RESTAURANTS : New Chef Adds Charm to Existing Romance of Claes

The Young American Chef, ‘90s celebrity type. Madame Tussaud is waiting in the wings with waxworking tools.

For the moment, however, she’s going to have to be patient. The mystique of the young American chef is still very much alive, thanks to the likes of Todd Clore, a likable, easygoing fellow with an impressive resume. He’s a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and a protege of both Roy Yamaguchi (owner of Los Angeles’ short-lived 385 North and now of Roy’s, the hottest dinner house in Honolulu) and Pascal Olhats (proprietor of the well-known Pascal in Newport Beach).

It was at Pascal that Clore came into his own. There he held the title of chef de cuisine, giving him the proper seasoning to become an executive chef and plan an original menu. Now he’s surfaced at Claes, the ritzy dining room in the cozy Hotel Laguna. It’s an auspicious debut.

I didn’t say a perfect debut. Claes was in dire need of new blood before Clore took over and, in fact, needed a few months of his services to make a healthy recovery. I dined there in December, just after Clore arrived, and found an empty restaurant serving tired, slapdash food. Now that Clore’s breezy, almost nonchalant style is finally reflected in a new menu, things have taken a sharp upturn. In a short span, the restaurant has become a real charmer, and the crowds are slowly gathering.

Claes has always looked the part, of course. You walk down a long, jaunty hallway that heads directly toward the sea until you reach the hotel’s beachside dining area. It’s a cottage-style room filled with fresh flowers, Danish modern furniture and brass lanterns, with the best tables perched directly above the pounding surf. The color scheme is dominated by pink: pink tablecloths, pink linens, a soft pink glow to the lighting. To call it romantic would be an understatement.

Wines play a big part in the romantic experience here. Denmark-born Claes Andersen, who owns the hotel, is a wine enthusiast who buys wine futures from Bordeaux and top California producers, and he passes savings along to his customers. (Claes is one of the few Orange County restaurants with a wine list to have received the prestigious Grand Award from Wine Spectator. I’ve had a glass of wonderfully mellow ’82 Cuvaison Cabernet here for $7, and a bottle of the ultra-prestigious ’85 Heitz Cabernet for an amazingly low $35.) These wines need food, though, and now, in Clore, Andersen finally has himself a worthy chef.

The appetizers are probably the least original part of Clore’s menu, but a couple are just irresistible. The salad called crispy leg of magret duck confit with exotic greens, smoked Gouda cheese and balsamic vinaigrette (one of those menu listings that’s just about a recipe) is purely derivative--the same salad, minus the smoked cheese, is a specialty of the house at Pascal--but undeniably delicious. Clore crisps a huge duck leg in its own fat, then serves it atop a near-perfect mesclun salad. I actually found myself picking out the tasty bits of cheese. They clash with the other flavors.

Ahi tuna tartare with shallots and capers epitomizes the breezy quality of this place. It’s light, both on the tongue and palate, and it’s so soft a 6-month-old could eat it. It’s one of the best dishes on the menu.

Avgolemono soup looks out of place on this menu, but Clore’s version is so light and lemony you understand why it’s there. Tiny shrimp and the addition of saffron to the broth make for an eccentric twist on this Greek classic. Claes Salad is one dish that Clore has kept from the previous menu. It’s simply baby greens with a round of Montrachet goat cheese, but somehow even it seems fresher and peppier now.

Pasta portions are big enough to be entrees here. A mildly spicy fettuccine, for example, comes on a huge dish with fresh rabbit in a creamy mushroom sauce. And the lamb shank penne is sure to become a signature dish: It’s an entire lamb shank with tomatoes, abundant rosemary and garlic, served in a huge octagonal glass dish. You won’t come close to finishing it. In these economic times it doesn’t hurt that this monster dish is an amazing $13.50.

Entrees are presented with style, but their calling cards, too, are light flavors. Chicken breast Thai curry is a sliced baby chicken breast, bone in, served with two almost indistinguishable curry sauces--one a light brown, the other cream colored--over a pile of couscous. The curry flavor is so mild that it seems like a French dish.

Filet of Angus beef is simply great--beef you can cut with a fork in a red wine reduction atop a smooth potato puree. The Middle East is served via Clore’s seared loin of Colorado lamb. It comes with eggplant in a light sauce of lamb juices kissed with cumin.

Only seafoods lack sophistication here. The grilled swordfish is plain as can be, set alongside a clunky mushroom ravioli that is far too doughy. Seared Norwegian salmon with a Dijon mustard crust doesn’t really work at all. There isn’t much of a crust, for one thing, and the Gewurztraminer beurre blanc underneath is simply weird in a dish made with mustard.

Clore is that rare chef with a talent for dessert. One he calls apple Charlotte is my fave, and it’s a killer. It’s a small dome of buttery brioche crust filled with an ethereal portion of caramelized apples. He has also crafted a most unusual tiramisu, if you don’t mind letting him get away with calling it that. It’s a chocolate cup lined with ladyfingers that have been soaked with rum, filled out with whipped cream and a touch of mascarpone.

So it isn’t tiramisu, but let’s not quibble. We don’t want to damage that young American chef mystique.

Claes is expensive. Appetizers are $4.50 to $8.50. Pastas are $12.75 to $13.50. Entrees are $17.95 to $22.50.

CLAES AT THE HOTEL LAGUNA

425 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach.

(714) 494-1151.

Breakfast, Monday through Saturday, 7 to 10:30 a.m.; lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; dinner, Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Sunday brunch, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

All major cards accepted.