The Gossiping Gourmet: Driftwood comes ashore in Laguna
A Laguna landmark, the Beach House, has been reborn as Driftwood Kitchen.
It has gotten a $2-million facelift and a new chef, Rainer Schwarz, who will also oversee the kitchen for the more casual spot next door, The Deck. Both dining areas are blessed with spectacular ocean views.
Driftwood Kitchen’s main dining area, on the big deck, is open to the sky. Tall glass windows look out to the beach and ocean below. Small heaters around the room help take the chill off, and umbrellas can be trotted out if there is rain.
The space has been painted white and has a clean, fresh feeling. The chairs are rattan, and the tables are gray stone slabs. A glass wall that separates the bar from the dining area features row after row of booze bottles. The bar itself is cozy and has the requisite big-screen TV. Off the bar is a lovely patio area with comfortable seating and a fire pit. Upstairs is a private dining area for parties.
For starters, I ordered the grilled Spanish octopus, which was a long tentacle that was quite tender. Making for a lovely presentation was a layer of very tasty chickpea puree beneath the octopus and little cubes of tomatoes and baby sweet hot red peppers. The dish was excellent except for the very tart tomato-caper vinaigrette.
My favorite dining companion had the potato croquettes, also nicely presented: Three browned, crispy balls of creamy potatoes were each seated on a round dollop of lemon aioli. When he bit into them, they oozed melted cheese. Though called “truffle potato croquettes,” no truffles were visible. Perhaps some truffle oil was involved, but not enough to taste.
Maine lobster and Dungeness crab gazpacho is another starter, or you might enjoy one of the small plates, like oysters baked with potato coulis, crispy squid ink and uni.
Another pretty presentation was the duck breast. The breast was cut in half and placed on a very tasty, well-seasoned quinoa pilaf. The bird was surrounded by neon green baby tomato halves, red cherry tomatoes, crunchy white almonds and a few slices of nectarine (which were out of season and tasteless), making for a colorful palette.
The duck was pink inside, since I forgot to ask for it rare, but it was still quite tasty, especially when dipped in a sweet huckleberry sauce that was delicious and pretty.
Our other entrée was the lobster spaghetti. Fresh Maine lobster was scattered throughtout the pasta. The egg on top was meant to be served soft so the diner could cut into it and smear the yolk in the pasta, but it was overcooked and not able to be smeared.
Red-meat eaters can dine on New York steak with peppercorn sauce or the butcher steak with pork belly. Angel hair pasta comes with Mexican sweet shrimp, stewed tomatoes, Thai basil, uni and salmon caviar.
Gluten-free diners will appreciate the Crunch bar broken into bits along with chopped smoked almonds, all scattered around a scoop of chocolate ice cream with drizzled chocolate sauce and two dollops of fluffy soft marshmallows. But we found the crunchy bits a bit soggy and the dessert too sweet.
We did enjoy the sticky toffee cake — a thin log with layers of cake and chocolate. On the side was a lovely mound of Chantilly cream, and the plate was finished with warm toffee sauce.
Driftwood Kitchen is one of the very few Laguna eateries located above the beach. It is a very pretty spot to dine.
TERRY MARKOWITZ was in the gourmet food and catering business for 20 years. She can be reached for comments or questions at m_markowitz@cox.net.
Driftwood Kitchen
Where: 619 Sleepy Hollow Lane, Laguna Beach
When: Breakfast 9 to 11 a.m. Mondays through Fridays, lunch 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, brunch 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sundays, dinner 5 to 10 p.m. daily; bar open 5 p.m. to midnight daily
Prices:
Small plates: $5 to $18
Soup and salad: $9 to $14
Entrées: $22 to $50
Desserts: $7 to $9
Wine:
Bottles: $32 to $325
By the glass: $9 to $22
Corkage fee: $25 per bottle (maximum two bottles)
Information: (949) 715-7700 or driftwoodkitchen.com