during this month.
Her dishes can be ordered a la carte or in a four-course meal that is $33. Of course, the whole restaurant menu is also available at all times. Vessia is a very congenial and well-appointed rest-aurant that’s quite reminiscent of what would be considered a favorite local trattoria in Italy. The service is friendly and quite professional, the food well presented and ever tasty.
Quality Fast Food
Quite some time ago, I wrote about the Chipotle restaurants and their concept of fresh fast food. They’ve garnered a nice reputation for their dedication to proving that fast food can be of prime quality, mostly made to order and cover enough territory to please a good cross section of diners. The founder and chief executive, Steve Ells, built the chain on the belief that the market would embrace fast food that’s both high quality and extremely flavorful. He’s been held up as an example of success by leading industry publications.
Now, the corporation is offering yet more quality via Niman Ranch free-range pork that is humanely farmed and served at many gourmet restaurants. Niman Ranch is a cooperative of small family farmers who raise their animals (both pigs and cattle) in open pastures without the use of antibiotics or other artificial growth hormones.
While supporting agricultural sustainability is important and socially conscious, to the diner the thing that impresses the palate is the wonderful taste of this quality pork. Carnitas, for example, is in a whole new realm.
There are five locations in Orange County.
Peruvian Casual
We found some interesting Peruvian food at the very casual, but friendly Nory’s in Lake Forest. Here’s the scoop on finding this tricky location. Exit the freeway at Lake Forest and turn east. Turn right on the little street that’s just before Rockfield and go to the end, where you run into a small strip mall. Enter the restaurant and sit yourself down at one of the marbleized formica tables. The food deserves better,try not to be too shocked when it comes on a plastic plate.
A staple accompaniment to many entr & #233;es is saut & #233;ed red onion and chunks of tomato. French fries are also often showcased. What is surprising here is that you can have several kinds of fresh fish, shrimp dishes, pasta dishes with seafood, several kinds of beef and chicken preparations and some good soups for ridiculously low prices ($4.95 to $10.50). Try the fresh ceviche (fish “cooked” in citrus juice with sweet potato, corn and onions). The saut & #233;ed beef strips called Lomo Saltado are very tasty as are the Picante de Camaron (shrimp cooked in a medium hot sauce with peanuts). It’s all easy eating at very low prices. Given the quality, it’s a keeper.
