THE GOSSIPING GOURMET: Mark’s is back in Laguna with taste, flair

The foodies in Laguna are already buzzing about the new restaurant in town, although it has opened without any fanfare.

Mark’s is back! In a new location with a more casual atmosphere and a recession friendly menu, this new spot has the potential to be a Laguna locals’ favorite hangout.

Conveniently located in the canyon, right before the Sawdust Festival, next to the Culinary Institute and walking distance from the Playhouse; it has that rarest of commodities in this town “” plenty of free parking.

If you remember the old Mark’s on Coast Highway (currently home of Hush), you know that owner Mark De Palma has a flair for contemporary décor. The interior is divided into a bar area with tall tables where you can also dine and a second room, half of which is an open kitchen and the other half, tables. Clean lines, floor-to-ceiling windows and large colorful paintings of fruits and veggies by Wayne Forte create a comfortable modern ambience.

As summer approaches, alfresco dining becomes an option, and we chose to take advantage of a beautiful warm evening during the recent heat wave to snap up the last available table outdoors. Future plans to separate this eating area from the parking lot with attractive planter boxes are in the works.

Mark is a warm, loquacious guy who makes everyone feel welcome. As we watched people come and go, there was a lot of hugging going on. Our waitress was also very friendly and helpful. We made our selections while munching on a basket of soft, warm, chive-flavored rolls.

A note about the wine list: There are a number of very nice wines in the $20 and $30 range, and the house wine is only $6 a glass.

Chef Martin Gonzalez’s menu is classic California ranging from southwestern corn chowder and mango brie quesadilla to an antipasto platter and Caesar salad.

We began with the ahi tower, which was indeed stacked high with beautiful sashimi-grade fish that had been seasoned with ginger, lime and olive oil. Small, diced asparagus spears supplied crunch, while a generous amount of avocado added creamy richness, while peppery micro-greens provided punctuation. Lots of nice flavors and textures made this a very tasty dish. A swath of sesame sauce afforded yet another layer of flavor. A superfluous soy-based dipping sauce was served on the side but it was just too salty and unnecessary.

Sticking with our Asian appetizer theme, we went on to the shrimp and vegetable dumplings filled with enoki mushrooms and baby bok choy, topped with black sesame seeds. The best part of these was the excellent dumpling dough, perfectly cooked. The filling was nicely spicy but overwhelmed by too much ginger, which made the accompanying vinegary ginger soy sauce redundant.

There were quite a few specials, but we wanted to choose from the regular menu in order to describe dishes that will be available when you dine here.

There is something on the menu to please everybody. Prime rib of pork is served with mashed sweet potatoes, sautéed sweet corn and cranberry-chipotle sauce. Filet mignon medallions come with port cran-raisin sauce and are served over wasabi mashed potatoes and veggies for the very reasonable price of $19.25.

In the fish department, ahi and salmon are offered but we chose the mahi mahi, which is normally partnered with mashed potatoes. We liked the sound of the Asian vegetable mélange that accompany the ahi.

“No problem,” said our very accommodating waitress.

These stir-fried snap peas, bean sprouts, bell peppers and cilantro were cooked just right and were very flavorful. The ample portion of mahi mahi was lightly crusted with cashews and a touch of mango-ginger salsa. We forgot to request the fish on the rare side, as we prefer it; but it was still moist and the white wine butter cream sauce, unusually light and very delicious, gave the mild fish all the flavor it needed.

Our second entrée was a very Italian chicken rigatoni. Properly cooked al dente pasta was tossed with diced chicken, fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, sage and marjoram in another very light white wine butter sauce. This fresh and clean tasting combination was very addictive. The dish was well balanced, with no one flavor dominating. The herbs were used judiciously, the chicken was moist and it all went down too easily.

We were glad to take a little break and wait 15 minutes for dessert while the kitchen baked a chocolate soufflé.

We couldn’t decide between that and a lemon tart, so we ordered both. Other enticing choices were: apple tarte tatin, tiramisu and crème brulée.

The warm soufflé arrived with the customary dollop of whipped cream to be spooned into the middle. We found the chocolate to be a little bland. It didn’t have that intense dark chocolate flavor we were hoping for. However, the lemon tart was the best we have tasted in a very long time. The thin crust was buttery and crispy, while the filling was light and intensely lemony without being at all acidic.

Mark has opened this restaurant quietly, knowing that it takes a while for any new restaurant to work out the kinks but word is getting out that all is good and we recommend that you stop by soon because summer is coming and with it the festivals, which means big crowds.

Mark is well aware of this and because he very much wants his restaurant to be a locals’ favorite, he plans to offer half-price dinners to Lagunans for the week after the festivals are over to bring back the regulars. He has plans to be open for lunch in May and is now serving brunch on Sundays.

After dinner, we had a chance to chat with Mark and found him to be such a delightful and interesting character that we arranged to interview him in the near future.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Mark’s (949) 715-4200 www.markslaguna.com

WHERE: 853 Laguna Canyon Road

WHEN: Monday through Saturday 5 to 10:30 p.m.

PRICES:

Appetizers: $5.25 to $11.25

Entrées: $12.50 to $19.75

Desserts: $6 to $7

WINE:

Bottles: $18 to $150

By the glass: $6 to $9

Corkage Fee: $10

ELLE HARROW and TERRY MARKOWITZ owned a la Carte for 20 years and can be reached at [email protected].