Looking for sensational seafood? Try Old Brea Chop House in downtown Brea.
“We’ve always said the signature of a great steakhouse is their seafood,” Old Brea Chophouse owner Tony Fasulo told me. “You know you’ll get a great steak at a steakhouse.”
Fasulo is right on both accounts—his fish dishes are delicious, and his steaks are the best in town, or even out of town.
That should come as no surprise when you learn that Fasulo spent 20 years with Morton’s, the gold standard in name-brand steakhouses. He traveled the country opening and fixing Morton’s restaurants, so he knows a thing or three about fine dining.
After two decades, Fasulo was lured to Brea by the landlord of a former Old Navy store who wanted someone to open a steakhouse. That someone turned out to be Tony Fasulo, and his co-owner and wife, Dani Fasulo.
Old Brea Chop House debuted in December of 2019 to great fanfare, and no wonder—there was nothing quite like it in north Orange County. Fasulo took his many years of restaurant experience, from Morton’s to Italian and French restaurants he operated at the start of his career, and put it all in one spot.
The Old Brea in the name comes not only from the downtown Brea location, but to my sensibilities it’s a nod to the classic style of steakhouse more prevalent on the East Coast.
“We’re something you’ll find in New York or Chicago, but on the West Coast,” agreed Fasulo. “We have all the classic steakhouse menu items. A steakhouse is known for seafood and shellfish. An item we have become famous for is the New Orleans barbecue shrimp: five prawns in a cognac sherry sauce, it’s out of this world. We have a thick cut pork belly with a slab of bacon, cured in house, and finished with bourbon maple reduction. It’s a classic.”
Other menu classics: bone marrow, sides from sauteed spinach to wild mushrooms, hand-cut steaks dry aged up to 60 days, a rib eye cap with a special spice rub served with garlic butter, and a Delmonico steak with truffle butter.
Another signature dish: homemade ricotta gnocchi, made fresh daily, hand cut, placed in a bowl of truffle cognac cream sauce and, upon request, a little crab meat on top.
Manhattan Milk, Butter Cake
Fellow foodie Della Lisi accompanied me to Old Brea Chop House so we could try several dishes, but first it was cocktail time. Della went with a fizzy champagne cocktail, but I had to try their newest special: Manhattan Milk Punch, a velvety drink made with Woodford reserve bourbon, Madeira and milk—what Fasulo called “a 1906 version of a Manhattan.”
The Milk Punch disappeared fast, so Fasulo brought us two glasses of wine to accompany our dinner.
We started with the barbecue shrimp, with sauce so delicious I used most of the fresh baked goods in the bread basket to sop up the spicy nectar.
Then came the gnocchi with crab meat. A traditional Italian restaurant could not have done better than this. The mushroom, crab meat and sauce combined with the gnocchi for a compelling dish that I had to force myself to stop eating, knowing more was on the way.
Up next, Della and I shared a perfectly cooked bone-in steak and a lovely salmon with hollandaise sauce—or was it bearnaise? My palate was working overtime with all the fabulous flavors packed into the dishes.
For dessert, Fasulo suggested the butter cake.
“Two of my favorite words,” I quipped.
And it’s also now one of my favorite desserts, served with a whipped ice cream-like topping with crème anglaise alongside sliced strawberries and blueberries.
Patio Focus, Again
And in case you’re wondering, Old Brea Chop House has a charming patio on the restaurant’s courtyard. It has 14 tables, which Fasulo said is less than half of their normal capacity.
Like other restaurants, he was forced to close in March when the restaurant was hitting its stride. After two months of takeout, he opened for indoor and patio dining. In July, it was back to outdoor, then 25% indoor, and now back to just the patio.
Fasulo said he has nightly specials to-go that usually include a salad, entrees and a bottle of wine. Other menu items and cocktails are available to-go or for delivery.
For those that dine on Fridays and Saturdays, a string trio plays from 6 to 9 p.m.
“It’s good and bad because people don’t want to leave,” Fasulo said.
So what’s Fasulo’s secret to success?
“Classic cocktails that are slightly elevated. The best products. Flawless execution. I’m not reinventing the restaurant industry. I put the best product on the table and nail it.”
Nail it he has.
Old Brea Chop House, 180 South Brea Blvd., Brea, (714) 592-3122, oldbreachophouse.com.
