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It's a good thing I am not starstruck, otherwise I would have gotten whiplash from trying to keep tabs on all the celebrities that were dining all around me lately at Aqua restaurant in the drop-dead gorgeous new St. Regis Hotel in Dana Point.
I have done some diligent tasting of many dishes on the menu as have the other folks who are keeping the dining room full late into the evening (they also serve lunch, but my forays have been at sunset or later). I admit to, lusting after Elke Sommers magnificent white summer hat. This striking lady came past our table in the dining room the other evening, obviously looking for her friends who were already seated. We exchanged glances and smiles and I can blame the distraction of the hat for keeping me from realizing who she was for a while. David Hasselhoff, Chi McBride and Carol Alt had also been dining in when we were there, plus the general glitterati of OC. We are all vying for reservations since this is the first real San Francisco restaurant to open here. And what a restaurant it is.
Businessman Charles Condy and 20-year-- old chef Michael Mina teamed up just more than a decade ago and since they've been building restaurants and gathering rave reviews-international, I might add. Aqua was launched in San Francisco in 1991 (a restaurant I know and often recommend), then came Aqua in the Bellagio in Las Vegas in '98 and this one opened July 30. This energetic duo also operates Charles Nob Hill in San Francisco, Pisces in Burlingame and has just opened Nobhill at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
To say that the 31-year-old Mina has raised the bar on dining in OC would be quite an understatement. His menu is seafood oriented and he's stacked the deck with intrigues. Like the groundbreaking restaurant in New York, Le Bernardin, which began in Paris, this is seafood presented...