Greer's OC | The latest in Orange County fashion, dining, and trends.

Welcome to Rustica!

By Greer Wylder

April 25, 2010

The much-anticipated Rustica, an exclusive new restaurant by award-winning Chef Grant MacPherson just opened at Fashion Island. Rustica features a blend of modern Italian and California cuisine. With some 50 acclaimed restaurants and dining concepts worldwide already under his belt—namely, Malaysia’s Datai Hotel, Raffles Hotel in Singapore, Wynn Las Vegas and Wynn Macau—Rustica will be where he returns to his first passion– cooking. The menu offers almond wood-fired flatbreads, hand-crafted pastas and unique salads, as well as entrees like black peppered Kobe Beef carpaccio, wild mushroom risotto and roasted Pacific salmon with white beans. Favorites on the menu include tuna…

French Happy Hour!

By Greer Wylder

April 25, 2010

Bistro le Crillon in Newport Beach, known for its award-winning wine list and Provencal cuisine, just launched “bouchon hour” (5 to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday) featuring white and red wines by the glass for $4.95 and free tapas. Many of the wines are highly-rated vintages from California, France, Italy and Argentina. And Bistro Le Crillon also serves a new three-course prix fixe dinner menu, and a special Sonoma Cutrer gift box set, ideal for wine connoisseurs. The menu features a starter selection of mesclun mixed green salad, traditional Caesar or soup of the day; the entrée choices include Norwegian…

Beachy bistro

By Greer Wylder

March 29, 2010

Nick’s in Laguna Beach has the ideal location for prime people watching on Coast Highway. Formerly The Cabana, Nick’s offers casual American comfort classics like burgers, mac & cheese, baby back ribs and great bar snacks like short rib sliders and fried deviled eggs (a fun and tasty take on an old-school treat). Try the Grilled Ribeye Salad, thick slices of perfectly cooked steak served with warm potato salad, arugula and roasted bell peppers, all tossed in a bacon mustard vinaigrette. Nick’s is located at 440 South Coast Highway in Laguna Beach 949.376.8595 Hours: Monday - Friday Open at 11AM…

Korean BBQ feast

By Greer Wylder

March 29, 2010

If you’re unfamiliar with the gut-busting feast that is Korean BBQ—well, now’s the time to put on some loose-fitting clothes and head over to Shik Do Rak in Irvine for some cook-it-yourself fun. Choose from a variety of meats to cook, from flank and rib-eye to the popular Angus deckle (unmarinated beef)—just toss the meat onto the sizzling tabletop grill and fish ‘em out when they’ve got that perfect kiss of char. Shik Do Rak is known for its duk bo sam style of Korean BBQ, which comes with small squares of thin glutinous rice wrappers perfect for rolling up…

Burgers without the Frills

By Greer Wylder

March 26, 2010

Everywhere you look lately, there’s some glamorous burger tricked out with fancy accoutrements and a hefty price tag to match. It’s enough to make one just crave a plain ol’ burger: just a grilled beef patty with a slice of melted cheese and two fluffy buns and a side of fries. At TK Burgers, it doesn’t get much more simple than that. The small burger chain (with locations in Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and recently, Mission Viejo)—delivers solid burgers with perfectly chargrilled patties tucked in soft bread buns (and on paper plates no less) for a comforting, down-home…