Lobster "Mac and Cheese" at Ra Pour

When I think of restaurants in the Inland Empire, chains come to mind. But Ra Pour, a high-end restaurant and bar in Rancho Cucamonga’s Victoria Gardens retail complex, has changed the way I think about dining in the I.E. (there are still a lot of chain restaurants, though).

Ra Pour, the jewel in restaurateur Karim Webb’s crown, is helmed by Executive Chef Greg Stillman, a French Laundry and Patina Restaurant Group alumnus, so right off you know you’re getting a quality meal. However, the combination of a high-end eatery with a club-like after-hours feel, including live music that makes conversation tough, is a bit strange. But given the area’s other options, Ra Pour is probably one of your best bets.

I was recently invited to try out dinner and brunch here, and I was mostly pleasantly surprised. Drinks were fine, and food was better — even excellent at times. Dinner standouts included the Crispy Pork Belly, served with greengage plums, poached rhubarb and crushed marcona almonds, which was cooked perfectly and had a subtle sweetness. The Lobster “Mac and Cheese,” with butter-poached Maine lobster, mascarpone-enriched orzo and a parmesan crisp, is an elegant take on the traditional dish. Pizzas are good, and the tempura mushrooms are a nice twist on the usual fried appetizer.

Chicken and Waffles

As for brunch, the Chicken and Waffles with fried chicken tenders, a Tabasco reduction, maple syrup and candied jalapeno atop a malted waffle, is to die for. It’s a must, and you can get it at dinner, too, so get it. The Yogurt Parfait with blueberry compote, fresh mixed berries, yogurt and granola isn’t over-the-top sweet, which makes it a nice light breakfast option. The Duck Confit Hash with beets, potatoes, bacon, herbs and poached eggs topped with hollandaise sauce (the sauce wasn’t listed on the menu, by the way) was really heavy, so you might want to split that dish. There’s also live jazz music at brunch, if you like that kind of thing.

See more photos from Ra Pour:

Further reading:

Ra Pour: Elevating Rancho Cucamonga by Gourmet Pigs

Note: These meals were hosted.

Pastry Chef Rebecca West's pastries

Brunch is normally a weekend occurrence, but sometimes it’s nice to have breakfast foods at lunchtime during the week. You can do that at Luca on Sunset in West Hollywood, where brunch is served until 3 p.m. daily.

Chef Luca Giorgetti, who grew up in a Tuscan farmhouse, offers a slew of healthy breakfast items (no butter and little salt), including omelets, scrambles, breakfast and croissant sandwiches, pancakes, French toast, smoothies, juices and many other dishes. And Pastry Chef Rebecca West makes some amazing pastries (these, of course, contain “just enough” butter), including the flaky croissants used in Giorgetti’s sandwiches.

Spinach croissant sandwich

The spinach croissant sandwich is tasty, with its scrambled eggs, spinach, fontina cheese and bell pepper sauce. I prefer it to the breakfast sandwiches with omelet-style eggs, which I find to be too much. Giorgetti said he treats eggs like pasta and thinks about how to incorporate flavor that way, and he hits the mark with the 3 Mushrooms omelet, which is filled and topped with a combination of porcini, shitake and cremini mushrooms.

3 Mushrooms omelet

The chicken hash is another good option. Made with tomato sauce and topped with organic eggs and basil pesto, the chicken is a healthier twist on traditional hash.

Chicken Hash

Let’s go back to the pastries. The almond croissant and chocolate brioche are excellent, and the blueberry muffin is deliciously packed full of fruit. On the savory side, the sweet potato biscuit with speck is ultimately satisfying. All the pastries are so well made that you should be happy with any one of them (or two, or three).

Blueberry muffin

Sweet potato speck biscuit

Further reading:

Perfect Croissants and More for Brunch at Luca on Sunset by Gourmet Pigs

The Best Pastries in West Hollywood by estarLA

Note: This meal was hosted.

Milkshake in an Alice cup at Max Brenner

Yes, I’m writing this post a month and a half late. But I wanted to document my bachelorette party on this blog in some way, so I’m going to tell you about my meal at chocolate heaven-on-earth Max Brenner in The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. This may not have been the best meal in terms of food, but it was definitely the most fun.

The best part of the menu was the variety of drinks. My friends and I ordered the Mexican Spicy Hot Chocolate (red chili, cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper), the Melting Marshmallow Hot Chocolate (hot chocolate with tons of mini marshmallows on top), what I think was the Hazelnut Cream Chocolate Milkshake (vanilla bourbon ice cream, dark chocolate truffle and whipped cream) and the Chocolate Chai (chai spice blend infused with white chocolate). All were very good, but my favorite was the chai, which was enhanced by the white chocolate, not overpowered as I had feared. The presentation of the drinks is noteworthy, too, as Max Brenner has created his own cups for different drinks (the Hug Mug for hot chocolates, the Alice for milkshakes, a tea pot that dispenses when you place it on top of your cup).

Melting Marshamallow Hot Chocolate (left), Mexican Spicy Hot Chocolate (right)

Chocolate Chai

As for the food, there are sweet and savory items on the menu. We had a mixture of both. My favorite dish was the Cinnamon Apple & White Chocolate Truffle Cream French Toast with brown sugar spiced pecans and warm toffee sauce. I’m not usually a French toast fan, but this one was delightfully sweet without being over the top, and the texture was nice, too.

Cinnamon Apple & White Chocolate Truffle Cream French Toast

On the savory side, the Well Mannered Omelet with creamy spinach and goat cheese is a good option. The sugar-dusted buttermilk biscuit and the spice home fries that came with it were also satisfying, but the melted white and milk chocolate that came with it were confusing. I know everything is supposed to have chocolate with it, but what the heck were we supposed to do with melted white and milk chocolate? I sure as hell wasn’t going to dip my omelet in it. Needless to say, it just sat there.

Well Mannered Omelet

Molly’s White Corn Croquettes (white corn and manchego cheese balls dusted in panko bread crumbs and fried) were delicious. A great option for an appetizer, and it didn’t have any chocolate in it (as far as I could tell).

Molly’s White Corn Croquette

The After Party Belgian Waffle with strawberries, whipped cream, strawberry honey and melted white chocolate was a disappointment. The waffle was too heavy, and I’m not sure it was fully cooked, to be honest.

This is a great place to come with your girlfriends for some fun, especially for drinks. There are a slew of alcoholic drinks on the brunch menu, too, so I would be interested to try some of those the next time I’m in Sin City!

Bubble & Squeak

When I first walked into Eveleigh (“ever-lee”), I couldn’t believe this rustic-looking restaurant sat on the Sunset Strip. It was way too laid-back. The reclaimed and repurposed wood, the communal tables, the live lemon trees and the open-air dining room made me feel more as if I were in Napa than smack in the middle of the trendiest part of West Hollywood. That’s a good thing, by the way.

Open-air dining room

Bar area at Eveleigh

Perhaps the best part is that the food and drink are really good. It’s a great option for a lazy weekend brunch — I know, because I’ve had a couple of those here myself recently. Everything I’ve tried has been good, and some of it has been great. Executive Chef Jordan Toft, along with owners Nick Hatsatouris, Nick Mathers and Lincoln Pilcher, designed a menu reminiscent of their Aussie heritage but accessible to us good ol’ Americans.

The bubble and squeak (pictured above), which is traditionally made from leftovers, was punched up here with the use of some gorgeous kale (which I’m currently obsessed with), corned beef and potatoes topped with a scotch egg. This has great flavor and is a heavy dish, so I wouldn’t order this unless I was really hungry.

My favorite dish was the baked eggs with chard, shimeji mushrooms, goat curd and mizuna greens. The sourness of the curd was key to this dish. And since I have a thing for mini foods, the small eggs and mushrooms were pleasing to me visually. I’m such a sucker for mini foods!

Baked Eggs

The Seeded Granola topped with a scoop of frozen yogurt (literally plain yogurt that was frozen, not froyo) and blood orange segments was also very good. It was served with almond milk on the side, which I poured over the granola. The best part of this dish was the inclusion of black sesame in the granola, which reminded me of Chinese candies I grew up eating. My only complaint is the price of this dish: $10 for granola, yogurt and milk is a little steep.

Seeded Granola

Now, the cocktails. I tried a slew of drinks, almost all of them made with mezcal. David Kupchinsky, formerly of Comme Ça and The Tar Pit, designed the sophisticated cocktail program. I was impressed with Kupchinsky’s skills because I really liked his versions of the bloody mary and the gin and tonic, neither of which I’m normally a big fan of. The Bloody Sanchez at Eveleigh is made with mezcal instead of the traditional vodka, a decision I thought made a lot of sense, as the smokiness complemented the tomato and spices nicely. The tonic in the gin and tonic is house-made and is more tea-like than the clear versions you normally see, which gives it a unique herbal quality.

Gin and Tonic

The mezcal Old Fashioned was delicious, too. I couldn’t stop drinking it! And the Pimm’s Cup made with Pimm’s liqueur, cucumber, mint, lemon, blood orange and soda was also great. Just as I’m a sucker for mini foods, I’m also a sucker for blood orange.

Mezcal Old Fashioned

Pimm's Cup

The nonalcoholic drinks were tasty, too. The Cacao-Nut Date smoothie made with young coconut meat, coconut water, sweet cacao nibs, dates, cinnamon, vanilla stevia and vanilla hemp milk was a little too tasty — it was basically dessert in a glass and so substantial that it could have been a meal in itself. On the other hand, the Good Morning Sunshine juice, with kale, apple, orange, lime, ginger, mint, strawberry and fennel, was freshing and naturally sweet.

I liked this experience so much that when a friend asked about bloody marys, I suggested we go here, so I went back for a second weekend in a row and had the roasted portabello mushroom topped with burrata, vincotto, thyme and sourdough toast on the side. Though it didn’t look like much food, it kept me full for most of the day so this was a great value at $11.

So if you’re looking for respite after shopping amid the hustle and bustle of Sunset Boulevard, Eveleigh is a great option. Be on the lookout for patio seating in the near future, too.

Further reading: The Eveleigh: Liquid Brunch & Hangover Cures by Caroline on Crack

Note: The first meal discussed was hosted.

Casa del Mar, a 1920s Santa Monica hotel with beautiful unobstructed views of the beach, recently introduced a $29 Sunday brunch, with your choice of an appetizer, entree and all-you-can-eat dessert buffet. Sounds great, right? I thought so, too, so I invited a bunch of my friends to try it out yesterday. Boy, were we disappointed.

It wasn’t so much the food, which was fine for the most part, though some of it had its problems, too. It was the extremely slow service that really got us. Since I made the reservation for the meal, my experience with the hotel started before anyone else’s, and it didn’t start off well.

When I called a week ago to make a reservation, I was told that there were two other large groups (we had eight people) that had already made reservations for my preferred day and time and that the restaurant couldn’t fit us in. Really? I found this hard to believe that in this economy any restaurant (with very few exceptions) wouldn’t accommodate a group of people who want to give their business. So after I asked about availability for the following week, the woman on the other end, after checking with the manager, came back on the line to tell me that they would “squeeze” us in after all. OK, great.

Then the restaurant called me back the night before our reservation to confirm. I confirmed. Then I realized that a restaurant with a different name had called to confirm my reservation. I thought we were eating at The Veranda, but Catch called me. So I called back to reconfirm. By this time, Catch was closed so I was transferred to the hotel’s concierge. I explained why I was calling, saying I just wanted to make sure my reservation was made for the dining area that I wanted. The concierge said, “Well, if you’re having brunch, you’re in Catch.” OK, I wanted to confirm since your Web site is kind of confusing, I said, which was greeted with silence on the other end of the line (take a look at the links above: two different venues with different brunch menus). That was pretty much the end of that conversation.

So I was a little apprehensive when we showed up the next day for brunch, but there were no problems getting us seated in the right place. But there were problems with getting our food. It took 20 minutes before our drink orders were taken and another 15 to 20 minutes before our food orders were taken. I ordered a roasted beet salad to start and a lobster club sandwich for my entree. I was then served eggs Benedict for my appetizer. That was sent back, and I got my beet salad, which was good, with red and golden beets topped with goat cheese and frisee. Other people ordered the seafood salad, which they described as tasting like a seafood Caesar with avocado.

Bellini

Bloody Mary

Roasted beet salad

Seafood salad

Then we got our entrees. My lobster club was OK. The bread was on the thin side and grilled like a panini, which was nice, since sometimes too-thick bread makes a sandwich hard to eat. But the rest of it — the lobster, avocado, tomato and lettuce — didn’t have a lot of flavor. The tomato on one half of my sandwich was looking more than a little worse for wear: not only was I given the “butt” of the tomato, the other piece was a mealy mess. And my potato chips were not warm, as the menu said they would be.

Lobster club

Tomato butt and mealy mess (above)

Oh, and remember that eggs Benedict? Two other people at the table had ordered that dish, and it obviously came back because one was cold. That one was replaced with a new one that the manager swore was made 3 minutes ago right before his eyes. And someone else was displeased with her steak frites; she said the steak was unremarkable and was cooked more than she had asked for.

Eggs Benedict

The saving grace of the meal was the dessert buffet, which offered all sorts of sweets, including puddings, cakes, cupcakes, ice cream, tiramisu, crepes and creme brulee. I had butterscotch pudding, which was good (I actually had this first thing since it took so long to get our real food, and just about everyone else at the table ate dessert first, too). I also had some strawberry ice cream with gummy bears (so sophisticated, I know). The ice cream was OK, but the gummy bears were nice and soft. Tara of When Tara Met Blog said that she thought the mini cupcakes came from nearby Vanilla Bake Shop, and I believe her because she’s the cupcake goddess. I didn’t taste any though, because I was somehow stuffed despite not finishing my entree. Perhaps I was stuffed with displeasure?

Butterscotch (left) and chocolate (right) puddings

Mini cupcakes

Tiramisu

Creme brulee (tart?)

And then we got the check, 2 hours and 15 minutes after we had initially sat down for our meal. I had put 2 hours and 17 minutes on the meter where I parked my car, so I was sure I would get a parking ticket. Thankfully, I didn’t. But there was a kicker — we were charged $27 for three bottles of Evian. When we were asked “sparkling or flat,” we said flat, thinking it was tap. I guess we should have realized when our water came in Evian bottles, but none of us did. The server should have asked if we wanted Evian or tap water after we said we wanted flat, but tap wasn’t even offered. The irony is we all got free booze because of a text-message promotion. Casa del Mar: Where booze is free, but water costs $9 a bottle.

The manager seemed to be the only person who was on the ball. We saw him actively directing the wait staff, and he came by more than once to make sure we were OK. And while our server was pleasant, he never apologized for the wait. Well, I’m not apologizing for this post, either.

Evolving flavored iced tea (left), Cava mimosa (right)

Yes, Jose Andres’ Bazaar at the SLS Hotel has been open for a year now, but I didn’t go right away. Why? Because I don’t like being caught up in a scene, and the SLS and everything in it is definitely a scene. So I waited a year to try it, and I went for brunch, not for dinner when I’ve passed by and seen it totally poppin’ off, as it were.

When we (Sam of LAist and Lucy of Edible LA) showed up, it was kind of dead — relatively speaking, of course. By the time we left, there were more people, though most chose to eat inside, which I thought was kind of strange given the beautiful sunny day. We ate on the patio.

I’m not going to dwell on the Bazaar’s food since by now the restaurant has been thoroughly discussed across the food blogosophere and in the mainstream media, so I’ll just give you my greatest hits of this meal.

12 Tiny Eggs Sunny Side Up, or the Huevos a la Cubana “Andy Garcia” ($12): This dish is made with 12 quail eggs topped with Serrano ham shavings, tomato puree and chopped chives sitting atop a fried jasmine rice cake mixed with banana puree. The layers of flavors and textures are amazing.

Olive Oil Pancakes ($14): Oh. My. Gawd. Like I’ve said before, I’m not a big pancake person, but these fluffy disks from heaven may just change my mind. At once moist and fluffy with just the lightest of crusts to keep them from getting soggy in the bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup (an extra $8; regular syrup comes included in the original $14 price), I was so smitten with this dish that I could have easy gorged myself on all four of them and called it a day. Oh, and there’s olive oil butter on top, too. I want some more now!

We also had Air Bread with Smoked Salmon($5 per person), which was basically a puffed pocket of bread filled with tzatziki yogurt and topped with smoked salmon; Eggs Benedict “New Way” with Iberico ham ($18; $12 with Serrano ham); foie gras sandwiches ($15) with quince paste on brioche; and toast topped with tomato and Manchego cheese. All were good, but none of them stood out to me like the quail eggs and olive oil pancakes did.

Air bread with smoked salmon

Eggs Benedict New Way

Foie Gras sandwiches

Tomato toast with Manchego cheese

There was something interesting we discovered during our meal: The food we were served wasn’t prepared the same way Andres himself prepares it. Lucy had attended a press brunch earlier in the week that was attended by Andres, and she noticed a difference between our meal and the media meal. There was much more Hollandaise foam that accompanies the eggs Benedict when Andres made it, and the fruit-flavored “air” that tops the Cava mimosa was nonexistent on the ones at our table. The “Evolving” iced tea was also different; at the press meal, the iced tea was poured over the flavored part, which was a large frozen cube, while at our meal the iced tea came with regular-sized cubes and barely any flavor at all. I’m not sure if this is laziness or what, but if I were to ever go back, I’ll stick with the tried-and-true dishes.

In addition to the $10 Brats and Beer special I’ve mentioned before, Rush Street’s brunch showcases breakfast favorites and lunch items. I had the fried egg sandwich ($11) with pancetta, tomato, three kinds of cheese and parmesan-crusted sourdough bread. It was tasty and satisfying, especially since I’ve been on a fried-egg kick lately. I imagine it would make great hangover food. I also enjoyed the tater tots, though the second batch we had were too salty. The seasoning on them is a nice touch, though.

Fried egg sandwich

Truffle asiago fries (top), sweet potato fries (center), tater tots (bottom)

Speaking of good hangover food, Esther of e*starLA‘s breakfast burrito ($10), with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, tater tots, shredded cheese, pico de gallo, avocado and sour cream, looked like it would make a great day-after cure. So would the bottomless bloody marys ($20), which you can spice to your own taste at the restaurant’s bar.

Breakfast burrito

Bloody mary bar

The baked mac and cheese ($7) was creamy underneath the crunch top, which is welcome given the non-creamy mac and cheeses I’ve been having lately (how this is even possible, I’m not sure). The soup of the day ($6), corn chowder, was definitely one of the highlights as it had a spicy kick to it that I wasn’t expecting.

Mac and cheese. Photo by Elise Thompson for LAist.

Corn chowder

My boyfriend, Rory, had the grilled BBQ chicken pizza ($11), which he enjoyed but noted that the crust was different from when he had it not too long before at a later time in the day. This pizza looked like more of a flat bread than a pizza; maybe they changed it?

Grilled BBQ chicken pizza

We also sampled two desserts: the red velvet cake ($10) and the carrot cake ($10). Both were huge slices — definitely made for sharing. I preferred the carrot cake because it was moister.

Red velvet cake

Carrot cake

All in all, Rush Street is a good choice for brunch with hearty food and a laid-back atmosphere. The restaurant also doubles as a sports bar, with a focus on Chicago-area sports teams. But they’ll turn on any game you want — just ask.

Yes, that's a tree in the middle of the dining room. It's kind of awkward but pretty.

I’ve had a hard time lately with eating out. Not because I don’t like to eat — obviously I do — but because it’s been a while since I’ve really been wowed by a meal. Sure, I’ve had great parts of meals, but an entire meal that’s knock-your-socks-off good is hard to come by.

So when a bunch of us foodies (Esther of e*starLA, Caroline of Caroline on Crack, Diana of Diana Takes a Bite, and Lindsay and Sam of LAist) got together for a leisurely Sunday brunch — on our own dime, thank you very much — at Tavern in Brentwood, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had high expectations because I had heard good things about this latest Goin-Styne collaboration, but I was also afraid it was going to be all hype.

Hype it’s not. Tavern, at least its brunch menu, is amazing. I truly enjoyed this meal.

Our table started out with cocktails, though admittedly I didn’t order one for myself. But I tasted those that arrived for my fellow brunchers because that’s what we do; we share. The Ginger Rogers, made with gin, mint, ginger syrup and soda, was simple and refreshing. The Queen Mary Bloody Mary, made with gin instead of vodka, and cucumber and tomato, was light while still satisfying. I’m not a big Bloody Mary fan, but this lighter version was more palatable for me that usual.

Ginger Rogers

Queen Mary Bloody Mary

We then moved on to a chef’s choice basket of pastries, which included monkey bread, a cherry-almond scone, and another scone made from cornmeal. All were good, but the monkey bread, which you pull apart to get bite-size pieces of cinnamony goodness, was my favorite.

Monkey bread in the center.

Next came our main courses. I had the brisket hash with fried eggs and horseradish cream. My mouth is salivating as I write this because it was immensely satisfying with the differing textures of the ingredients. I imagine this dish would be great as a hangover meal. It was so good, I found myself mopping up the remnants with bread.

Brisket hash

Also at the table were lemon ricotta pancakes topped with huckleberries, which had just the right balance between crispiness on the outside and fluffiness on the inside and was really lemony, something I love. I’m not normally a pancake fan, but these were nice. (Looks like the new fall menu has pumpkin pancakes with toasted pecans and spiced syrup, which sound good, too.)

Lemon ricotta pancakes

The eggs Benedict was also a lighter version of many that can be found out there as it’s made with prosciutto, a bed of frisee and a lemon-heavy hollandaise sauce. The sauce really made this dish. Notice a lemon theme here? I’m liking it.

Eggs Benedict

There were other dishes — a wild mushroom frittata with spinach and cheddar, a chopped chicken salad, and The Pilgrim sandwich made with turkey, cranberry, stuffing (!) and mayo — but I didn’t taste them. I was too engrossed in the savory warm blanket that was my brisket hash. I mean, just look how happy I am eating it:

From e*starLA

I’ve heard a lot of hype about Bottega Louie, mostly that it’s fabulous. So when I finally made it over to the restaurant/market/deli/patisserie in downtown L.A. over the weekend, I was expecting a lot. Having those high expectations may have been the wrong way to start the visit, but that’s what happens when there’s a lot of hype!

The good: The restaurant space is gorgeous with its clean, mostly white decor that’s reminiscent of an East Coast eatery and market (kind of like Dean & Deluca). It’s huge, too. As for the food, I went during brunch on a Saturday. Most brunch items cost less than $10, with the most expensive dish being the $22 steak and eggs. I ordered a $7 roasted vegetable and aged fontina frittata, which was really large considering the price. I also had a blueberry mint lemonade ($4, kind of pricey) that had just right balance between sweetness and tartness for me, though my friend thought it was too sweet for her. To each her own, right? Anyway, I also checked out the market, deli and patisserie sections before settling on an apple cinnamon muffin, which was really nice with whole slices of apple baked into it. The nice woman ringing us up at the register even gave us a few macaroons for free (after it was obvious I wasn’t pleased with the $20+ price for a box of macaroons).

Frittata and blueberry mint lemonade

The bad: My frittata, though there was a lot of it, wasn’t as tasty as I had hoped. It was actually kind of bland. There weren’t enough roasted vegetables, and I could only really find mushrooms and red bell peppers in it. The fontina was nice, though. My fellow diner had the ham and gruyere frittata, which I think she liked. But the biggest problem we had with our visit was the table service. I’m not sure if it was our server’s first day or what, but we ordered a latte that took about 45 minutes to arrive at our table. Whenever we looked for our server, we couldn’t find him (though again, the place is huge) so we flagged down another server to check on the status of the latte. After another 5 to 10 minutes, the latte arrives with profuse apologies from someone who isn’t our server. Then our actual server comes and asks if we need anything else, at which point we asked for the pastry menu, which was part of the brunch menu we had seen earlier. Our server looked confused, then proceeded to tell us that there isn’t a pastry menu but that he would check with the patisserie. And then he comes back, ostensibly after speaking with someone in the pastry section, to tell us the same thing again. Just confusion all around.

Macaroons

Apple cinnamon muffin

Even with the slow and confused service, I would come back and give Bottega Louie another shot. No one was rude, and like I mentioned earlier, we had great service at the pastry counter. Though next time I’ll try it for lunch or dinner and avoid the bland eggs.

• Robata-Ya: Mom eats for free from the Sawtelle yakitori’s combo menu, AND she gets a free drink. Recommended for poor and cheapskate kids.

• Ortolan: Brunch will be extended from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. this Sunday. Treat Mom to the Michelin-rated resto’s scrambled eggs and caviar or lobster spaghetti. Recommended for those with more dough to spend.

• The Resort at Pelican Hill: The newish Newport Beach hotel will offer four dining experiences: one a traditional brunch in the ballroom, and three prix-fixe menus in other areas of the resort, including the Coliseum pool. Recommended for people with hard-to-please moms who live in the O.C. (me!).