I don’t even want to count how many restaurants I have eaten in this past year. But I can tell you that no chef has consistently impressed me more over a few decades, and still does, than Alan Greeley, the chef and owner of Golden Truffle in Costa Mesa. This special guy is my pick for Chef of the Year because he thinks globally about food and he makes culinary memories for all of us.
Go to the restaurant’s website, and the first thing you see is his quote, “The best of all worlds.” It is. Dining anytime at Golden Truffle will bring you an international, soulfully cultural experience like no other. Asian, European, Latin, Caribbean and subcontinent dishes pop onto his menus beside his modern American specialties, and in being so good at what he does, he trumps every other dining experience around.
One evening, I had dinner at Golden Truffle with two very discriminating palates, businessmen of note who are like walking encyclopedias of fine dining. They are acquainted with chefs who cook the most fabulous food, and they are experts in trends as they come and go. One made the statement that Alan Greeley is the most talented chef in Southern California, and the other agreed. I don’t have nearly their combined experience, but comparing among restaurants where I’ve had my best dining experiences, I chimed in as a third concurring voice.
As additional evidence of Alan’s stature, Golden Truffle is a favorite of restaurateurs and chefs, winemakers and food and beverage industry movers and shakers. They know that dining is a unique and alluring adventure there. Dare I say one more time that the Golden Truffle experience reminds me of dining in Michelin-starred restaurants, albeit without any of the cost or pretense?
It’s difficult for me to decide what part of the story to put first, middle and last. We’ll start by addressing Alan’s sense of humor, because if it isn’t fun, he’s not going to cook it or serve it. Menu categories include Utility Foods, Old School Entrées and New School Entrées. Examples from recent daily menus: Pit-Smoked BBQ Brisket on Brioche; Maine Lobster Guacamole; House-cured Wild King Salmon Gravlax; Swordfish Piccata; Nebraska Rib Eye Scaloppini; Alsatian Sausage and Sauerkraut; Bahamian Clam Chowder; Fresh Seafood Linguine; and Braised Short Ribs. Plate presentations are dressed for prime time.
Customers count on the unique-and-delicious factor and the aura of cheerfulness that soothes us at Golden Truffle. Dishes that appear on the menu are those Alan is over-the-moon about on all fronts. Customers are tuned in to his eclecticism of American and international food, and to his smiling personal demeanor when he stops by tables to discuss the food and the wines and why certain dishes are on the menu of the moment.
The restaurant has a cool, understated look. The laid-back, Caribbean-looking atmosphere—as if one had discovered a special bistro on a romantic island—punctuates the relaxing tempo. There’s a small bar—complimentary snacks from the chef from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday for those sitting at the bar—a wine room, a front-and-center space with a few tables and booths, and a main dining room. There’s also a nice outdoor patio. Overall, the restaurant has a soft, tranquil nature.
Serious chefs change their menus seasonally. Alan Greeley is so spontaneous, he changes menu items constantly, some things daily, depending on some fantastic meat, seafood or produce that he was not expecting from purveyors or at the farmers market.
Somewhere along the line, I asked Alan where his recipes come from. His answer, and I found out he wasn’t kidding, was that a lot of it happens in the mornings when he’s going to work on his motorcycle with the wind in his face and his food thoughts flowing freely.
One thing, though, we must all face: He often gets an idea for a dish customers will ooh and aah about when they eat it, but when we ask when he’ll have that dish on the menu again, he can’t give an answer. He never writes down a recipe and sometimes does not recall how he made a past dish. So we go merrily along and keep getting our culinary kicks anew.
It takes more than a chef to make a restaurant successful, and that brings Letia Short into the picture. She will modestly say that she’s the Beverage Director. She’s much more than that. Letia and Alan share a love of wine and are intent on featuring the best wines for food pairing. Letia is often tasting some newly discovered gems. She has a wide knowledge of both famous wines and international boutique wines with exciting flavor profiles. She joins Alan in sourcing some of the most interesting boutique wines from everywhere, and that can make meals even more alluring. Letia is also the little dynamo at the front of the house overseeing the whole picture. She’s in customer contentment mode all the time. Between the two of them and a good staff, they impart a sense of well-being as our final take-away from any meal.
Several restaurants now serve prix-fixe dinners in lower price ranges. But there’s a big difference between what Alan does and the others. He has his Soul Food Wednesdays, $22 to $25 for three courses, themed around the authentic cuisine of one country at a time. Other restaurants take a narrow approach, sticking to foods drawn from their regular menus. For these Wednesday Golden Truffle dinners, there are no other menu items served; it’s just a cultural adventure of some country’s iconic foods for one night only. Recent dinners featured the food of France and a week later Argentina, followed by a Vietnamese evening. Get yourself on its mailing list to be notified of all the upcoming dinners and other happenings, menu changes, etc.
Chef of the Year Alan Greeley, with his unbridled passion in the kitchen, is doing what obviously makes both him and his diners happy. Prices for the intriguing food and charming wines are much less than one would expect. We sit amidst the most comfortable and unpretentious surroundings, and the staff really care about our total enjoyment.
Golden Truffle: 1767 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, (949) 645-9858. Lunch Tuesday-Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Soul Food Wednesdays, reservations available 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.; dinner Thursday-Saturday, 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
