Fullerton Shoppes Offer Journey Down British Aisles

The Renaissance Pleasure Faire takes place weekends and Memorial Day through June 5 at Glen Helen Regional Park in Devore. You can get outfitted for the Elizabethan event and get in the mood with more than a little bit of the Brit, anytime in historic downtown Fullerton.

Noon to 1: StairMasters were hardly the thing in the Renaissance, so start by cultivating that rotund look and jovial air: Eate, drinke and be merrye at the Olde Ship restaurant and bar. Better to keep in mind the belly-stretching turkey legs and shepherd’s pie offered at the fair before you are fitted for your costume.

More than a dozen entrees (most around $7.95) at the Olde Ship include steak and kidney pie, served with its delicate pastry on top; bangers and mash, British sausages with mashed potatoes and fried onions; Scottish bridie, beefsteak in whiskey sauce wrapped in pastry; and corned beef and cabbage, simmered in a “Guinness water liquor.” Desserts change daily but often include an elaborately layered sherry trifle and a rhubarb crumble with custard.

Each dish is named for a seagoing vessel (Cutty Sark’s Chicken Curry) or personage (Nelson’s Cottage Pie). Dotting the walls are vintage naval prints: “Man o’ War Firing Salute at Sunset,” “Victory at Anchor in Spithead,” and, near the restrooms, “I Told You So,” depicting two frigates and a small outboard-motor boat--it’s British humor--about to go over a waterfall.

Among 19 draft brews served are Fuller’s E.S.B. (extra special bitter), Young’s Ram Rod Ale and Murphy Stout.

There’s also Blackthorne cider, Graham’s “Six Grapes” port, and Harvey’s Bristol and Savory & James cream sherries, of course.

1 to 1:45: OK, scratch all that about being realistically fitted.

“That’s the beautiful thing about the Renaissance,” explained Chuck Van, owner of Unique Costume Rental. “Nothing was tailored--you don’t want to alter anything. Look at these sleeves. On some of the royalty gowns, they’re four feet long and you could stick your head through any of the sleeve holes. This skirt has a drawstring; it’ll fit any size waist from 15 to 40 inches. So why try it on? All these pieces, you can mix and match what you like.”

There are hundreds of costumes to choose from.

For men, outfits include Louis XIII and King Henry VIII, musketeers and Franciscan monks, Robin Hood and beggars. For knights alone, there are mail coats, full sets of armor (made from fiberglass, $50 for the weekend), and leisure wear--”for when they take their armor off,” Van explained--such as men’s tunic outfits with pumpkin pants, tams and tights.

Women’s peasant costumes come with skirt, blouse, shirt and bodice. “Royalty” outfits are fashioned from fake jewels, heavy-duty upholstery, velvet, satin and lame. “Most people rent the fancy stuff and buy the peasant outfits,” Van said. A peasant blouse can be bought for as little as $20; royalty can run into several hundred dollars.

Most weekend rentals--pick it up Friday, bring it back Monday--run between $25 and $35. “It’s used; sometimes it’s a little wore out,” Van said. “But then at the Renaissance Faire, the worn-out look seems to be big.”

1:45 to 2:15: You can find British antiques in any of several establishments within a block of the costume shop, including Kindred Co. and the Harbor Antique Mall.

I ducked into Snob Hill Antiques and Endearments, where, to the accompaniment of a canary named Chopin, I found a Georgian-era sterling silver chalice ($1,095), twin Victorian crystal inkwells set side by side in silver ($1,000) and Edwardian muffin serving stands ($325).

2:15 to 3: If you have fewer discretionary funds and still want the mood to last, stop in at the British Grocer, off the courtyard of the pretty Villa del Sol, before heading home. It has the same owner as the Olde Ship.

Take home a box or two of Walker’s Pure Butter Shortbread Petticoat Tails or Cocktail Oatcakes. McVitie’s biscuits include “oatey, crunchy” Hob-Nobs and others made from wheat meal called Digestive. Marmite, a yeast extract, is purportedly delicious “when spread thinly on toast.” Licorice Allsorts come in all sorts of shapes and garish colors.

Scott’s Porage Oats is the official breakfast of the Royal Highland Games (Braemar Gathering), and the box sports a kilted, shotputting Scotsman. Along the same wall are Burgess Genuine Anchovy Essence, a selection of mince meats for use as a pie filling or as hot sauce for ice cream, lemon curds, and ginger and orange suet pudding.

Just plain shredded vegetable suet, gluten-free from Ashland, can be found in the refrigerated section, as can black treacle, ideal for treacle tarts, toffee and gingerbread. English cheeses include Leicester, Double Gloucester and Caerphilly. In the freezer awaits a cake-like concoction called Spotted Dick.

Among books are the “Country Life Book of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother,” and another titled more simply, “The Queen.” Teapots come in a wide variety of floral patterns; a few show scenes from Shakespeare plays. Soaps are illustrated with moments from Beatrix Potter stories designed to last for the life of the bar.

* Times Link: 808-8463

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Fullerton Shoppes

1) The Olde Ship

709 N. Harbor Blvd.

(714) 871-7447

Open daily, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (bar open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.)

2) Unique Costume Rental

207 N. Harbor Blvd.

(714) 526-7057

Open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

3) Snob Hill Antiques & Endearments

122 N. Harbor Blvd., Suite 105

(714) 526-6655

Open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

4) The British Grocer

Villa del Sol, 305 N. Harbor Blvd.

(714) 738-0229

Open Monday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

PARKING / BUSES

P) There is ample street parking (two-hour limit) along Harbor Boulevard and on side streets.

B) OCTA bus 43 runs north and south on Harbor Boulevard; the 25 runs east and west on Chapman Avenue.