Award Will Bring Special Champagnes, Dinner Out of the Cellar
The champagne will flow as the Cellar celebrates its Wine Spectator Grand Award for 1992 with a seven-course champagne dinner on Monday, beginning at 7 p.m. The Cellar is the only restaurant in California--and one of only six restaurants worldwide--to receive the award. To toast this triumph, restaurant owner Ernest Zingg will pour five different Louis Roderer champagnes, culminating with Roderer Crystal (which costs the Cellar $90 a bottle). The courses will include smoked venison with marinated mushrooms in raspberry walnut vinaigrette, poached salmon with tarragon red-wine butter, and roasted veal loin in a champagne and thyme sauce. The cost is $75 per person, plus tax and tip. 305 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton. (714) 525-5682.
Herbs will be the focus at a special dinner at the Village Farmer on Wednesday from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The evening will begin with champagne, and the entree will be parsley-patch pasta, an herb-enhanced spinach fettuccine with chicken. Special guest will be Mary Lou Heard of Heard’s Country Gardens in Westminster, who will discuss “Putting Herbs By.” The price is $28 per person plus tax, and reservations are essential: (714) 557-8433.
The restaurant will also present a special “Ladies’ Night Out” with Helen Fabian of radio station KBRT on Tuesday. Scheduled from 6:30 to 9 p.m. and priced at $24 per person, plus tax, dinner will feature Dijon chicken fettuccine, mixed green salad and carrot cake. 1651 Sunflower St. (in South Coast Plaza Village), Santa Ana.
Cattleman’s Wharf in Anaheim now offers a Sunday champagne buffet brunch for $9.95, and children 5 and under eat free, while ages 6 to 12 eat for half price. Selections include baron of beef, chilled shrimp, fresh oysters on the half shell, eggs Benedict, omelet station, pancakes, barbecued ribs or chicken, an array of salads, fresh fruits and desserts. Service is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1160 W. Ball Road, Anaheim. (714) 535-1622.
The Wind & Sea restaurant in Dana Point Harbor knows it’s the locals who support it year-round. So through Sept. 3 the restaurant is offering a “locals’ special,” which offers a different entree nightly at 50% off the regular menu price: among them the half-pound Australian lobster tail at $13.50 on Mondays; top sirloin with a half-pound of Alaskan King crab for $11.50 on Thursdays, and prime rib at $8 on Sunday. All specials are served with fresh vegetables and choice of baked potato or rice pilaf; available from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, 4:30 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 34699 Golden Lantern St. (714) 496-6500.
The new menu at all El Torito restaurants reflects a 10% price drop, with most dinner entrees now landing in the $5 to $5.95 price range. Moreover, according to spokeswoman Lee Healy, the byword is freshness: guacamole made table side, chips fried at least twice daily in small batches, never-frozen chicken breasts. Preservatives and concentrates are no-no’s, and nothing is carted in from a central source, Healy said. There are 19 El Torito restaurants in Orange County.