“Déjà vu.” Outer Reef’s restaurant, a new surf and turf restaurant at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott in Dana Point, strikes me as beautiful, yet surprisingly familiar: white wainscoting, light hardwood floors and navy interiors A combination of ornaments and accents.Raised booth, decorative shelving, breezy patio with lounge chairs and fire pit.The waiters even wore similarly styled shirts and long aprons.
Then it hit me: “Coastal Kitchen! Yes, this looks exactly like Coastal Kitchen,” a restaurant just down the street.It’s as if someone brought an interior designer to an oceanfront kitchen, raised their hands and said, “I want this. All. Just bigger and fancier. But don’t make it formal. Keep it super casual. And loud. Like this.”
Mainly the designer nailed it.While technically beautiful, it feels oddly spongy and icy.The entire restaurant here is flooded with natural light, as if it was destined to be an oasis of ferns, palms, monstera and banyan trees.Maybe the nursery delivery truck got lost on the way.However, there is a beautiful green lawn on the edge of the patio.Plus the elephant in the room: expansive ocean views.Understandably difficult to book at sunset on weekends.
Our waiter came over to say hi, and a few seconds later heard him raving about the chef and the menu, and I was overwhelmed with yet another deja vu.
“Wait a minute,” I said, interrupting him halfway through.”Didn’t you work at another restaurant somewhere in South County? Or have we seen you somewhere else recently?”
“I used to work down the street at Coastal Kitchen,” he said, and we laughed together about the nearly identical designs.
I didn’t realize how formal this place would be until the interesting bistro arrived.In a casual restaurant like this, an intricately entertaining bistro is the last thing I look forward to (or the second to last; more on that later).”Chef’s compliments, lobster rolls,” the waiter said, placing candy-sized treats in front of us.Each “lobster roll” is a maximum of two bites, a small slice of toasted brioche topped with a small piece of lobster tail and a dollop of lemon verbena-scented whipped cream.Or lemon balm?It’s all happening so quickly that my attention has turned to a beautiful bread basket and a wonderful Chablis.
Free gourmet lobster rolls at Outer Reef in Dana Point (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Lobster and truffle fun at Outer Reef in Dana Point (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Blood sausage and caviar at the University of San Diego at Dana Point Outer Reef (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Diver’s scallops with truffles and warm mushroom dashi on the outer reef of Dana Point (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
King Crab Leg Shrimp on Dana Point Outer Reef (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Dried-aged tuna with duck liver pate on the outer reefs of Dana Point (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The chef is John Tesar, a name that might sound familiar.He lives in Dallas and has starred in several reality TV cooking competitions.He runs several luxury steakhouses in the Dallas area called Knife, as well as Knife & Spoon, a glitzy surf and turf restaurant inside the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando.As far as I can tell, Outer Reef is a more casual fusion of these two concepts.
I’ve learned to be skeptical of chefs from out of town (or state) who easily get into OC and open a restaurant and only come back in person two or three days a year at most.”Honestly, how often does the chef come here,” I asked the waiter.
“A lot,” he said, sounding not only sincere but excited.”He’s here now. He’s here almost every week, before and after opening. Would you like to meet him?”
You might want to start with seafood.Consider sea urchins.Tesar draped San Diego uni on homemade blood sausage and garnished with caviar.Every packet is full of intrigue.Sweet.salty.cream.But mostly salty and greasy.
You’ll see something called a king crab, and you’ll get the wrong image in your mind.Freshly cooked crab legs indulge in a pool of parsley mud while a dollop of garlic foam floats overhead and tastes rich and buttery.
Or you can choose tuna.It is dry aged and mashed to make it look like a pink fruit roll.Hidden underneath you’ll find a few slices of duck liver pate and croutons similar to Melba toast.Make sure every bite contains some.
Any of these options are good choices, but none have a more satisfying way to start than a diver-harvested scallop, nearly three inches wide, arriving with shaved black truffles, soaked in warm mushroom dashi .
Or you can save your scallop indulgence for the main course and replace it with a bowl of three scallops with a crumbly free-form ravioli filled with shredded celery root puree – which could easily be my favorite this year One of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
Scallops with celery root ravioli at Dana Point Outer Reef (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Pickle-glazed halibut on the outer reef of Dana Point (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Texas Heartbrand beef 45 days, dry-aged in New York on the Dana Point Outer Reef (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Tomatoes and basil on the Dana Point Outer Reef (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hand-rolled garganelli with Australian black truffles at Dana Point Outer Reef (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The turf portion of the menu pays homage to Texas and California beef, focusing primarily on large cuts of beef for sharing.The cheapest steak on the menu is an 8-ounce filet mignon at $62, and prices go up exponentially from there.However, there is no denying the quality.Tesar obviously knows how to pick and cook quality steaks.
No one else in Orange County cooks like this.Apart from duck liver, Tesar does not serve any poultry or poultry.Nothing is cheap here.Pasta was the only main course under $40.The great hand-rolled garganelli sprinkled with Australian black winter truffles is at its peak right now, so $32 seems like a fair price for pasta, parmesan, butter and nigella tubers.(Australian truffles are a variety of truffles related to the French Périgord.)
After a few visits, the only dish I didn’t like was a can of spinach, the pickles were so overpowering that I ordered it to go with a large size steak.I love spinach.I love kimchi.But I found it hard to accept the dish in this situation as it completely kills the flavor of the steak.Now everything tastes like garlic, including wine.(There are lighter, more delicate uses for kimchi than flounder. I warmly recommend it.)
Desserts look as cute as they taste, and if Instagram is the right guide, they look identical to the ones served by Dallas Knife.Most nights I’m too full to finish them.”You know, you don’t really need dessert,” a waiter whispered to me one night, reading my mind as I researched the dessert menu.”You have a free mignardise coming.”
Ah, the clown.This is the other thing I least expected, this restaurant seemed very casual at first.Mignardise, for the uninitiated, are those thin candies that appear at the end of a big meal, a chef’s compliment, and an unapologetic feast at the end – in this case fruit gelatin, Macarons, shortbread, patties — remind you, you do have a good life.
Chocolate and coffee desserts at Dana Point Outer Reef (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hazelnut and mango dessert at Dana Point Outer Reef (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Free mignardise at Outer Reef in Dana Point (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Ratings are based on multiple visits and reflect reviewers’ overall reactions to the food, service and ambience, while taking into account the restaurant’s unique sense of place and perspective.
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Post time: Jul-29-2022