I eat a lot of meals at Bluewater Grill,one in Newport’s Cannery Village and one in South Coast Plaza Village.
Eat at one or the other by June 26 because that’s the last day of the fantastic Cedar Planked Wild King Salmon promotion. I can’t imagine missing the opportunity to savor the wild salmon during its short season.
King (Chinook) salmon is Alaska’s state fish, with a hard-earned reputation for perseverance and strength. These salmon travel upstream as far as 2,000 miles for their freshwater spawning. The migration can take up to 60 days and they are caught under highly regulated fishing rules only during the months of May and June, at which time their flavor and healthy Omega-3 oils are at their peak.
These salmon are completely nourished by a wild, natural diet, which results in their stamina and their rich flavor.
The story goes that cooking on cedar planks originated with Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest, who apparently discovered that roasting their fish on the planks gave an additional layer of complementary taste. Bluewater marinates the fresh King salmon, roasts it on an individual cedar plank and serves it with fresh dill and chive cream for only $19.75.
Bluewater is renowned for its fresh seafood specialties with a menu featuring fresh fish from around the world and complemented with free-range chicken, steaks, rack of lamb and even a classic burger.
There also is an array of internationally inspired appetizers (several of them seafood and shellfish,wonderful selection of fresh oysters), making this a good restaurant for “grazing” style dining as well.
South Coast Plaza Village location: 1621 W. Sunflower, Santa Ana, (714) 546-3474. Newport Beach location: 630 Lido Park Drive (on the water on Lido Isle), (949) 675-3474.
Healthy Food That’s Tasty
A popular cafe concept from Phoenix has moved to Orange County.
Soma Caf & #233; opened three weeks ago at Newport Coast Shopping Center. It’s open for three meals a day from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Chef/partner James McDevitt honors his Japanese-American heritage in exciting Asian fusion cuisine at his Hapa restaurant in Scottsdale, which Gourmet magazine has tagged as one of the best restaurants in America.
Now he’s joined forces with some of the country’s leading physicians, nutritionists, athletes, coaches and trainers to create a healthy, yet delicious menu for Soma.
While I’ve not yet eaten at Soma, I have early reports that the food is really tasty.
Breakfast dishes include homemade granola with fresh fruit, a breakfast scramble with 99% fat free turkey-apple sausage, multigrain pancakes, an egg and cheese breakfast wrap and whole wheat cinnamon French toast, among other offerings.
Lunch and dinner menus feature salads, flat bread sandwiches, burgers and more.
Soma has a variety of salads, all of which have homemade dressing. A few are a Thai chicken salad, seared ahi tuna over Belgian endive and baby Yukon potatoes and an edamame-laced pasta salad with chicken.
Soma bakes its fries that come with sandwiches. Those sandwiches include fillings of grilled salmon, grilled vegetables with non-fat mozzarella cheese and a 99% fat-free turkey burger.
Soma also has specialty dishes such as lettuce wraps (grilled chicken, sliced roasted almonds, carrots and bean sprouts, wrapped in lettuce), pan-seared turkey (seared tenderloin over baby Yukon potatoes and bok choy), and Thai-spiced New York strip steak.
The restaurant is at Newport Coast Shopping Center, 21123 Newport Coast Drive (off San Joaquin Hills Road), in Newport Coast, (949) 706-6440.
Hone Your Wine Skills
I can’t begin to tally the number of people that do call, or have called, asking me how to learn more about wine, how to figure out what to buy for a home cellar and what wine to match with some special food or meal they are about to savor. Gosh, I should just start a consulting business and make a fortune!
I’m quite busy enough, so instead there are places like the Montage Resort & Spa to help out. The hotel is offering a program, The Art of the Sommelier, designed to help participants hone their skills in improving their own wine cellars, selecting wines for meals and social gatherings and ordering wine in restaurants.
The day-long program begins with a tour of the resort and an introduction to Montage’s wine director, Christopher Coon, who oversees the resort’s seven other sommeliers and a collection of more than 45,000 bottles of wine with 2,100 labels (valued at about $4.5 million).
Then participants attend a meeting with an artisan wine supplier to taste and discuss sourcing of products. They’ll learn what Christopher looks for in known products and from up-and-coming wine regions. Then it’s a food- and wine-pairing with James Boyce, acclaimed chef in the resort’s Studio restaurant.
The pastry chef responsible for the spectacular desserts that finish off chef Boyce’s meals, Richard Ruskell, also will join in the discussion and tasting of the food and wines and how they should be paired. That’s followed by a staff education meeting instructed by Christopher.
Some topics that will be discussed include: how restaurants and collectors find rare wines, how to professionally taste and evaluate wines, how to organize and maintain a wine cellar at home, the theories of food and wine pairing that work and proper wine service.
The one-day course costs $500, with an additional charge of $150 for each accompanying person, plus tax.
Each participant receives a bottle of Montage Reserve Merlot and a sommelier-style wine opener, plus access to the Montage Wine Hot Line for answers to wine-related questions.
A minimum of 10 days advance booking is required. Call (949) 715-6420 for reservations.
Montage Resort & Spa: 30801 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach.
