The Dish on 1997

Some years, Orange County restaurants have come up with exciting dishes for me to write about every week. Not this year.

It hasn’t been for lack of enthusiasm. Notable openings this year included Speedway, Romanella and Joe’s Crab Shack in Newport Beach, Trilogy in Irvine, Troquet and Maggiano’s in Costa Mesa and a trendy microbrewery, Olde Towne Brewing Co., in Orange.

But among new restaurants, only Troquet and a tiny Japanese restaurant called Hana No Ki left a lasting impression on me. In fact, many of the best dishes I tasted this year were at restaurants that come up with something new and exciting every year: Pascal, Gustaf Anders, La Fayette and the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

I might add that O.C.’s Pacific Rim connection seems stronger than ever. Eric Nguyen, the young Vietnamese-born chef now at Anaheim’s Foxfire, is doing brilliant, trendsetting things in his kitchen that draw upon his Asian roots and his European and American culinary training. And Judy Nagami, who runs an eccentrically upscale afternoon tea at the Sherman Library and Gardens, is an accomplished culinary artist in her own right who creates an imaginative and eclectic East-meets-West tea menu.

Here are 20 of my favorite dishes from 1997, listed generally in order of preference, with the best at the top. Maybe next year, I’ll again list 25, as I have in the past.

In an era in which French chefs are increasingly dependent on foreign influence and light ingredients, Edmond Sarfati is an anachronism in the truest sense. No one in the Southland, except perhaps a tiny Los Angeles bistro called Mimosa, is cooking rustic, peasant-style dishes at Sarfati’s level. His Alsatian choucroute garni is cumin- and juniper-scented sauerkraut, heaped onto a huge platter with steamed potatoes, homemade sausages, ham hocks and smoked pork. Need more be said?

La Fayette, 12532 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove. (714) 537-5011. Choucroute garni, $20.

If I had to choose one O.C. dining room to eat in every day, it would be the Back Pocket at Gustaf Anders. This airy, spacious room is filled with Swedish Modern furniture, Orrefors glass and plenty of ambient light. The food is spectacular, and the prices are moderate. Chef Ulf Strandberg serves a twist on a traditional Swedish dish, a gorgeously thick, juicy chopped steak flanked by baby beets. But instead of the usual fried egg and cooked potatoes, Strandberg offers a creamy polenta.

Gustaf Anders, South Coast Plaza Village, 1651 W. Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana. (714) 668-1737. Swedish beef Lindstrom with polenta, $13.

Hana No Ki is a spare, simple cafe where home-style Japanese dishes rule. Chef Tomohiko Munakato’s menu is written mostly in Japanese, but one item that has surfaced on the English menu is this palm-sized mat woven out of shredded sardines, the perfect savory snack with ice-cold Japanese beer.

Hana No Ki, 851 Baker St., Costa Mesa. (714) 557-8715. Tatami iwashi, $3.75.

Aubergine’s Tim Goodell has expanded his horizons with the recent opening of Troquet, and he’s creating a stir with a new menu. Someone had complained that his lunch menu had nary a sandwich, so he came up with one shortly thereafter. Troquet’s club sandwich is constructed on a crust-less French egg bread called pain de mie and is filled with veal sweetbreads, applewood-smoked bacon, arugula and oven-roasted tomatoes.

Troquet, 3333 Bristol St., Suite 3001, in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa. (714) 708-6865. Troquet club sandwich, $10.50.

Normally at this time of year, I am rhapsodizing about a salmon dish from Gustaf Anders. This year, it is chef Pascal Olhats who has come up with a special spin on salmon. Olhats cures his salmon with herbs and spices, then serves it warm in thin slices on creamy riced potatoes cooked to the texture of a delicate risotto. The combination is pure heaven.

Pascal, 1000 Bristol St., Newport Beach. (714) 752-0107. Marinated gravlax with potato risotto, $8.50.

My Second City friends long for the taste of home, and a Fullerton College campus joint, Chicago Harv’s, is the answer to their dreams. The restaurant’s Chicago dog is a steamed Vienna beef frank stuffed into a poppy-seed bun, splotched with relish and mustard and garnished with a half sour dill pickle wedge, a chili pepper and celery salt. Sauerkraut, green relish and spicy brown mustard are available at no charge on request.

Chicago Harv’s, 410 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton. (714) 871-0491. Chicago dog, $3.25.

Where else but in the ultra-luxe world of the Ritz-Carlton could we find a dish as indulgent as this one? Alsatian-born chef Yvan Goetz roasts a wild partridge, slices the breast and fans it out on a toasted brioche already slathered with foie gras and roasted garlic. On the side are wild mushrooms and Brussels sprouts simmered with smoky bacon. The pear tree is extra.

The Dining Room, 33533 Ritz-Carlton Drive, Dana Point. (714) 240-2000. Wild Scottish partridge roasted with whole garlic, $36.

8. Salat Olivier.

Cafe Galeos is a hot new bakery specializing in homemade cakes and pastries, but owners Gordana Samardzic and Andrei Leontieff dream of making it a Russian restaurant. Leningrad-born Leontieff does have one Russian dish on his menu, and it’s a doozy. The classic salat Olivier blends chicken, hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, fresh peas and carrots, pickles and a Russian mustard sauce. The couple serve the salad with a delicious homemade baguette.

Cafe Galeos, 930 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach. (714) 574-0202. Salat Olivier, $5.45.

Rising star Eric Nguyen changes the menu at his Foxfire restaurant constantly, so you’ll have to call ahead for this exuberant creation. Pan-roasting fresh Atlantic halibut in a sweet corn sauce would be enough to make it memorable. Nguyen places the fish, skin side up, on a bed of homemade smoked-trout hash, which also would be great with a fried egg.

Foxfire, 5717 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road, Anaheim Hills. (714) 974-5400. Pan-roasted halibut with smoked-trout hash, $17.

Soul food meets California cuisine at the handsome Odessa in Laguna Beach, where French-trained chef Timothy Dean plies his trade with consummate skill. You can have anything from foie gras-filled ravioli to smothered pork chops in here, but whatever you order will be accompanied by amazingly light, deceptively filling baking-powder biscuits. The biscuits are served with warm honey butter and would be the envy of any Southern grandmother.

Odessa, 680 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. (714) 376-8792. Baking-powder biscuits, complimentary with meals.

Finbar’s belongs to Brooklyn native Joseph Barbara, an alum of California Pizza Kitchen, so it’s not surprising that the best dishes at his homey trattoria are pizzas. His pies have thin, chewy crusts made from a golden semolina dough, and his best effort is an off-menu BLT pizza piled up with bacon, chopped tomato, shredded lettuce and a light mayonnaise-based dressing. It’s the perfect lunch pizza.

Finbar’s, 550 Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Beach. (562) 430-4303. BLT pizza, $9.95.

O.C.’s prettiest Greek restaurant is Aegean Cafe, where new owners Penny and Jim Marutsos have continued the precedent of excellent Greek set by previous owner Tasos Lilis. Everyone gets a complimentary basket of warm pita bread bought directly from Chicago’s Kronos Bakery, plus a side dish of tzatziki, a refreshing dip made from yogurt, cucumber, garlic and fresh dill. This is easily the best tzatziki I’ve ever tasted.

Aegean Cafe, 540 Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. (714) 494-5001. Tzatziki, complimentary with meals.

Most of the customers at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Irvine flock there for the top-notch dry-aged prime steaks, which are seared to order on a grill that gets up to 1,800 degrees. My favorite dish here is a dessert, a thick wedge of fudge on top of a rich pecan-bar crust. This creation comes surrounded by chocolate shavings and a pile of hand-whipped cream. It’s as decadent a dessert as the law allows.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House, 2961-A Michelson Drive, Irvine. (714) 252-8848. Chocolate praline encore, $5.25.

14. Farmer’s salad.

Sherman Library and Gardens is one of the loveliest spots on the South Coast, so it is a joy to have lunch here on a sunny day. At the property’s Cafe Jardin, chef Stephane Collomb prepares a butter lettuce salad strewn with grilled, diced prosciutto, delicious croutons and a softly poached egg, all dressed to kill in a lively vinaigrette. Who needs the Riviera?

Cafe Jardin, 2647 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (714) 673-2261. Farmer’s salad, $8.95.

At the eccentrically Peruvian Korikancha, you dine in a room brightened by a folk-art mural, while listening to the haunting flute music of the high Andes. The tiny, finger-shaped yellow tuber called the olluco has a mildly medicinal flavor and is one of the many varieties of potato that remains relatively unknown. Korikancha sautes them with spiced, shredded beef, and the result is an unusual treat.

Korikancha, 1714 E. McFadden Ave., Santa Ana. (714) 543-3600. Olluquitos con carne, $8.50.

Chef Ryan Adams is the one wearing the baseball cap backward, but he’s a forward-thinking chef. At Citrus City Grille, just north of the plaza in downtown Orange, Adams is serving a great meatloaf. It’s thick slices of a pork and beef mix, served moist and tender, along with whipped potatoes laced with pungent Roquefort cheese.

Citrus City Grille, 122 N. Glassell St., Orange. (714) 639-9600. Meatloaf, $12.

Indian food is commonplace, but the milder, meatier cuisine of Pakistan is still relatively unknown locally. That need not be the case. Shahnawaz in Anaheim Hills is a fine Pakistani restaurant where you eat serious beef dishes such as khata kat, pan-fried bits of liver and kidney coated in a dry herb and spice crust. The dish tastes like what you’d get in a Pakistani street stall; in other words, authentic and delicious.

Shahnawaz, Anaheim Village, 5634 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim Hills. (714) 693-7193. Khata kat, $6.95.

Those who prefer to skip the organ meats, and animal products in general, can stop by Lotus Cafe, where Chinese vegetarian cooks replicate meat dishes using wheat gluten, soy products, mushrooms, nuts and yam paste. The restaurant’s most accomplished dish is hot wok soy beef, chunks of soy beef in a terrific sauce made with red and green peppers, numbingly hot Sichuna fagara peppers and salty black fermented soybeans.

Lotus Cafe, 1515 W. Chapman Ave., Orange. (714) 385-1233. Hot wok soy beef, $7.95.

Things are “irie,” or OK, at JA Grill in San Clemente, where dreadlocked chef Earl Kenlock prepares his native cuisine convincingly. All the Jamaican specialties are here, but his best dish is oxtail, a rich, meaty stew of the gelatinous, full-flavored oxtails, carrots, potatoes and jerk spices. If you like it hotter, Kenlock will put hair on your chest by adding a dash of habanero chile sauce to your stew.

JA Grill, 129 Del Mar, San Clemente. (714) 492-2500. Oxtail, $11.95.

Only Bloomie’s, or Bloomingdale’s if you must, is serving an authentic egg cream, that famous Noo Yawk soda fountain beverage that contains neither eggs nor cream. The cafe here, called 59th & Lex, serves its version in a tall glass. It’s a wonderfully sudsy creation, properly made with the right proportions of seltzer water, milk and Fox’s U-Bet chocolate-flavored syrup. And nope, Fashion Island won’t look any more like Manhattan when you’ve finished one.

59th & Lex, 701 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. (714) 729-6600. Egg cream, $1.75.