Here’s a resolution to follow in the new year: Get yourself to First Cabin at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort.
I’ve really come to admire the food of chef Josef Lageder for several reasons. Quality and the thrill of his artful presentations are among the chief ones.
Here’s a fine chef who doesn’t see the need to up the ante on all the California cuisine around us. Chef Lageder’s mission is to dazzle us with elegant simplicity based on using a basic fine ingredient for each dish.
A famous French chef once told me that the real art of cooking is in mastering simplicity. All the creative mixing of flavors that drives trends can’t beat allowing a singular ingredient to stand out.
First Cabin has been open to the public only since the Balboa Bay resort debuted some 19 months ago. Chef Lageder’s food has racked up some prestigious awards since opening. A big honor was the International Star Diamond Award shared by some of the world’s most famous chefs.
First Cabin features richly upholstered banquettes, pressed linens draping the tables and signature dinnerware.
And for the food: You can dine well but as lightly as you desire. There are ample appetizers, delicious salads and soups to make a meal, even without going to the larger entree salads and such.
Maine lobster bisque is as perfectly rich and smooth as it should be, and has medallions of lobster as accents. In another soup, leeks release their perfume in a broth that carries just a hint of white truffle oil.
Everyone has an opinion about how onion soup should be made. I stick by the classic recipe of the old French master chefs where the onions first are caramelized then mingled with broth and simmered gently until the onions literally melt in your mouth. This is the version you will find here, with a toasty croustade topped with cheese floating on the surface.
Fresh shellfish always is important, so oysters on the half shell, shrimp cocktail and a seafood “martini” are offered in the appetizer section. There’s also a nice tower of lump crabmeat snuggling in some micro greens with bits of mango and avocado to scoop onto your fork.
|
|
First Cabin: the place for Maine lobster |
I strongly suggest the Napoleon of seared tuna tucked between supports of crispy wontons that comes with a papaya-mango relish. Seldom do I pass up beef tartare when it’s on a menu. Here, it’s straightforward, made from beef tenderloin with a caper aioli and crispy baguette slices. Smoked salmon sits atop a potato pancake that is happy to play partner without yelling that it’s the most important thing on the plate. Classic escargot beckons.
One salad on my “must” list is the hearts of romaine Caesar. The serious salad eater also will find eight other salad entrees on the lunch menu (half as many at dinner). They cover the Cobb territory, shellfish, seafood on greens, an interesting Asian-style marinated beef salad with vegetables, a luscious curried chicken salad and a winner consisting of spinach leaves mingling with grilled prawns wrapped in prosciutto.
Lunch sandwiches should start with the Maine lobster stacked on grilled brioche bread with some butter lettuce and tropical fruit for punch. The grilled challah bread enveloping seared tuna also is a fine combo. The most classic of burgers,a half-pound version of very lean beef,is offered.
First Cabin’s winter menu features a pair of pasta dishes. A hearty Bolognese-style linguine has a rich, full-bodied meat sauce. This is the time of year when I make fresh noodles at home for pasta dishes, soups and stroganoff. The First Cabin menu has fresh pappardelle noodles that are dressed with a light gorgonzola cream sauce and snippets of sun-dried tomato and pine nuts to add texture and support.
Ruby red trout is gingerly saut & #233;ed and glazed with lemon-parsley butter at lunch; for dinner it’s pan-fried and classically stuffed with crab. Chervil, a delicate and lacy herb, joins lemon in the sauce for the latter and the saffron-asparagus risotto is a fine texture and taste element on the side.
Mahi mahi, salmon filet, tenderloin tips with wild mushroom ragout, pork loin wiener schnitzel (crispy and wonderful) and filet mignon are on lunch and dinner menus.
In the evening, rack of lamb, additional steaks, veal scaloppini with lobster medallions and not-to-miss roasted duck with Asian five-spice in the background and fresh kumquat chutney in the foreground are offered. One of my favorite indulgences is sweetbreads; chef Lageder serves them simply crisped and sided with seared sea scallops.
Finally, this is the place to have a two-pound Maine lobster, steamed or grilled.
A few months ago, a new pastry chef, Peter Wimmler, joined the crew. I give you these hints to think about: warm apricot and almond crisp has praline ice cream and honey-balsamic syrup; seasonal pears meet Valrhona chocolate in a tart; hazelnuts distinguish a tart of apples and cranberries; and an advanced version of chocolate brownie meets a scoop of fresh vanilla bean ice cream.
Wine is gathered from the world’s vineyards of note. First Cabin’s equal attention to wines, service and food is a product of the backgrounds of the major players here. There’s the president and general manager of the Balboa Bay Club & Resort, Henry Schielein, originally from Munich and known as a most serious connoisseur. The food and beverage director, Dieter Hissin, is from the Black Forest region of Germany. And chef Lageder and pastry-man Wimmler hail from Austria with impeccable credentials.
AT A GLANCE – BALBOA BAY CLUB & RESORT
Address: 1221 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach
Phone: (949) 645-5000
Cost: lunch appetizers $6.50-$13.50, lunch entrees $11.50-$22.50; dinner appetizers $7.50-$15.50, dinner entrees $18.50-$38.50
