Clifford is right. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating, and dining al fresco is certainly the better choice if the weather is warm. The breeze coming off the ocean that is just across Pacific Coast Highway is the perfect summer evening accompaniment.
Inside is equally as nice. The restaurant has a Mediterranean theme, and the décor is bright. There are three arches as you enter the formal dining room, which is open and expansive. The mustard-color walls and other rich colors throughout the dining room made the area even brighter.
The food is just as colorful. Award-winning chef Adam Navidi has created a beautifully creative menu of Californian cuisine and other influences that give the choices bold, but elegant tastes.
My guest, a very graceful and stylish woman, was impressed with the entrée choices, as was I.
We began with the Alaskan king crab spring rolls. The rolls are in a mandarin orange reduction and have just the right amount of citrus and sweetness to them.
That was a much more interesting choice than the popcorn shrimp, the only appetizer on the menu I thought was a bit out of place, considering the inventiveness of the other items.
The salads were evidence of the thought put into the menu. There was a mache lettuce salad with watermelon, cucumber and feta cheese with an aged balsamic vinegar dressing. Mache is a French lettuce, also called lamb’s lettuce, and has a nice nutty flavor to it.
The other salad I liked was the Fromage Blanc with arugula. The Gouda cheese blends nicely with caramelized onion and smoked duck breast.
But the entrees are what truly floored us. Elizabeth had the house specialty, a Chilean sea bass. The bass was tender and cooked well. It was also a very generous portion.
