Several months ago, I wrote about David Wilhelm’s return to Newport Beach with Tavern House, then set to take the 3Thirty3 Waterfront spot on Coast Highway.
Tavern House is open and for my money should also be seen at the 2020 Golden Foodies.
I sampled everything at the media tasting and confessed to liking it all, though several items stood out, including the voodoo shrimp martini with crispy rock shrimp in a sweet chili glaze and papaya salsa.
“Shrimp are marinated overnight in honey and buttermilk, flash-fried, and tossed with a sweet chili-Sriracha aioli,” Wilhelm said. He serves it in a martini glass, hence the name, and tops it with the fruit and salsa.
“This was one of my signature dishes 30 years ago at Barbacoa,” he said. That restaurant was down the street from the current Tavern and he, “decided to see if it would still be as popular as in the past.”
It’s sensational, bursting with savory and sweet. I could eat it all night but had to stop: I knew more was in store.
This included a memorable BBQ Chipotle Bourbon Oysters: chipotle, garlic butter and pecan wood smoked bacon, served with chunks of sourdough bread and Buttermilk Fried Chicken with mashed red bliss potatoes, maple glazed Brussels sprouts and thyme gravy.
That latter was first served at Wilhelm’s old Sorrento Grille.
“Back then, it was rare to see fried chicken on any upscale restaurant menu in OC,” he recalled. “I wanted to add a dish that spoke to the love of comfort food in us all.”
It’s fabulous: the chicken tender, mashed potatoes whipped, thyme gravy bringing it all together.
Wilhelm has a confession of his own: he’s not a dessert guy.
You wouldn’t know it from Bananarama: bananas, pastry cream, butter pecan ice cream, and salty caramel sauce.
It’s intimate and intense, the candied pecans brilliantly countering luscious gooiness of ice cream and pastry cream.
It’s large, easily sharable.
Tavern House, 333 Bayside Drive, Newport Beach 92660, (949) 673-8464, tavernhousekb.com
