I don’t play golf but I sure do like being at the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo.
The golf club, which opened in 2004, is comfortable, attractive and provides beautiful views.
And the food is really good. We took in a food- and wine-matching dinner one evening with Turnbull wines being poured, part of its quarterly winemaker series.
In visiting with those at neighboring tables, my husband Patrick and I found some serious wine buffs who spend lots of time at Arroyo Trabuco,and only some of them ever go on the golf course.
The overall philosophy of Arroyo Trabuco is to provide a memorable experience on par with other high-end golf clubs at affordable prices. Zagat Survey Golf Edition for this year says it is “The absolute best deal in Orange County.”
Some golfers prefer to have membership status in a club in order to get additional perks. While we can all enjoy this venue since it is always open to the public, those interested in a more private relationship can join the Members Club.
The club offers 15-day advance tee time reservations, members’ only tournaments, the amenities of Southern California Golf Association membership, $15 range card, member only social events and clinics, discount on golf shop merchandise, a newsletter and a one year subscription to either Golf Digest or Golf for Women.
We used to live in Mission Viejo, and to us Avery Parkway was always just a freeway off ramp. We knew that a golf club was going in at the end of Avery. We just didn’t realize during construction that it’s only four blocks inland and the street dead ends at the attractive, meandering wood and stone structure and vast fairways. It’s so easy to find.
The golf club blends into the woodsy greenery with an upscale casual comfort that dominates the facilities. More stone and wood permeates the d & #233;cor.
Trestle-like ceilings soar above and the front of all rooms feature walls of glass or plenty of windows overlooking the course, hills and Trabuco creek.
O’Neill’s Bar and Grill is where you’ll most likely find me. The bar naturally is a highly popular place after a round of golf but it’s also a draw for all of us who appreciate great atmosphere for a pre- or post-dinner glass of wine or cocktail.
Comfortable club chairs cuddle up to the tables in the bar area and the grill room is decked out in fully upholstered chairs to ensure dining relaxation too. In the cool of these evenings and on temperate days, it’s also quite nice to eat outside on the huge patio.
We are not early to rise, so going out to breakfast is not on our regular agenda, but they do serve food all day, every day, beginning with breakfast from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Breakfast includes just about every pastry, cereal and egg combo plate you can think of.
Lunch and dinner salads range from relatively simple mixes of baby greens with some cucumber and tomato to more profound offerings.
The Napa Valley Wine Salad, for instance, begins with a bed of baby greens sprinkled with crispy won ton strips, a generous amount of candied pecans, some citrus segments and brie cheese and is then topped with a very tasty herb-encrusted chicken breast.
A baby spinach salad goes metropolitan with the addition of duck confit, grilled Portobello mushrooms, fried artichoke, ricotta salata and roasted peppers.
The same casually comfortable menu carries through lunch and dinner entrees. There’s true signature status centering on the barbecue items.
Tri- tip roast, slow smoked ribs and genuine “pulled” pork (slowly roasted and then hand-pulled into shreds and mixed with their own lovely barbecue sauce) are the contenders.
Pulled pork comes on a sandwich that will have you craving a return visit. Falling-off-the-bones ribs slathered in that tasty barbecue sauce wander across a platter with fries, ranch beans, slaw and a corn bread muffin as accompaniments.
Muffins seem like such an afterthought but I must emphasize that these corn muffins are quite the stars of taste and texture,they are the best and might end up in a bread basket at your table. Don’t ignore them.
Fish and chips are traditional fare and ravioli are made on the premises, stuffed with chicken and further engaged with pine nuts, leaf spinach, tomato confit and lemon butter on the plate.
Wide pappardelle pasta also is freshly made and served as a toothsome entree with a bit of citrus in the sauce. Every evening there is a fresh fish entree and sometimes pork and steak dishes also appear.
There are a couple of appetizers that I could make a meal of, perhaps sided by one of the simpler salads. I love having mini sliders anywhere. Here, I get six of them, the little puffy buns stuffed with my choice of that marvelous pulled pork or tri-tip, or a combo of both.
A jumbo shrimp cocktail features five prawns in a very classic sauce that I like. Sashimi of tuna is another good possibility and the Dungeness crab cakes are really terrific. They are very crab-intensive and come with watercress, mango butter and a coulis of fire-roasted red peppers.
All day there are several sandwiches on the menu. More inventive ones are the fresh grilled salmon, the Yard Bird featuring a Cajun-style breast of chicken and the fresh Hawaiian albacore tuna melt.
The chicken salad sandwich is a tasty m & #233;lange of smoked chicken, Gala apple, sliced almonds, baby fris & #233;e and melted brie. Reubens and burgers, clubs and French dips join a good grilled vegetable sandwich and that famed pulled barbecue pork.
Are you a Sunday brunch person?
Arroyo Trabuco’s brunch is a well-furnished affair where casual and relaxing hours can be spent while trying all the different foods. A fine bonus is the soul music that melds so well.
There’s also live jazz on Friday evenings, so that might be your choice of nights to try O’Neill’s. The club features special menus for all major holidays. Take-out meals also are offered on those holidays.
The golf club’s wine list also is well considered. From light whites to heavy reds, they’ve tucked in a very good array of medium-bodied wines.
A quartet of sparkling wines turns any gathering into a special occasion and if you’re in the market for one of California’s trendy babes, then order the Nickel & Nickel 2002 Tench Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.
Business or personal meetings and banquets of all sizes are held in impressive banquet rooms. The property has wireless Internet connections. The private wedding garden has become a popular place.
And there’s a special treat for beer drinkers: The club has installed an oversized motor in the beer fridge to keep the ales really cold.
A cold beer promo is geared to golfers,”Your First Draft is Your Score.” If you shoot an 87, your first draft is 87 cents. If you shoot 108, your first draft is $1.08. Needless to say, this is very popular with the golfers.
Golf course notes: 7,011-yard, par 72 course on 240 acres. PGA tour pro Tom Lehman and golf course architect Casey O’Callaghan of Costa Mesa designed the course, which has five sets of tee boxes, two lakes and 53 bunkers.
All That Jazz
If we say we’re going to go to the “city” to dine, most people think that means Los Angeles.
But for those of you who only head north, you’re missing out on some fun in San Diego. The city has become lively in so many ways.
It’s not that much further than L.A. and I find myself going down there more and more.
We’ve walked every block of San Diego’s energetic downtown many times and we’ve eaten in many of the restaurants that are part of that liveliness.
When the downtown revolution took hold in the 1980s, the first place we ate in was Croce’s Restaurant & Jazz Bar. We’ve been back many times since.
In 1985, Ingrid Croce opened the restaurant as a tribute to her late husband, singer-songwriter Jim Croce. He was only 30 years old when he died in 1973.
We were fans of his music, so finding a restaurant with the Croce name on it made it imperative to find out about the food, the music, the nostalgia it offered.
What we discovered is that Ingrid integrated fine dining with some nightclub ambiance and live music. The restaurant is decorated with family photos, gold albums, guitars and other memorabilia.
In the two decades since Ingrid became a restaurateur, she’s broadened her horizons considerably. She’s written three books, with the latest sitting here on my desk for more than a month as a reminder that it’s one of the books I want to share with you.
Her first two books were “Thyme in a Bottle” (an autobiographical cookbook) in 1996 and “Jim Croce-Time in a Bottle” in 2004.
After being named as one of the top 10 businesswomen in San Diego by sister publication, the San Diego Business Journal, and Restaurateur of the Year by the California Restaurant Association, this year Ingrid published her third book, “The San Diego Restaurant Cookbook.” It’s a terrific read.
The latest book is much more than a cookbook. It has historical value because it is the story of San Diego through the eyes of the restaurateurs.
The book is laden with beautiful color pictures of food, restaurants and vistas. The recipes begin with a short history of the restaurant and, thankfully, we can actually make the food at home without feeling inferior to a professional chef.
The book’s 270 pages take us on a tour through the city’s most popular fine dining establishments. Ingrid quickly tunes in to the soul of each place with her friendly and erudite writing.
I’m recommending the book as a marvelous gift to you or anyone who loves food and restaurant dining.
You will find yourself curling up in a comfy chair and getting lost in the savories of the city and the kitchen, not to mention the pleasure you’ll derive from the photography.
Ingrid’s books are available in bookstores, at Amazon.com and on the Croce Web site: www.croces.com.
If you go to the Croce Web site, there are CDs available of Jim Croce’s music, from the first one he and Ingrid made together to the latest compilation of tunes put together by Ingrid and their son A.J., a successful musician in his own right.
For those who love good food and restaurants with a reason, take some time to check out Croce’s Restaurant & Jazz Bar, at the corner of 5th and F Streets in San Diego. Phone: (619) 233-4355.
Croce’s honors what’s called priority seating,you call in the day you are dining and get your name on the list. When you arrive, you are given priority over walk-in guests.
AT A GLANC – ARROYO TRABUCO GOLF CLUBE
O’Neill’s Bar and Grill
Address: 26772 Avery Parkway,
Mission Viejo
Phone: (949) 305-5100
Web site: www.arroyotrabuco.com
Hours: 7 a.m. through dinner daily; first tee time: 6 a.m.
Cost: breakfast $4.95 to $9.95; lunch, dinner appetizers and salads $5 to $11.95; sandwiches $7.75 to $9.95, entrees $9.95 to $14.95
