PREGO
Cuisine:
Northern Italian
Prices:
Entr & #233;es $10.95 – $24.75; Sunday Brunch $25.75, including Proseco sparkling wine; children under 12 are free
Address:
18420 Von Karman Ave.
(at Michelson Drive), Irvine
Phone:
(949) 553-1333
FRENCH 75
Cuisine:
California French
Address:
1464 S. Coast Highway,
Laguna Beach
Phone:
(949) 494-8444
Tasting the Fruits of Australia’s Vineyards at French 75
It took me long enough to get back to Prego. In the wild dash through life trying to be in every new restaurant and revisiting long-standing ones, there is just not enough of me to go around. Yet, I often feel guilty because there are places we’d long enjoyed and that seem to slip through my fingers, like this one. There are catalysts in life and this one happened to be an artist visiting from France that I wanted several of our friends to meet. So, I took a suite at the Irvine Marriott hotel for the evening, had a little food and wine reception, and let them meet and greet Jonathan Scott Robinson.
The evening provided the opportunity for me to try the food twice. Stop laughing, I did not eat two full dinners! Jonathan and his friend arrived two hours before the reception and had not eaten, so I took them over to Prego. Just walking in was like a homecoming of sorts. So many reminders of villas we’ve stayed in or visited in Italy. As if perched to view the vistas beyond, the vast room is walled with large, gracefully arched windows. Walls are daubed with light terra cotta and peachy beige. The open kitchen that faces you straight on induces the palate with the visible chefs and the rotisserie slowly turning its treasure of rabbit, duck, lamb and one or two other specialty meats of the day. I love the way the big room has been divided by several full walls of clear glass. You can see the whole space, but it muffles the sound for peaceful conversation.
After the reception, at about 9 p.m., 10 of us went back to Prego for a late-night dinner. Just a few days later, I was there again for lunch, trying still more of the menu. There’s the old adage, “Don’t fool with success,” and that seems to work here. The best of the menu has remained the same and that consistency, along with the same quality that always seems to come from this kitchen, has been a most successful mantra for them.
The grilled shrimp with feta cheese and lime vinaigrette (Gambretti Marinati) make for a pleasant opening. I also recommend the crostini (crispy bread slices) with grilled eggplant and roasted peppers and the Bresaola, which is thinly sliced air-dried beef topped with shaved fennel, onion and Parmesan. A thin, crispy pizza is a good item to share (try the one with ricotta cheese and sausage).
This is the only restaurant in which I can find bucatini, the hollow pasta “straws,” my all-time favorite. On the menu, it’s done with pancetta and fresh tomato sauce, although they will do any of their Northern Italian sauces on any pasta you desire. The Bianci e Neri is a wonderful dish of black and white pasta “ribbons” tossed with shrimp, scallops, pink peppercorns, chives and white wine velout & #233; sauce. There are also ribbons of pasta tossed with leeks, spinach and green beans that I ate in Italy, never here. I love it. The half-moon pasta stuffed with lobster and prosciutto in a lobster-lemon sauce were never better. I had them early in the evening and reordered them at lunch. In the meat category, those items from the rotisserie are always flavorful and juicy. The pork chop with balsamic reduction is really nice, and don’t miss the Tuscan-style rib eye steak with spinach and white beans or the grilled veal chop with rosemary.
Yet another way to enjoy Prego is via the newly introduced Sunday brunch. It’s a huge array, including at least three dozen choices. Leg of lamb, Sicilian sausage stew, loin of pork with apricot are but a few of the meats.
I’m comfortable here, and who doesn’t like Italian food prepared as it is in Italy? Obviously, the customers who fill the place find comfort as well.
The Wine Cellar
We recently had dinner with a group of friends, once again at French 75 in Laguna Beach. It’s no secret that I am very fond of this restaurant for its food and its gorgeous Parisian bistro ambiance. The California French cuisine of chef Justin Monson, who was formerly at the prestigious Auberge de Soleil in Rutherford, is a great pleasure.
As my readers well know, I am not a blind follower of one varietal of wine or another, nor do I automatically order wine because it carries a well-known label. During this four-course dinner, it was Australia in our glass. These two wines are distributed locally by Young’s Market, The Estates Group, but are available at your local wine shop.
Historical perspective: Goundrey Wines was created at Mount Barker, Australia, in the early 1970s, when the region was first recognized for its viticultural potential. The infectious enthusiasm of Jack Mann encouraged a small number of farmers to diversify to grape growing and pioneer this region. Mount Barker is inland from Western Australia’s southern coastline.
Goundrey Chardonnay, 1999 S E Australia Unwooded was fermented without traditional oak treatment. That leaves in place the distinctive full-flavored fruit character. It exhibits a mouth-filling palate of intense tropical fruit mingling with some stone fruit and a slight floral background. Imagine the cleanliness of an unoaked Chardonnay with hints of softness ordinarily found in dry German Rieslings and you get the idea. The finish is long and refreshing.
Goundry Cabernet Merlot, 1997 Mount Barker is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot. Drinking it is rather like dipping into a bowl of macerated fresh blackberries and raspberries. Toasty is a term usually associated with Chardonnays, yet this wine also has that character and in another intriguing twist, the fruity character reminds me of the way French handle fresh fruit in the summer by introducing a hint of licorice-like flavor via aniseed or fennel. Those flavors cling on the edge of the palate making this a most intriguing wine. Everyone at our table loved it.
Chao publishes Chao’s Dinesty, a food, wine and travel newsletter, in Irvine.
