It’s time for the 9th Annual Newport Beach Wine Festival, one of the most anticipated wine and food events each year.
The long weekend features seminars, food galas and extravagant wine and food tastings, all enhanced with the elegant waterside lifestyle for which The Balboa Bay Club & Resort is known. Save May 25-27 to participate.
The Master Sommelier Dinner is the kick-off event on Friday evening. Master sommeliers Ron Mumford and Ira Harmon will present New World wines.
Saturday afternoon offers seminars on Spanish wines, tapas and cheese pairing. The Grand Tasting Gala on Saturday evening is a showcase of international foods and wines that always draws much acclaim.
Sunday morning begins with a vast European-style breakfast, followed by an Argentinean BBQ with red wines and beers in the early evening. There also is an evening event called Cigars, Cognacs, Spirits and Sweets, for those so inclined.
This is one marvelous weekend to consider as a stay-over in one of the Bay Club’s luxurious rooms. All events can be attended on their own, or a full weekend package with or without lodging is available.
Reservations are required for the Wine Festival Weekend events at (949) 630-4146. Room reservations can be made at (949) 645-5000 (see related item, page 51).
Bay Club Dining
It bears adding that anytime is a good time to enjoy executive chef Josef Lageder’s new menu at the First Cabin restaurant, the public dining room at the Balboa Bay Club.
The yellowfin tartare easily mingles briny fresh tuna, sprightly capers and chives. Smoked Alto Adige speck (smoke- and salt-cured ham) is sliced ultra-thin and topped with the slightly bitter snap of arugula and the creamy smoothness of burrata cheese, all of it sprinkled with a syrupy balsamic reduction.
Hawaiian sea bass has adornments of shiitake mushrooms, quinoa and a zesty tomato tapenade. Medallions of beef tenderloin are fork tender beneath a coat of peppercorn sauce. Wiener schnitzel (crispy pork medallions) remains a favorite, and I like that they’ve added chicken paprikash (a savory Hungarian stew served with spätzle).
I believe that after having the lobster salad sliders you will start craving them. For me, this is memories of Maine in the perfection of casual dining when it meets elegant taste. Prime rib is on the Friday and Saturday menus. There are also three-course prix-fixe dinners for $38.75.
Some wines also made tasty impressions on us. 2009 Jules Taylor Pinot Gris (Marlborough, New Zealand) had honeysuckle, pear, white peaches and a hint of spice coming together in vibrant style.
Jules Taylor was the winemaker for Kim Crawford wines before starting out on her own. From one of Burgundy’s historic negotiant houses comes a lovely medium-bodied pinot wine, Domaine Moillard Chorey-Les-Beaunes (2004).
The slight minerality coupled with faint cherry, nice acid and layered tannins makes it a good choice for seafood and poultry. We enjoyed it with our sea bass.
The 2006 Star Lane Vineyard Merlot (Santa Ynez Valley) was a wine I did not know. I took the sommelier’s suggestion, and it does go well with the red meat and the schnitzel. Blackberry and mocha meet a tad of vanilla and sage in a nicely matured way with a delicate hint of chocolate in the finish.
Do order the warm marzipan pear torte introduced on the current dessert menu. Patrick and I are not gigantic fans of dessert wines, but we decided to try one with that pear torte dessert: Trefethen 2007 Late Harvest Riesling.
It was sweet but not cloying. Imagine apricot, lychee, orange blossom, pineapple and crème brûlée coming together in a glass.
Elsewhere at the Bay Club, I love steel drum calypso and reggae music— and with summer barbecues and that music being featured together on the outdoor terrace of Duke’s Place, I’ll also be lolling away some swaying and dining time there on occasion. BBQ Sundays at Dukes will happen 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. each Sunday from June 17 to Sept. 2. Balboa Bay Club: 1221 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach, (949) 645-5000.
Changing Scene
Darren and Jean Coyle have expanded their South County Wineworks restaurant by opening Dublin 4 next door at 26342 Oso Parkway, Mission Viejo. The contact number is (949) 582-0026.
It hits the design notes of a true Irish pub, with a moderately refined version of pub food, significant beers and wines and lovable prices. The owners and the chef are committed to the importance of bio-dynamic and organic farming.
Mitsuwa Marketplace (at 665 Paularino Ave., Costa Mesa) has been giving us a taste of Asia for several years. In fact, its food stands, where various styles of Oriental cooking are offered for quick and casual meals, have gathered some decent dining reviews.
Now, there’s a complete replica at Mitsuwa in Irvine (14230 Culver Drive in Heritage Plaza). You can spend some interesting time at either location.
You can shop for Wagyu beef, premade sushi, fresh fish or any of the many other staples of Asian cuisine on sale at Mitsuwa. Have a tasty bite and shop some more. I buy a lot of my housewarming and hostess gifts at Mitsuwa since the selection is pretty vast and ever interesting.
Elsewhere, the Royal Hawaiian in Laguna Beach has closed after 65 years. We built some fun dining and family memories there, albeit most of them in earlier decades when there weren’t more restaurants than we can manage to visit in this county.
Don the Beachcomber is still around, and a few modern Hawaiian restaurants are mingling in the multicultural mix of eateries. But the drama of the tropics brought to our shores is watered down in the vast array of dining possibilities.
Jerry’s Deli at South Coast Metro also has closed. Remember it was open 24/7 for a short time? I said at the outset that it would stop that rather quickly, which it did, as OC goes to bed early.
I’ve always been a fan of the famous-for-decades Katella Deli anyway, so I’ll simply give them more business now: 4470 Katella Ave., (562) 594-8611.
B&B
We are in that group of travelers who are enjoying some vacations closer to home this year. Some of them are minivacations that stretch out our travel enjoyment.
We recently combined a stay at a B&B in Paso Robles wine country with other mini-vacations in Monterey and San Jose added on. We managed to see a few wineries, rediscover the charms of two Monterey-area hotels, and indulge in the luxurious San Jose Fairmont hotel as well.
Some delicious food naturally became part of our getaway, and discovering a custom parfumerie added some unexpectedly fragrant times as well.
Doug and Deborah Thomsen lived in Orange County but yearned for a different lifestyle. Upon finding an English-manor-style, three-bedroom bed and breakfast for sale in Paso Robles, they decided to move to the wine country a few years ago.
The Paso Robles area, you may know, is enjoying a winery growth spurt with enough vineyards and tasting rooms to keep anyone busy for several days of tastings and tours.
Orchard Hill Farm will impress if you appreciate the friendliness and warmth that comes from a good B&B experience. It offers fine views from its hilltop perch, a lovely garden, significant furnishings and the requisite hospitality from the Thomsens.
An elegant breakfast is served each morning at Orchard Hill, and there also are some good restaurants in neighboring downtown Paso Robles. Stop in at Chico’s Café for totally casual, lovingly handcrafted food at any of three meals. Husband and wife run this gloriously clean and sweet little place, and personally take care of customers. They serve terrific food in a most casual atmosphere.
My other top-notch remembrance is Artisan. Chris Kobayashi, who graduated at the top of his class in culinary school, is the chef/co-owner, and his brother, Michael Kobayashi, is the manager/co-owner. These two dreamed since childhood of one day having a restaurant together. While Chris was in chef training, Mike worked with some of the biggest artists while on board with a major music company. They added their dreams and experience together and are now featuring the ideal wine-country dining experience.
From octopus to quail, pork belly carnitas to rabbit, homemade pastas to a grand selection of sustainable seafood and meats and farm-to-table produce, this is food to admire.
Hyatt in Monterey
We hadn’t been to the Monterey/Carmel area for a long time, and knew that the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa had undergone some major renovations.
We chose—upon some recommendations for both the property and its new restaurant—TusCa, to stay for a few days. Amid the stands of trees and clean and perfumed air, we were happy to find that they still have free self-parking for the whole hotel, with the ability to park right in front of your room. Request an upstairs room from which the vistas are just lovely.
The lobby and dining room have become so relaxing (casual meals or cocktails in front of the fireplace get a big nod), and having contemporary American and Italian food at neighboring TusCa was a most enjoyable Monterey-esque experience.
TusCa’s chef knows about subtle use of sauces and herbs that simply make the major ingredient in each dish sing. White bean soup, gnocchi with duck confit, paquillo peppers stuffed with crab, eggplant cannelloni, prosciutto and pear pizza, sausage and clams with pasta, sea bass wrapped in pancetta, and an absolutely decadent veal osso buco with white truffle essence gave us many smiles.
And I wish some OC chef would latch onto their limoncello crème brûlée.
This stay afforded us the opportunity to have lunch at their sister property, the acclaimed Hyatt Carmel Highlands Inn, with its grand views of the cliffs and ocean. For the most serious foodies among us, Highlands Inn schedules Lunch with the Farmer on a regular basis in the main dining room. A local grower or forager who supplies to the high-end hotels and restaurants in the area comes in and narrates a multicourse lunch made with his products.
The lunch we attended was so sophisticated and educational, I found myself wishing we had something similar in OC. The mushroom forager on our day, along with the hotel’s chef, not only fed and educated us, but we were sent home with a basket of many varieties of wild mushrooms.
Being only a few minutes away from Carmel, it was easy to take in that graceful city. One shop we found that might be of interest to my readers is Ajne. It is billed as America’s first authentic, organic perfume house—no synthetics ever used.
Custom scents and skin-care products are blended from pure, fragrance essentials that are sourced from dedicated farmers around the globe who grow only sustainable crops. There is also a full line of Ajne’s own pre-mixed fragrances and skin-care products.
Many celebrities have Jane Hendler, the owner/perfumer, make their signature fragrances. I made an appointment with her to smell an array of scents and pick my favorites. From those, she custom blended a perfume for me.
San Jose Luxury
We finalized our little California vacation time with a three-day stay at the San Jose Fairmont Hotel, one of the chain’s ornate and luxurious places. Keep this hotel in mind when you dream of the perfect place that oozes sophistication and elegance. Polished service, serious food, superb public spaces and unbelievably comfortable rooms combine with a perfect midcity location surrounded by boutiques and international restaurants.
We did some other fine dining in San Jose, and our top vote goes to Tao Tao in nearby Sunnyvale. The old central district and the main street on which it is located provide sightseeing and interesting shopping galore, so take some extra time for that sidebar of activity.
Tao Tao is a thoroughly modern restaurant, though it’s been doing its thing since the 1950s. Smooth service meets amazing and delicately presented Chinese food of the highest caliber, yet at very affordable prices.
This food is so impressive that we always keep it on our itinerary.
