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Ghoukassians' Flagship Eatery Marks 25th Year
EXECUTIVE DINING
When we travel we enjoy the food indigenous to the territory, but somewhere along the way we begin to think of the food we want to have when returning home.
On a recent two-week trip to Canada and Alaska, I suddenly realized that we'd spoken on two occasions of going home to the food conveyed by the Ghoukassian family in their three restaurants.
Bistango, the flagship in Irvine, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The restaurant, when it opened in 1987, ushered in an era of unique dining establishments that upended the "continental" places then the norm.
Most of those restaurants are gone, but the nouveau-modern beauty and intriguing food of Bistango endures.
On our latest visit, we sat surrounded by a vast gallery of artwork from acclaimed artists, changed seasonally, in a space that blends a tinge of elegant café ambiance with the art. We sometimes have lunch at Bistango, a tremendously popular business and get-together midday spot, but this time indulged with dinner. Live music plays nightly, soft enough not to interfere with conversation but lively enough to get a few people up to dance in the adjacent lounge.
Executive Chef Xavier Montoya has been there since the beginning, and I like having him send out dishes that he is most passionate about. But there are a few new things on the menu that caught my eye this time.
The salad of Belgian endive, Fuji apple and walnuts with Black River gorgonzola vinaigrette sounded wonderful.
And in the pasta category, there's now Japanese pumpkin providing a savory filling for ravioli with a fresh sage and brown butter sauce, with cranberry compote on the side.
We just came from salmon country, and I was intrigued by the king salmon dish now on this fall menu. Its tamarind-chile glaze sounds like a fine highlight to such a stellar piece of fish.
Ah, but there's also now...