Most Restaurants Also Have Their Holiday Traditions

Now that Thanksgiving ’89 is behind us, that busy, happy, exhausting time of year known as “the holiday season” is upon us. And just as most families develop their own traditions, so, too, have many restaurants.

Le Meridien hotel in Newport Beach will host its third annual “Toys for Tots” Holiday Brunch on Sunday, Dec. 10, at 11 a.m. Cost for the buffet, which includes roasted turkey, soups, salads and again, the French Yule log dessert, is $24.95, and each guest is asked to contribute an unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots drive. Information: (714) 476-2001.

The Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel, which is already a dazzle of Christmas lights, caters to the young set with a 12-foot-high gingerbread house and a series of children’s teas and puppet shows on weekends and during the week preceding Christmas. Children 10 and under enjoy holiday punch, peanut butter and jelly tea sandwiches, miniature fruit tarts and Christmas cookies, plus the marionette show, for $15. Adults will be served the hotel’s regular afternoon tea menu for $20. Guests will also be encouraged to bring a new toy to the hotel’s Toys for Tots campaign. Information: (714) 240-2000.

HEART SMART: The Westin South Coast Plaza hotel has launched its newly remodeled Cafe Dining Room and Garden Court (formerly the Orange Grove Cafe) with a new menu featuring California health-conscious cuisine with Asian flair. Many items meet the low-fat, low-sodium, low-cholesterol guidelines of the American Heart Assn., including swordfish with banana-mango chutney, salmon in orange-pine nut sauce and Pacific chicken in hot sour pineapple sauce.

CHANGING COURSES: Jack Kalustian takes over as executive chef at the newly opened Radisson Plaza Hotel, across MacArthur from the Orange County Airport. He has served as chef at Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, executive sous chef at the Newporter, and apprenticed at Perino’s . . . Robert Reash Jr. recently joined John Dominis in Newport Beach as executive chef, after overseeing the kitchens at the Hotel Hana Maui in Hawaii. Reash plans to introduce new specialty dishes featuring a blend of tropical flavors and Oriental spices . . . Ed and Donna Carroll bought Gen Kai in Laguna Beach this week and changed the name to The Top of Laguna. The mother-son team will retain the Gen Kai sushi bar and accent California cuisine with touches of Italian and French. Their chef, Chris Fagan, most recently of Five Feet Two, is a past recipient of a Southern California Restaurant Writers scholarship . . . The International Coffee Mill, an espresso bar and purveyor of fine coffee and tea, debuts Dec. 13 in Woodbridge Village Center, Irvine, on Barranca Parkway at Lake. The shop, with indoor and outdoor seating, will also serve pastries and four different coffees at the tasting bar.

DESIGNATE YOUR DRIVER: 94 restaurants, hotels and bars participate in the Orange County MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Designated Driver Program--the largest in the nation. When you go out in a group of three or more, designate your driver and he or she will receive free non-alcoholic beverages at participating restaurants and hotels. Call MADD, (714) 835-6233, for a list of participants in your area. Designated drivers may also enter MADD’s holiday sweepstakes for a weekend for two at the Anaheim Marriott with passes to Disneyland.

HERE AND THERE: Remicks in Irvine, which was closed for a week, has reopened, all “spiffied up” for the holidays. The menu features new specials in the classic manner of New Orleans and Acadiana, such as oysters Bienville, scampi a la Louisiane, New Orleans bouillabaisse, chocolate voodoo cake and almond creme brulee . . . Salud! in Huntington Beach, in an effort to give greater value, recently debuted a Wednesday night “Family Fiesta Buffet.” From 5 to 10 p.m., select from a variety of salads, entrees (carnitas tacos, sizzling fajitas and tostadas) and desserts for $7.95 for adults. Children 10 and under eat free. (Children also eat free at Salud! every day between 4 and 6 p.m.)

HOT LINE FOR DINING: A call to (714) 979-DINE can help you select a restaurant in a specific area with a particular type of cuisine.