Great Taste Magazine

by Lauren Monahan July/Aug 2008 Issue

Yvon Goetz is a normal guy - a father, a runner, a friend, a soccer fanatic. Oh yeah, and did I mention he’s an internationally renowned chef?

Chef Goetz has cooked for thousands of people in numerous fine-dining establishments across the world. His culinary expertise has helped many of his restaurant homes earn prestigious accolades, from Michelin Stars to AAA/CAA Diamond Awards, and he was even named OC Business Journal’s Chef of the Year. He is unquestionably a sought-after culinary master, highly regarded in all aspects of restaurant culture; something you could never tell if you met him on the street - unless he talked to you about food.

I first met with the French-born Chef at his new home, The Winery Restaurant in the newly minted District at Tustin Legacy. He greeted me in the entry, where I stood staring wide-eyed at the wine lockers of restaurant’s loyal patrons. We made our way through the spacious dining room to the outdoor patio, where Goetz had been waiting and watching the Champions League Semifinal between his beloved Chelsea and rival Liverpool. We sat in a booth on the beautiful terrace, and over a glass of wine began to discuss his love affair with all things food. Read more »

Newport Beach-based Culinary Adventures - operator of numerous chic restaurants throughout Southern California - has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing drastic downturns in revenue. Wilhelm’s Chop House (formerly French 75) closed Thursday at the Marketplace in Irvine, and the company is set to close two other eateries in Los Angeles. Read more »

by Lauren Monahan July/Aug 2008 Issue 
So Cal is in its prime, now that summer is here. As soon as school lets out, people flock to the sunny southland for the beach, for the sun, for the swimsuits, for the…salad? Salad is healthy - we all know this. A plate of fresh, leafy greens seems to be the perfect meal for those that live in their skivvies during the scorching summer months…who doesn’t want to look good laying out at the beach or the pool, or even walking around the local outdoor mall? Salad is, and has been, a go-to dish for people trying to stay fit and eat healthfully. This is not a new discovery.

Besides the health benefits, salads offer a crisp, cool pick-me-up on a hot summer day. Read more »

by Todd Lejnieks July/Aug 2008 Issue

In 1984, Jay Conrad Levinson coined the term “Guerrilla Marketing” to describe a newly emerging and unconventional strategy of bringing customers to buy more of your product or services. The foundation of this idea was to use your own imagination instead of large, expensive advertising campaigns.

Some of the key principles of Levinson’s book, Startup Guide to Guerrilla Marketing: A Simple Battle Plan for First-Time Marketers:

• Guerrilla Marketing is geared for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
• Time, energy and imagination should be the primary investments, rather than  large sums of money.
• Focus on cooperating with other businesses, instead of competing.
• Use current technologies to enhance your efforts.
• Create a standard of excellence with a focus. Don’t over diversify or lose your focus. Read more »

Since 1981, Wine Spectator magazine has been recognizing restaurants around the world with their Restaurant Award program. 2008’s winners have recently been announced, and not surprisingly, there are a wealth of local eateries that have received rewards! The highly regarded wine magazine awards chosen restaurants with one of three designations. The Award of Excellence is given to establishments that offer a well-chosen selection of quality producers, along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. Read more »

Yard House Restaurants recently launched the first Yard House Bar & Grill, a new concept from the group, in Chino Hills.  Steele Platt, Founder and CEO of Yard House Restaurants, took the time to answer the following questions from Great Taste about the exciting new venture. Read on to learn all about the process of creating and launching Yard House Bar & Grill! 

What sparked the idea to develop a ”neighborhood” Yard House?
There are smaller markets that cannot support a 10,000-14,000 square foot Yard House - so a smaller size Yard House was envisioned to give the establishment more of a neighborhood feel. A minimum size ended up being 6,300 square feet, which kept all of the essential Yard House components intact; the 360˚ bar, the keg room, oversized booths, our display kitchen, and the patio. We also wanted a Yard House that would be the same each time we built it - a Yard House Bar & Grill is designed to be build strictly on pad sites, and not inline spaces like the original Yard House. It is positioned to be the upscale casual choice over Chili’s, Friday’s and Outback in the casual dining segment.

How long has this new concept been in the works?
The concept began developing approximately four years ago.

Has the financial/economic state of the country influenced any decisions made about the new restaurant, either in the initial or the evolving development? Read more »

By Chef Gabriel Caliendo, CEC

I remember rolling around late at night, thinking about whether I had asked for 220 volt outlets for our large mixer and Robot Coupe, or if there should be a fryer next to the grill, making it easier for the fries to get to the burgers, or if I would need two cooks to work any particular station. It’s not really where things started, but it is my hazy reality of the months before we opened the doors at the first Lazy Dog Cafe. While creating a menu, scheduling labor and designing a kitchen can be fairly easy to accomplish in an existing restaurant, bringing a menu to life, training cooks to perform and execute willingly and placing three dimensional pieces of equipment in just the right places are very difficult to do from a sheet of paper (especially those sketched out on bed stands in the middle of the night). Read more »

There is an Orange County Restaurant Association in the formation stage and we want to know what you think about that. Please click comment at the bottom of this posting and answer the following questions or, leave any comments you wish. If you want to remain anonymous just let us know. Read more »