There are several interesting things going on at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa now.
On Saturday at 2 p.m., you might want to lounge by Spa Gaucin’s private lap pool with wine, champagne and appetizers while the summer season’s newest and hottest resort and fitness wear and designer sunglasses hit the waterside runway.
The event is free but space is limited. So please pre-register with their Spa Gaucin at (949) 234-3367.
If you are not taking in the fashions, you might instead enjoy watching the executive chef of the St. Regis, Frederic Castan, do a cooking demo at the new Bloomingdale’s at South Coast Plaza.
He’ll appear from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. This event is free and open to the public.
One more thing that happens every Saturday is the Afternoon Tea & Tini’s Experience.
This is a lovely tea buffet on Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in Motif restaurant.
An international variety of teas and handmade delicacies are featured, as well as a selection of specialty martinis. Reservations for Tea & Tini’s can be made by calling (949) 234-3272.
And this is a good time to remind you of the extended summer hours from June through August 28 for Stonehill Tavern, within the St. Regis. The restaurant now is open six days a week and closed on Mondays.
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Stonehill Tavern, above: laid-back luxury with ocean views,
Mina, right: extended hours at Stonehill Tavern |
Stonehill Tavern is a one-of-a-kind dining experience (forget the Tavern part of the name and note that this is a gorgeous and very San Francisco-like place). It combines equal parts laid-back luxury,a warm and inviting bar and lounge, ocean views and an outdoor terrace for cocktails,and super star chef Michael Mina’s stylish renditions of classic American food.
Michael has several nationally renowned restaurants in San Francisco and Las Vegas. This is yet another fantastic dining experience under his banner.
For reservations, call (949) 234-3272.
Of course, the splendid Spa Gaucin is open to the public but you do need to make reservations for the specialized massages and treatments. For spa reservations, the number is (949) 234-3367.
Aside from the dining and the spa, just strolling the St. Regis and the grounds is a special experience.
Niko Niko
While getting the feel of a new shopping center on recent occasions, we looked in the window of Niko Niko restaurant. It was inviting in a serene way and there were ample customers.
Niko Niko is part of a chain of a dozen Japanese restaurants with the latest one being in Irvine’s new Woodbury Center,a very good looking plaza at the corner of Sand Canyon Avenue and Irvine Boulevard with Home Depot, Target and Ralphs as anchor stores, and, naturally, a meandering bunch of shops and quick food options.
Since it was mealtime on one of our forays, we gave the restaurant a try. Then we went back for a bit more sampling. The food is quite nice for a chain operation in a shopping center.
The decor is basic gray, black and white with a few live orchid plants and attractive pendant lights. Modern, angular elements meld with the bare essentials of Japanese design.
The sushi bar is fronted by 18 seats and backed by two sushi chefs who greet you warmly whether you sit there or at one of the white formica-topped tables. In fact, the whole staff is friendly and helpful.
A little bowl of edamame beans is brought to the table or your seat at the sushi bar, along with menus. It can take a while deciding what to eat because there are three dozen appetizers and Asian versions of salads, a dozen udon noodle dishes, two dozen bento box meals and 58 kinds of fresh, cooked and tempura style rolls and sushi to choose from, plus sashimi cuts galore.
The menu is laid out in booklet form with photos of what the food looks like. We’ve tried an array of rolls, most of them arriving in eight generous pieces.
One called the Hawaiian Tempura Roll is very tasty and has a nice yin-yang of textures with its crunchy tuna tempura atop a traditional California roll (avocado, cucumber and crab meat wrapped in sushi rice).
Another called Popcorn Lobster Roll also has that same crunchy vs. soft nature. It has deep fried lobster over a roll of spicy tuna, avocado and bell pepper.
Soft shell crab, albacore tuna with crispy fried onions and calamari steak with crab and baked salmon are some of the more interesting fillings for various rolls.
I am a fan of fat and homey udon noodles. Here they are ordered as plain in a savory broth or with additions of stir-fried seafood, chicken, beef, vegetables or tempura. Still to try for us are teriyaki, katsu pork and chirashi (assorted sashimi on a bowl of sushi rice), but we have tried a large sampling plate of sashimi and found it to be delicately cut and very attractively presented.
For those who just cannot make up their minds, bento boxes can be the answer. These colorful, divided serving containers hold a combination of items of your choosing.
And, there’s something educational about the tea service.
Hot tea comes in a tall ceramic cup with the Asian designs providing an irregular outer surface for gripping. The unsuspecting might pick up the cup of tea and find it too hot to handle comfortably. Ah, there’s a reason for these cups and how they parlay tea drinking. When the cup is still uncomfortably hot, the tea also is too hot to drink. When the temperature of the cup is hot but comfortable in the hand, the tea is perfect for drinking.
Niko Niko does nicely in its genre. It’s not a place where Japanese sushi chefs are trying to break tradition with splashy creativity but rather a small chain operation that’s expanding the Japanese menu options for us without losing us in the translation.
Niko Niko: in Woodbury Center, Sand Canyon and Irvine Boulevard in Irvine, phone (949) 748-3970. Lunch and dinner daily. Appetizers and salads $3 to $14, sushi combo plates $10 to $16, sushi rolls $4 to $11.
