CHEF DU JOUR : He’s Game to Serve Rare and Wild Fare

Aurora restaurant owner-chef Leo Holczer is one wild and crazy guy.

“Crazy to even be in this business, as tough as it is these days,” he says, and wild because he specializes in game--elk, venison, buffalo, musk oxen, pheasant and quail, to name a few.

The Fullerton restaurant also includes tamer fare, such as wiener schnitzel and pastas.

The main reason you will also find steaks and Continental cuisine on his menu is that the game “can be hard to get,” he says. “There aren’t that many sources.”

How do you serve musk oxen anyway? “With wild berries and red wine,” says Holczer (as if you didn’t already know). “It has a great flavor.”

And once a year, he hosts an invitation-only dinner at Aurora featuring nothing but the wild dishes. It has become so popular that there’s a waiting list for invitations.

The Swiss-born and trained Holczer opened Aurora 11 years ago after serving as food and beverage manager at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills. “It’s the dream of every chef to have his own restaurant,” he says, “where he can do whatever he wants, where he can experiment and do things differently.”

One experiment that has proved popular is to substitute conch for hard-to-get abalone. “At $50 and $60 a pound, abalone has just been priced out of the market,” he says. “Conch is about a third of that price and tastes and looks the same when prepared properly.”

(It’s not that easy to find, either; ask at your fish market or try any of the gourmet specialty stores around Orange County.)

Holczer prepares his fried in a beer batter, slathered with an almond sauce and served with potatoes and steamed vegetables.

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CONCH ALMONDINE

2 pounds conch

1/2 cup blanched, slivered almonds

1 cup flour

1 egg

About 1/2 bottle of beer

1 cup vegetable oil

1/8 pound butter

Salt, pepper to taste

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Conch generally comes in chunks. Flatten with meat mallet or side of heavy blade (“Beat them up,” says Holczer). Dust with salt and pepper. Place half of the flour in a bowl and turn each piece of conch in it, shaking off any excess. Meanwhile, make the batter by mixing remaining flour, egg and enough beer to give it a crepe consistency (a little thinner than pancake batter). Heat oil in saute pan and over moderate heat, fry each piece after dipping in batter, turning until golden brown on both sides. In a separate pan, heat butter and saute almonds until golden. Sprinkle conch with fresh lemon juice and cover with almond-butter sauce. (Serves 4)