NEWSBITES / BEVERLY BUSH SMITH : Slades Joins Fashion Island Eateries
A taste of the Big Apple is scheduled to come to Newport Beach late this summer when Ira Slade, owner of Slades Restaurant in New York City, opens Slades in Fashion Island. According to Susie Plummer, manager of sales and marketing for Fashion Island, the restaurant will be in the former Zeppa location, between Atrium Court and Robinson’s. It will feature American food sparked with Mexican and French influences, as well as vegetarian offerings. House specialties include rack of lamb, New York black Angus steak, grilled fresh fish, Chicago-style pizzas and homemade breads and souffles. Slade describes the restaurant as down-to-earth. It will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, as well as champagne brunch on weekends.
Iranian cuisine is at last available in South County, at Kou-Che in Laguna Hills. Opened by three women who choose to be identified simply as Shahla, Fataneh and Sima, the restaurant offers a garden ambience, with bubbling fountain, vine-covered ceiling and wrought-iron patio furniture. Appetizers vary from mast-o-khiar (homemade yogurt, cucumber and mint) to torshee (assorted pickled vegetables). There are 13 broiled dishes, such as koobideh-kabob (skewers of lean ground beef), chelo-kabob barg (skewered thin slices of filet mignon marinated in lime juice and onion), and prawn or chicken kabobs. House specialties include tah-cheen, a rice cake made with yogurt, saffron and eggplant, served with boneless chicken kabob. Entree prices range from $6.95 to $14.95. Kou-Che is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, till 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. 25381 Alica Parkway, Suite F. (714) 588-8999.
Gustaf Anders will feature vintages from Heitz Winery at a wine dinner on Tuesday beginning at 7 p.m. Katherine Heitz and Russ O’Hare will introduce such wines as their 1989 Napa Valley Chardonnay, 1989 Trail Side Chardonnay, 1988 Pinot Noir and 1974 Angelica Portwine. The five courses include broiled Atlantic salmon with rosemary pasta and lemon sauce, and marjoram-flavored roasted pork with wild mushrooms and a Pinot Noir glaze. The cost is $59 per person, tax and gratuity excluded. The restaurant is in South Coast Plaza Village, Santa Ana. Reservations: (714) 668-1737.
When Antoine in Le Meridien in Newport Beach celebrates the spring artichoke season, chef Jean Pierre Lemanissier works that delectable cousin of the thistle into every course--even dessert. His pre fixe “Artichokes of California” dinner, available through the end of May, begins with artichoke mousse in its leaf, followed by both salmon on a bed of artichokes with saffron sauce and baby rack of lamb, roasted in artichoke olive oil, with fresh lima beans. That dessert? Artichoke souffle flavored with coconut, served with a fresh mint sauce. The menu, available at Antoine on Tuesday through Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m., is $48. 4500 MacArthur Blvd. (714) 476-2001.