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Ron Salisbury owns The Cannery Restaurant in Newport Beach as well as the Corona del Mar location of El Cholo, among others. Piero Selvaggio owned the famed Valentino restaurant in Santa Monica for 46 years before closing it last December. These culinary legends have launched a...

  Easter is a few days away, which means this is the perfect time to make a reservation for Easter brunch—or dinner. A basketful of Newport Beach restaurants are serving Easter brunch. Some are buffet-style, with more goodies than a dozen Easter bunnies could consume. Others...

Having traveled to New Orleans several times to soak up the local culture and indulge in the town’s decadent culinary delights, I’m thrilled that Bluewater Grill in Newport Beach is hosting a month-long celebration featuring a Louisiana Crawfish Boil accompanied by a hearty bowl...

I’ve been a fan of Marin and Noah von Blöm since the duo opened ARC followed by Marin in The OC Mix/SOCO in Costa Mesa.  ARC features food cooked either over a wood-burning stove or a wood-fired oven. Wood is stacked outside the restaurant, while inside the glow of embers and...

Pelican Hill Resort is renowned for its first-class restaurants and cuisine. Last week, that reputation was cemented when Pelican Hill Executive Chef Jean-Pierre Dubray was inducted into the Maîtres Cuisiniers de France (Master Chefs of France) Association. Master Chefs of France...

After months of planning, remodeling and menu creation, Hollywood producer McG and restaurateur Jordan Otterbein (aka River Jetty Restaurant Group partners), known for their acclaimed A Restaurant, have announced the grand opening of their new dining concept, CdM, in – where else...

Chef Pascal Olhats, who currently runs Café Jardin in Corona del Mar as well as Pascal Restaurant in San Juan Capistrano (and once had several other restaurants in Newport Beach) has won many chef battles over the years, but his latest battle is against a tough opponent. This...

Newport Beach Restaurant Week ended a month ago, but another Restaurant Week is already upon us. Orange County Restaurant Week returns March 3 through 9, with nearly 150 restaurants participating this year with prix fixe menus, cocktail specials and even Breakfast for Dinner...

Coast Highway is getting a makeover—well, not the road, the restaurants. Several new eateries are opening on our scenic coastal highway, which is already packed with popular restaurants. However, two of those restaurants come from seasoned culinary pros with a successful track...

Laguna Beach resident Craig Strong launched his culinary career when he was 15, but got serious about it when he enrolled in culinary school at age 18 and learned the basics of classic French cooking. He spent time in Spain soaking up the culture, and the cuisine, then worked for...

  Still trying to decide what to do for Valentine’s day, or rather where to dine? Valentine’s Day is one of the busiest nights of the year for restaurants. Diners’ expectations are high, and restaurants do their best to live up to expectations by creating special menus to...

From Europe With Love at Bluewater Grill Every month, Bluewater Grill hosts a special themed food tasting with wine pairings. For February, the restaurant is bringing back a popular event that highlights two classic dishes: French Bouillabaisse and Italian Cioppino, plus a split...

It’s no secret that one of my favorite restaurants in Orange County is Andrea at Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Coast. Dining at Andrea is like taking a trip to Italy for an afternoon or evening. The setting is exquisite, starting with the entrance to the resort and continuing to...

“So many restaurants, so little time.” Happens to me every year during restaurant week—with 70 different restaurants participating, it’s not easy to choose which restaurants to dine at, so I try to select a range of cuisines and prices. This year, my initial foray into Restaurant...

Time to grab a fork and dig in to Newport Beach Restaurant Week, which returns January 14 and runs through January 27. Wait—that makes two weeks, which means more opportunities to visit the 70+ restaurants participating in Restaurant Week. Some of my favorites are on the list,...

The phrase “everything old is new again” certainly applies to Wahoo’s Fish Tacos. The popular restaurant chain co-founded by Newport Beach resident Wing Lam is introducing two new menu items: the Kona Collection featuring chili made with American Style Kobe Beef, and Maria’s...

Another year has come and gone, and with it 52 weeks of memorable dining excursions. Of course, some are more memorable than others, which brings me to my annual list of my favorite Newport Beach culinary experiences of 2018. I dine out multiple times a week at all sorts of...

It’s not easy to picture Wahoo’s Fish Taco co-founder Wing Lam of Newport Beach trading surf and sand for the sidewalks of New York, but that’s exactly what he and his brother Mingo Lee did in October when they were invited to host a dinner at the revered James Beard House in New...

  Balboa Bay Resort transformed itself several years ago when First Cabin restaurant converted into Waterline with new décor and a new menu. The former Duke’s Place lounge morphed into A&O (Anchors and Oceans) with an all new look, including custom firepits on the patio....

The phrase “farm-to-fork” has become somewhat of a cliché in the restaurant industry, but for Rich Mead, owner and executive chef of Farmhouse at Roger’s Gardens, farm-to-fork has been his trademark at all of his restaurants for the past 20 years. “In 1998 I decided to begin...