By Christopher Trela & Catherine Del Casale
“And the winner is…”
The Golden Foodie Awards were held last Sunday evening at the Fairmont Newport Beach hotel. More than 400 people packed a ballroom to applaud the county’s best restaurants, chefs, bartenders, cuisine and cocktails in 24 categories, from Best Burger to Best New Restaurant.
Guests walked the red carpet, enjoyed creative cocktails, and dined on gourmet food tastings and desserts from a variety of restaurants (including many of the nominees).
Celebrity master of ceremonies was Simon Majumdar from the Food Network, who proved to be an energetic and enjoyable host.
Newport Beach was well represented in many of the categories, as was Laguna Beach. Chef Cathy Pavlos picked up two
awards, one for Best Vegetarian Restaurant with Provenance in Newport Beach (“Vegetables are now center of the plate” Pavlos told the audience), and the other for Best Mediterranean for LUCCA in Irvine.
Chef Pascal Olhats won an award for Best French Restaurant for his new Pascal’s in San Juan Capistrano, but he also has his Café Jardin at Sherman Library & Gardens in Corona del Mar, which serves French-inspired coastal cuisine, and Chef Pascal had his Pascal’s restaurant in Newport for nearly two decades plus Brasserie Pascal at Fashion Island for several years, so we think of him as a Newport chef.
“”I’m very happy to have won this great award,” said Pascal. “Thanks to all my staff who made this happen, to my wife for her full support, to all my friends who voted for us, to all the foodies of Orange County, and to my faithful customers!”
Selanne Steak Tavern in Laguna Beach picked up its first Golden Foodie Award for Best Wine List (beating out two Newport Beach favorites: The Winery Restaurant and Cucina Enoteca).
“We are very proud to have been awarded the Best Wine Award,” said Leo Fenn, who helms the restaurant’s wine and beverage lists. “Our wine list focuses on California cult wines and other highly rated world-class selections designed to complement the fine steaks and seafood offerings.”
In addition to the regular wine list, Selanne offers “The Black List” which includes high-end, hard-to-find global wines.
Another Laguna Beach restaurant, Maro Wood Grill, was a three-peat winner for Best Dessert (they won previously in
2013 and 2014). We’ve been to Maro, and can vouch for the accolades given to the banana bread pudding, but their burger is also one of the best in OC.
Selanne was also nominated for Best Steak, but lost to The Ranch Restaurant in Anaheim. Chef Ryan Adams of 370 Common and Chef Craig Strong of Studio (at the Montage), both in Laguna Beach, were nominated for Chef of the Year, but lost to Chef Andrew Sutton of Napa Rose (but we think all three are among the best in OC).
Other Newport nominees included SOL Cocina for Best Cocktail, Bluefin for Best Sushi, Cafe Beau Soleil for Best French, Sushi Roku for Best Asian Cuisine, Pizzeria Sapori for Best Pizza, Dory Deli for Best Burger, Bluewater Grill for Best Seafood, and Moulin Bistro for Best New Restaurant.
Among the Laguna Beach nominees was Chef Lee Smith of Montage for Pastry Chef of the Year.
We also want to congratulate SOCIAL restaurant in Costa Mesa for winning Best New Restaurant and Best California Cuisine. We’ve been to SOCIAL several times since they opened exactly one year ago, and each time came away impressed with the food, the cocktails and the ambiance.
GOLDEN FOODIE AWARDS (winner is in bold):
Best Cocktails:
The Blind Rabbit
Arc Food and Libations
SOL Cocina
Presenters: Brett Goering and Darren Blair, Ketel One Vodka
Bartender of the Year 2015
Alex Filkins, Wild Goose Tavern
Mike West, SOCIAL Costa Mesa
Benjamin Gonzales, Hopscotch Tavern
Presenter: Timothy Sample, Southern Wine & Spirits
Best Food Talk Radio
Food News with Melinda Lee
The Fork Report with Neil Saavedra
The SoCal Restaurant Show with Andy Harris
Presenters: Vince Ferragamo, Former Quarterback for the LA Rams and Ed Lee, Co-Founder of Wahoo’s
Best Food Writer
Cathy Thomas
Brad Johnson
Anita Lau
Presenters: Ed Lee, Co-Founder of Wahoo’s and Vince Ferragamo, Former Quarterback for the LA Rams
Best Sushi
Bluefin Fine Japanese
Hamamori Restaurant & Sushi Bar
Riptide Rockin’ Sushi
Presenters: Marcel Vigneron, Chef/Owner of Beefsteak and Wolf and Rachel Klemek, Founder of Blackmarket Bakery
Best Dessert
Maro Wood Grill
Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen
The Ranch Restaurant
Presenters: Rachel Klemek, Founder of Blackmarket Bakery and Marcel Vigneron, Chef/Owner of Beefsteak and Wolf
Best Service Award
Anaheim White House
Villa Roma
The Hobbit
Presenters: Kimberly Daskas, Vestar and The District at Tustin Legacy and Greer Wylder, Greer’s OC
Best Indian Cuisine
Royal Khyber
Adya
Clay Oven
Presenters: Martin and Karen Diedrich, Owners of Kean Coffee
Best Mexican Cuisine
Tortilla Republic
Taco Maria
Matador Cantina
Presenters: Neil Saavedra and Oscar Ramirez of The Fork Report with Neil Saavedra on KFI AM 640
Best Italian Cuisine
Brunos Italian Kitchen
Brick Pizzeria
Antonello Ristorante
Presenters: Oscar Ramirez and Neil Saavedra of The Fork Report with Neil Saavedra on KFI AM 640
Best French Cuisine
Pascal’s San Juan Capistrano
Bistro Bleu
Cafe Beau Soleil
Presenters: Chef Ludo Lefevbre, star of The Taste and co-owner of Trois Mec and Wing Lam, co-founder of Wahoo’s
Best Asian Cuisine
AnQi
Sushi Noguchi
Sushi Roku
Presenters: Wing Lam, co-founder of Wahoo’s and Chef Ludo Lefevbre, star of The Taste and co-owner of Trois Mec.
Best Mediterranean Cuisine
LUCCA
D’Vine ~ A Mediterranean Experience
GG’s Bistro
Presenters: Stan Frazier, drummer of Sugar Ray and Stacy Zeller, Melissa’s Produce
Best Vegetarian Cuisine
Provenance
118 Degrees
Au Lac Restaurant
Presenters: Stacy Zeller, Melissa’s Produce and Stan Frazier, former drummer of Sugar Ray and restaurateur.
Best Beer List
BRU Market and Grill
Haven Gastropub
Hopscotch Tavern
Presenters: Charlie Plummer, host of the Golden Chef Series and Michael Jordan, Master Sommelier
Best Wine List
The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar
Selanne Steak Tavern
Cucina enoteca
Presenters: Michael Jordan, Master Sommelier and Charlie Plummer, host of the Golden Chef Series
Best Pizza
Pizzeria Ortica
Pizzeria Sapori
Brick Pizzeria
Presenters: Ashley Richardson and Anna Grieco, Aloha SDCR
Best Steak
The Ranch Restaurant
Arc Food and Libations
Selanne Steak Tavern
Presenters: Chef Andrew Gruel, star of FYI’s Say It To My Face and Founder of SLAPFISH and Amy Jo Pedone, Valenza Chocolatier
Best Burger
Mick’s Karma Bar
Dory Deli
25 Degrees
Presenters: Karl Kruger, General Manager of the Fairmont Newport Beach and Cathy Thomas, of CathyThomasCooks.com
Best Californian Cuisine
SOCIAL Costa Mesa
SeaLegs
Andrei’s Conscious Cuisine & Cocktails
Presenters: Michael Cho and Alan Greeley, Golden Foodie Awards 2013 Chef of the Year and owner/chef Golden Truffle
Best Seafood
Scott’s Restaurant and Bar
SLAPFISH
Bluewater Grill
Presenters: Alan Greeley, Golden Foodie Awards 2013 Chef of the Year and owner/chef Golden Truffle and Michael Cho
Best New Restaurant
Waterman’s Harbor
Moulin Bistro
SOCIAL Costa Mesa
Presenters: Fifi Chao, OC Business Journal and Bruno Serato, CNN’s Top 10 Hero of the Year and owner of the Anaheim White House
Pastry Chef of the Year
Chef Lee Smith, Montage
Chef Ashley Guzman, The North Left
Chef Dave Rossi, The Ranch Restaurant
Presenters: Andrew Harris of SoCal Restaurant Show and Linda Kissam, President of IFWTWA
Chef of the Year
Chef Andrew Sutton, Napa Rose
Chef Ryan Adams, 370 Common
Chef Craig Strong, Studio
Presenters: Pamela Waitt, President of the OC Restaurant Association/Creator of the Golden Foodie Awards and Judy Walker, Share Our Strength
More info: goldenfoodieawards.com.
