Newport’s Le Midi Is About to Come to an End

After seven years in Newport Beach, Le Midi will close Feb. 28. Owners Marica and Walter Ruttiman plan to move to Colorado Springs, where chef Walter will join a friend in food manufacturing and a cooking school. Marica, a painter and sculptor, will open a studio and gallery.

The former Fortune restaurant in South Coast Plaza Village is under new ownership and re-named Shanghai Pier 21, as of last week. We spoke with one of the principals, Steve Hamada, who is busy making the transition to a menu of Chinese Szechwan and Shanghai dishes, with an emphasis on seafood. The restaurant serves beer and wine and is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday, with plans to add Sunday service in the near future. Information: (714) 850-9008.

After a complete face-lift, Delaney’s in Newport Beach has re-opened under new ownership. New, too, is the cuisine, which has shifted from seafood to “Newport Euro-Pacific.” More details to come in next week’s column.

Steve Tresvik, the chef at Morell’s in the Hyatt Regency Irvine, has revised the menu but retained the contemporary accent. A few examples: grilled sea scallops with ratatouille, filet of salmon en papillote with artichokes, rack of lamb in an herb crust. Entree prices range from $16.50 to $35. The hotel is at Jamboree Road and the San Diego Freeway. Reservations: (714) 863-3111.

A new Stuft Noodle is nearing completion in Rancho Santa Margarita. Robert Douk, who also owns the Stuft Noodle in Newport Beach, says this larger restaurant will open in March in the Dove Canyon Shopping Center (at Trabuco Canyon and Dove Canyon roads). It will seat 150 inside, with additional seating in the private dining room in the wine cellar and on two patios, one overlooking Rancho Santa Margarita and Saddleback Valley. The menu and prices will be the same as in Newport, but lunch will also be served in the new restaurant.