Irish Culinary Sophistication & Fairy Tale Whimsy Arrives in Newport Beach
Fable & Spirit is the newest restaurant to open on the Newport Peninsula. Husband-and-wife team Darren and Jean Coyle also brought Dublin 4 Gastropub and Wineworks for Everyone to Orange County. Their newest establishment celebrates the spirit and heritage of the Irish people, and the setting will share the many fables of mythological Ireland, complete with heroes, queens, and goddesses. With a menu curated by Executive Chef David Shofner, this sophisticated and captivating neighborhood restaurant presents a high energy, yet refined dining experience and setting that plays into Irish fairy tale whimsy.
Chef Shofner, a graduate of the Le Cordon Bleu program at the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, got his start at Orange County’s Troquet and Aubergine, which continue to be regarded as important in having shaped the region’s dining scene. He went on to serve as Executive Chef at Red Pearl Kitchen in Huntington Beach, and then Chef de Cuisine at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. His rich experience includes opening Opah Restaurant at The Tustin Marketplace with Chef Marc Cohen, as well as Chat Noir and French 75 with Culinary Adventures.
As with Dublin 4 Gastropub and Wineworks for Everyone, Chef Shofner will run a ‘from-scratch’ kitchen, making everything from pastas and breads, to bacon and pickles. The Fable & Spirit menus will feature dishes from the rotisserie and a wood-fire grill. At lunch, expect a Rotisserie Porchetta Roll, the result of a three-day process involving brining and marinating, before being finished off in the rotisserie for four hours over oak. Also on the lunch menu is a Smoked Bone-In Shortrib that is smoked, braised, grilled and glazed in-house before being finished in the restaurant’s wood-fired oven.
The dinner menu features an impressive take on Fish and Chips featuring fresh Icelandic Cod flown in fresh on ice, and a Rabbit Fricassee that plays into the name of the restaurant and gives a nod to the Irish Hare. From the wood-fire grill come Santa Barbara Spot Prawns served with sweet corn, pickled shallots, roasted red bell pepper, and citrus mojo; as well as Octopus with sofrito, chorizo bilboa, smoked potatoes and padron peppers.
The attention to house-made pastas comes through in Chef Shofner’s Beet Agnolotti with chevre espuma, hazelnuts, oak barrel-aged balsamic, lemon and crispy kale; and Cracked Pepper Bucatini with manila clams, pancetta, parmesan, and smoke-cured egg yolk.
Fable & Spirit will present a rich bar program, led by Drew Coyle as Director of Spirits, who focuses on an extensive selection of whiskeys, gins and spirits, and liqueurs to present serious cocktails.
The wine program will also be of note, with a forward-thinking ideology that presents a list with more than just popular wineries, but also lesser-known quality wines. Led by Ali Coyle, a Level 3 Sommelier (WSET) who became intrigued by the world of wine at the age of 17, when her parents opened Wineworks for Everyone.
The restaurant will feature more than 180 wines by the bottle and an eclectic 40 wines by the glass, ranging in price from an approachable $12 to higher end at $30. Guests will have a full view of an impressive 24-bottle temperature controlled, wine preservation Cruvinet system that keeps the wines as fresh as the moment they are uncorked.
The restaurant will be open for Lunch and Dinner on Tuesday, June 11, with Brunch service to be introduced in the coming weeks. For more information about the restaurant menu, hours and reservations, please visit fableandspirit.com.
Fable & Spirit is at 3441 Via Lido in Newport Beach.
