Tangata Boasts Museum-Quality Food

Joachim Splichal probably should be known as much for locating restaurants in museums as for his inventive way with potatoes. His latest establishment, Tangata, is at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana. But this one, unlike his Los Angeles museum eateries, should be a lunch or brunch destination even if you’re not into Egyptian artifacts.

The 3-month-old restaurant is in the museum’s expansive Mission-style courtyard, and the best place to sit, in good weather, is the terraced areas overlooking the courtyard. The interior, which has a Southwestern feel, offers fresh flowers and diffuse lighting, but can be noisy.

The menu goes far beyond salads and sandwiches; it’s Splichal unlaced, exuberantly playing with Mexican food ideas. Beside the white bread you’d get at one of his Pinot Bistros, you’re brought an airy Mexican flatbread, which also gets used as garnish or crouton in many dishes.

Our first visit was on a quiet Sunday afternoon, when the inside tables were sparsely filled and the waiters couldn’t do enough to please us. Happily, Tangata offers brunch as well as lunch on weekends. (Don’t expect any Bloody Marys there, though; the liquor license is still pending.)

We started out with scallop ceviche, a colorful plate of red and yellow tomatoes and purple onions with a generous topping of raw scallops “cooked” in lemon juice. Careful attention was paid to the balance of seasonings, and the result was not excessively sour; the delicate scallops, sprinkled with pepper, shone through.

The dish that bowled us over was the French toast, about the only thing on Earth lighter than a Krispy Kreme doughnut. It’s triangles of bread upended and stuck together with a tart dried-apricot compote that plays off the sweetness of a pool of strawberry coulis and vanilla-bean sauce. If it’s not sweet enough for you, you can add some maple syrup to no ill effect. Texture is the thing here, with the egg coating permeating the thick bread so that it’s miraculously moist inside and crisp from deep frying outside. The overall feeling of lightness keeps the dish from being overly filling despite its richness.

I ordered poached eggs on crab and potato hash, a twist on eggs benedict, and was disappointed that it was almost impossible to taste the crab, which had been mixed into a potato patty and covered with basil cream sauce. The triumph of this dish was the side of just-browned-enough red breakfast potatoes. I loved the caramelized onions in them too (but watch out for the sauteed peppers, some of which are very hot).

We also had a good vegetable and cheese omelet and a chicken quesadilla (from the lunch menu) with a cheese filling so creamy it came off almost as a sauce. I liked the decorative squiggles of red pepper coulis on top. Accompanied by a black-bean salad and a green salad, it makes a more than ample meal.

Somehow, we made room for dessert and ordered what the menu billed as a peach cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream. That day, though, it turned out to be an apple cobbler with an intense raspberry sorbet. Splichal, who likes to play with dish names, makes his “cobbler” as a hearty two-crust tart dusted with sugar crystals.

I returned for a weekday lunch, when the place had been transformed from a languid, solitary expanse into a crowded hubbub of business suits and well-dressed ladies-who-lunch. We were very late for our reservation and had called to alert the hostess. I was impressed that she took pains to get us a nice table anyway, though we arrived just before the peak noon hour.

All around us, people were talking about how good the restaurant was and debating everything from taquitos to salmon. Of course, we were old Tangata hands by now and were ready to order immediately.

I had mentioned to the waiter that we were in a bit of a hurry, and our salad and soup (not du jour, but, as the menu playfully notes, “of yesterday--always better the next day”) came in a flash. The ample pile of greens in balsamic vinaigrette and the cream of asparagus soup would have made a fine lunch by themselves.

My grilled top sirloin arrived quickly, sliced into broad strips on a sedate square of scalloped potatoes hidden by a layer of barely cooked spinach. Cut uniformly and stacked like sedimentary rock, the potatoes lent a structure and elegance to the plate. Just the right amount of a red-wine reduction sauce brought it together.

The name “crispy pan-fried white fish” suggests a crusty breading, but the crispness turned out to be because of a blistered skin. Its foil was brandade, a rustic Provencal paste of mashed potatoes and salt cod. A bright green parsley sauce added a splash of color to this plate of mostly white food. Although it was all a little salty for my companion’s taste, I found that the saltiness rather enhanced the dish.

This confident kitchen brings a refreshingly bold menu to a gorgeous location. The staff is already first-rate, knowing how to hang back on a quiet Sunday morning or get you out in 45 minutes flat when you’re in a hurry on a busy weekday.

“Tangata” means people in the language of the Maoris of New Zealand, and Splichal shows here that he knows how to feed people well and keep them coming back.

Tangata is moderate. Appetizers are $4.50 to $6.95, lunch entrees $7.95 to $15.50, desserts $4.95. Brunch entrees are $7.95 to $13.95. Self-parking $3, valet parking $5 in lot across from Bowers Museum. All major credit cards accepted.

* Tangata, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. (714) 550-0906. Daily, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.