On December 12, Glasspar in Dana Point will celebrate its first year in business.
It’s been a crazy 12 month, admits chef-owner Rob Wilson, who helmed the kitchens of some of Orange County’s most prestigious resorts including the Surf and Sand Resort in Laguna Beach, the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel, and the Montage Laguna Beach before opening his own restaurant last year.
“We were open, then only to-go, then dining outside, the inside, now outside. I call it the Yo-Yo Effect,” laughed Wilson when we chatted on his patio. “Thank goodness we’re not shut. It was nice having the dining room open for a while, with limited seating. When we are only open outside, we lose 14 tables. That’s a lot. It’s reflecting in the revenue.”
When patio dining was initially allowed, Wilson added tables to the common courtyard area, plus a small front patio with four high tops facing Dana Point harbor.
It’s a far cry from one year ago, which Wilson said was “a crazy time. It was the Christmas season. We got shot out of a cannon. We did 360 dinners the first night we were open, and 450 the second night. It didn’t stop that whole holiday season, until January 2 when we slowed down a little. It was a case of ‘be careful what you wish for.’ We were running full morning and night crews and full prep crews, and we were only open for dinner. We had triple the staff we do now.”
Wilson said that Glasspar was open “three months and two days before the shutdown. We had to pivot, not knowing how long that yo-yo string had to be.”
“It’s a crazy time,” admitted Wilson. “We are having a new patio covering installed, heaters are being redone. It’s a $50,000 expense to absorb when you’re hanging on by a thread. We’re doing what we can do until we can get back inside, and hopefully once we get a vaccine we’ll be rocking.”
Other unplanned expenses that are now mandatory: personal protection equipment (PPE) including hand sanitizer, masks and gloves for his staff.
“We are spending so much money on gloves,” said Wilson. “The food runners, chefs, are going through gloves like crazy. From the kitchen to front of house. Every time a busboy clears a table, every time food runner takes food out, they have to change gloves.”
Fortunately, Wilson said that “the customer’s attitude has been supportive. We were lucky enough to form a little following of local clientele.”
Wilson said there’s a silver lining for him.
“It’s been a good learning curve for us. This was good for us, it made us understand our business and the restaurant that much faster. Not many are going to open and be profitable right off the bat. I wonder what this place is going to do once we actually reopen. It will be fun when we can actually open full speed and have the clientele we have built over the last 11 months.”
Seasonal Menu
To celebrate one year in business, Wilson has introduced a new seasonal menu and specialty holiday cocktails with such names as “Miracle on Golden Lantern,” “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out,” and “It’s a Wonderful Cosmopolitan.”
New menu items include seared Nordic salmon with melted leeks, squid ink gnocchi, and saffron sauce; day boat scallops with parsnip puree; and seared Ahi tuna with madras curry couscous and star anise carrot puree.
“We changed about 16 dishes,” Wilson said. “We changed the butternut squash soup with crab salad and truffle chive cream, the day boat scallops, the halibut, the seared ahi tuna, the Nordic salmon, and we added a 20 ounce prime ribeye and a 12 ounce New York steak.”
When Wilson worked at the resorts, his menus had to chance every three months, which was labor intensive and not in line with California’s longer growing seasons.
“When I change menus, I look at the weather,” explained Wilson. “I was still getting great peaches and heirloom tomatoes until recently, and they were great quality. So, our menu will change maybe three times a year.
Octopus, Easter Eggs
During the month of December, Glasspar will offer a celebratory special in honor of their first anniversary: Champagne, Caviar, & Oysters three ways.
Priced at $36, the special includes a glass of Taittinger champagne, an iced Tito’s vodka and caviar shooter with pickled pearled onions and chives; Kumiai oysters from Baja California with local uni, caviar, and aguachile; and a Fanny Bay oyster with a champagne granita and caviar.
That’s the dish Chef Wilson had me start with when I sampled the new menu. It’s a classy and classic way to begin a meal. The oysters and caviar were perfectly paired with the champagne.
Then it was on to octopus—Spanish octopus to be exact, braised in red wine, marinated with smoked paprika, garlic aioli and rosemary, charred on the grill, and served with pickled beans, Mediterranean olives, duck fat poached potatoes, romesco sauce and almonds.
“This may be the best octopus I’ve ever had,” I told Chef Wilson when he came to check on me.
“If I ever take this off the menu, there would be anarchy,” laughed Chef Wilson. “It’s our number one appetizer dish.”
Next came a dish not on the menu but you can ask for it: Andy’s Egg.
“We have a guest named Andy, and he always says ‘just cook for me.’ So one day he was here, I looked to see what ingredients I had available. In 30 seconds, we came up with this dish,” said Wilson. “It’s a ponzu dashi poached egg with local uni, caviar, mushrooms, red dragon radish, and ponzu dashi brother poured over the top. I posted a photo of it on social media and a girl came in and said ‘I am here for Andy’s Egg.’”
Next came the day boat scallops with mushrooms, onions, brown butter, purple cauliflower, au jus, and parsnip puree, adorned with marigold pedals from Chef Wilson’s garden. Another remarkably flavorful dish.
The came dessert: Beer-a misu. Yes, tiramisu made with Epic Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout.
“It’s classic Italian dessert with a twist,” Wilson said. “There is no coffee in it. We have a stout reduction and add amaretto, homemade lady fingers and mascarpone. The beer tastes like coffee.”
Wilson was right—the dessert looks and tastes like the classic dish.
Sailing Lesson
Before I left, I asked Wilson why he decided to leave the security of a corporate job to do his own thing.
“I had made the decision about three years ago. The kids are grown, one is out of the house and one is in college. My wife and I always talked about doing a restaurant. I made others a lot of money, it was time to do my own thing. But if you told me the pandemic would happen, I never would have left. This has been a huge undertaking. It’s been painful, it’s been crazy. But it is what it is. You have to work with what you got.”
For Wilson, that’s drive, determination and creativity.
“Smooth seas never made a skilled sailor,” he said. “Being forced to pivot has made us stronger and allowed us to foster a deeper connection with our community.” n
Glasspar, 24961 Dana Point Harbor Dr., Dana Point, (949) 240-6243, glasspar.com.
