You Must Dine at This Gem: Raya

You Must Dine at This Gem: Raya

Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven. All rights reserved.

Raya is nestled in the Orange Coast of California.  You must dine at this gem situated beachside along the pristine Pacific Ocean, between magnificent cliffs and headlands.  Residents have nicknamed it the “California Riviera”.  Raya at Ritz-Carleton, Laguna Niguel has 180 degree views of the ocean with an outdoor bar and veranda, knowledgeable staff, and a creative menu.

“DELICIOUS DINING FOR DISCERNING PALATES:  Savor the extraordinary selection of fine oceanfront restaurants at The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel.  Prepare your senses for a culinary experience unlike any other with some of the most popular restaurants and dining destinations in the Orange County region, right here at the hotel.”

Reserve a table with a window to take in the alluring seacoast or reserve the lush table for a larger party.  Raya specializes in Latin and coastal dishes prepared with local and organic ingredients.  An excellent choice for a birthday dinner, beautiful breakfast, or brunch.  Chef Richard Sandoval and Chef de Cuisine Steve Wan have a strong focus and intent that is demonstrated through their dishes.  Traditional Latin dishes are enhanced with Asian, Jamaican, and Japanese ingredients.  Sandoval’s high quality skills stem from his formative years in Mexico City, learning to cook from his grandmother, as well as his world travels.  In addition to Raya, Sandoval has forged several other restaurants across the globe.  It is evident Chef Wan brings his family tradition of cooking with Chinese and Caribbean ingredients, as well as his experience preparing protein dishes from Ocean Avenue Seafood, McCormick and Schmick's, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse.

My Recommendations

1.  The restaurant is located at 1 Ritz-Carlton Drive, California 92629.  This is a walkable and drivable distance from Monarch Beach, Salt Creek Beach, Laguna Beach, and from other areas within Southern California.  The hotel offers valet parking.  There is also a close public parking lot with pay machines on the other side of Ritz-Carlton Drive.  

2.  Peak times occur on weekends and during special events in the city.  Make reservations to ensure a table.  The window seats are a perfect spot to dine.  180blũ is also worth checking out—an outdoor oceanfront lounge located next to Raya.   

3.  The menu at Raya has an array of choices featuring items such as tacos, soups, fish, burgers, beef, and salads.  The following were my favorites.  

Complimentary assorted Brazilian breads 

Ahi Tuna Ceviche with jicama, red onion, cilantro, avocado, chile de árbol (made with a bright and potent chili pepper), ponzu (a tart Japanese sauce made with citrus, mirin, and rice vinegar), yuzu (Japanese sour mandarin), and puffed rice.  

Korean Bar-b-que Chicken with kogi sauce (made with pepper paste, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil), and corn poblano (a mild green chili pepper) potato, salad, cilantro, radish, and green onion. 

 

“The story of The Ritz-Carlton begins with Swiss hotelier César Ritz who was well known in the hotel industry as the ‘king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings’.  Ritz redefined luxury accommodation in Europe with his management of The Ritz in Paris and the Carlton Hotel in London, among others.  He and the renowned chef from his hotels, Auguste Escoffier, opened a la carte restaurants known as Ritz-Carlton on board the Hamburg-Amerika Line ocean liners SS Amerika in 1905 and SS Imperator in 1913.”

 

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Credits: ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/california/laguna-niguel/dining/raya, richardsandoval.com/raya/, opentable.com/raya-at-the-ritz-carlton-laguna-niguel, twitter.com/ChefRSandoval/media

Roasted Fish and Kimchi Potatoes with Arugula: Martha and Marley Spoon Review

Roasted Fish and Kimchi Potatoes with Arugula:

Martha and Marley Spoon Review

Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven. All rights reserved.

Absolutely, positively, indubitably better than takeout.

This is a brilliant, quick, and spicy as you like it meal.  Martha and Marley Spoon delivers recipes and ingredients to your door, “Technology allows us to become your local greengrocer, butcher and fishmonger.  Or at least it gives us the opportunity to reconnect you with the core values of knowing where your food comes from.  Building relationships with sustainable suppliers ensures that we are a lot more than just an online shop.”

My trial of the meal kit service was first-class.  The recipes were enjoyable, plentiful, and  tasty.  The online ordering, pre-portioned ingredients, chilled box, and recipe cards are smartly designed and based on Martha Stewart's techniques.  A must order whether it’s dinner for one or more. 

The Roasted Fish and Kimchi Potatoes with Arugula was remarkably flavorful and simply created on one baking sheet.  Kimchi, a cabbage that has been fermented, brought excellent flavor and spice to the smashed potatoes.  Utilizing an ingredient such as kimchi is one way to liberate your palate from the doldrums of other tired, overused ingredients.  Martha and Marley Spoon provides terrific opportunities for customers to discover new items and explore various cuisines.

Ingredients

pollock fillet (species of the cod family)

baby arugula

kimchi

fingerling potato

olive oil

coarse salt

freshly ground black pepper

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Credit: marleyspoon.com

Join me on Zomato

Join me on Zomato

Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven. All rights reserved.

“Zomato is a restaurant search and discovery service founded in 2008 by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah.  The service began as 'Foodiebay', conceptualised in the cafeteria of Bain and Company.  Customers would line up to look at the menus to order food during the lunch hour.  Realizing this took up a large amount of everyone's time on a daily basis, Deepinder and Pankaj decided to scan restaurant menus and upload it on an intranet website for Bain employees.  

In November 2010, Foodiebay was renamed to Zomato.  Zomato started 2015 by acquiring Seattle-based food portal Urbanspoon for an undisclosed sum.  Urbanspoon was a restaurant information and recommendation service founded in 2006 by former Jobster employees  Ethan Lowry, Adam Doppelt, and Patrick O’Donnell.”

“Zomato's mission is to ensure 'nobody has a bad meal'.  The service helping people discover great places around them through the use of data and a vast community of food lovers sharing their reviews.  The service also provides access for online ordering and reservations.  This culminates in a better experience for restaurant owners, allowing them to focus more on the food and dining experience.”

As a food lover and writer I am always looking for restaurants and other establishments that offer excellent food, drinks, service, and dining environment.  Sharing and reading reviews is essential to discovering more new places and more about places that get my repeat business.  Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven is editorially independent.  No payment is accepted for editorial coverage.  Following the food code of conduct is vital to me to maintain reviews that provide the full picture, factual, and useful information.

I appreciate chefs that liberate taste in cookery, provide gourmet goods made with organic ingredients, the culinary worlds of California, Central, and South America, quality dishes, and restaurateurs that respect local and fresh products.  Zomato is an excellent way to keep updated on restaurants, bars, bakeries, and more that provide excellence in the food world.  Please click here to follow me on Zomato and share your restaurant recommendations.

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Credits: zomato.com, Mo-Chia.com

Momofuku Review by Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven

Momofuku Review
Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven. All rights reserved.

Momofuku Noodle in New York is located near Russ and Daughters.

"Established by chef and founder David Chang in 2004 with the opening of Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku has grown to include restaurants in New York City, Sydney, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, and Toronto; a bakery established by award-winning pastry chef Christina Tosi with multiple locations throughout New York City, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, and Toronto (Milk Bar); a bar (Nikai); and a quarterly magazine (Lucky Peach).  The restaurants have gained world-wide recognition for their innovative take on cuisine, while supporting local, sustainable and responsible farmers and food purveyors."

The miso ramen is made with smoked chicken, Swiss chard, and soy egg.  A flavorful bowl and a good light lunch or dinner.  Momofuku is on the more expensive side and if you are very hungry you may wish to order two dishes.





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Photo Credit:  amazon.com, momofuku. com, Gabriele-Stabile

Oomasa: Where the Sushi Craze Originated

Oomasa: Where the Sushi Craze Originated

Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven. All rights reserved.

If you are looking for sushi, tempura, or teriyaki, then this is the Japanese restaurant for you.  Oomasa  has become one of my favorite restaurants.  The casual and fresh ingredients give you a taste of real Japanese cuisine.  Oomasa has been in Little Tokyo for a long time, and helped foster the sushi craze which spread from Los Angeles to the rest of the country back in the day.  You might have seen this little place on TV's Remington Steele.  Take a visit and let me know what you think.

"The taste and spirit of the experiences as a sushi chef in Japan is seen everywhere in the store, and you feel like you are really in a sushi restaurant in Japan.   Oomasa Restaurant was established in April 1972 in Little Tokyo.  Masaharu and Otoe Motoyama opened the restaurant in the middle of 1st Street before moving into the Japanese Village Plaza.  A fixture in Little Toyko, Oomasa has stood the test of time by offering authentic Japanese cuisine to its customers.  Oomasa is named after one of the two famous Masas (family members in the Shogun Era)."  

(213) 623-9048

100 Japanese Village Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012

www.japaneserestaurantinfo.com/oomasa

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Credit:  www.japaneserestaurantinfo.com/oomasa/, http://oomasasushi.com/, http://www.pcrcorp.org/bif-grantee-success-stories, https://greekxican.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/oomasawb.pdf

Learn About Teppanyaki Cooking

Learn About Teppanyaki Cooking

Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven. All rights reserved.

A friend's birthday was held at a Japanese restaurant specializing in teppanyaki.  This is a form of Japanese cooking utilizing a hot iron griddle, often referred to as Japanese steakhouses in America.  Common ingredients are meat (beef), seafood (shrimp, scallops, lobster), and vegetables cut into bite size pieces.  Dishes are typically made with these ingredients that are more common to the Americas and cooked using soybean oil.  

The frying, flipping, knife work, and fire may be intimidating for some.  A good place to start your culinary dive into teppanyaki may be dessert.  The unique "fruit cake" is something anyone can create at home for a birthday or other celebration: grilled grapefruit, a cherry on top, with sliced melon.  

The roots of teppanyaki were forged in the 1900s, as the Japanese became an imperial force throughout Asia and into the West.  Notably, the immense Japanese military influenced the diets of the Japanese populace.  Japanese military bases outside of the county put military personnel in contact with other cultures, ingredients, and created a diet dependent on curry rice, pasta, soups, stews, and large portions of meat.  

The dishes from these bases outside of Japan were brought back to the country.  After the defeat of the Imperial Japanese Army in 1945 by United States troops, American ingredients and cookery influenced the island.  As international cultures blended in Japan, “[l]arge amounts of meat cooked on a steel griddle became the now-standard dish teppanyaki”. (Victoria Lyon Bestor and Theodore C. Bestor)

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Credits

https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/bestor/files/bestor_bestor_2011_-_cuisine_and_identity.pdf

Twenty20.com