The Feast Days of Summer
And Winter and Fall and Spring! Where to eat, drink and be merry during the most important holidays
NOWRUZ
March 20-23
Chinese New Year is commonly celebrated; Tet is found throughout the county. What’s a hipster in search of an obscure holiday to do? Wait for spring. OC’s two most well-known Persian restaurants (named identically but unrelated: Darya in Orange is related to a restaurant in Westwood; Darya at South Coast Plaza is a standalone) have nearly identical menus, and both make excellent sabzi polo mahi, the traditional meal of Nowruz, the Persian New Year. The theme of Nowruz is purification and rebirth, symbolized by fire and new herbs, so the Daryas’ emphasis is on dishes that incorporate both. They cook basmati rice with seven herbs (chives, cilantro, dill, fenugreek leaves, green onions, parsley and spinach) and fire-grilled whitefish steaks; an egg may be served to symbolize the continuity of life. As a wish for long life, order a bowl of ash-e reshteh—thick, hearty noodle soup—and utter, “Nowruz mubarak” for an auspicious year. 1611 W. Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana, (714) 557-6600; daryasouthcoastplaza.com. 1998 N. Tustin St., Orange, (714) 921-2773; daryarestaurant.com.
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El Cabrito
1604 W. First St.
Santa Ana, CA 92703
Category: Restaurant > Mexican
Region: Santa Ana
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Anaheim White House
887 S. Anaheim Blvd.
Anaheim, CA 92805
Category: Restaurant > Fine Dining
Region: Anaheim
Darya Restaurant
1611 W. Sunflower Ave.
Santa Ana, CA 92704
Category: Restaurant > Persian
Region: Santa Ana
Thai Nakorn
12532 Garden Grove Blvd.
Garden Grove, CA 92843
Category: Restaurant > Asian
Region: Garden Grove
Bánh Mì Che Cali
13838 Brookhurst St.
Garden Grove, CA 92843
Category: Restaurant > Sandwiches
Region: Garden Grove
Banh Mi & Che Cali Bakery
15551 Brookhurst St.
Westminster, CA 92683
Category: Restaurant > Vietnamese
Region: Westminster
Banh Mi & Che Cali Bakery
8948 Bolsa Ave.
Westminster, CA 92683
Category: Restaurant > Bakery
Region: Westminster
El Fortin
700 E. Commonwealth Ave.
Fullerton, CA 92831
Category: Restaurant > Mexican
Region: Fullerton
Break of Dawn Restaurant
24351 Avenida De La Carlota, Ste. N-6
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Category: Restaurant > Breakfast
Region: Laguna Hills
Paul's Coffee Shop
16947 Bushard St.
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
Category: Coffeehouses
Region: Fountain Valley
Blake's Place
2905 E. Miraloma Ave., Ste. 3
Anaheim, CA 92806
Category: Restaurant > American
Region: Anaheim
Brasserie Pascal
327 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Category: Restaurant > European
Region: Newport Beach
Olive Tree
512 S. Brookhurst St., Ste. 3
Anaheim, CA 92804
Category: Restaurant > American
Region: Anaheim
Alebrije's Grill
E. Cubbon St & S Main St.
Santa Ana, CA 92701
Category: Restaurant > Mexican
Region: Santa Ana
The Past Memories
9252 Garden Grove Blvd.
Garden Grove, CA 92844
Category: Restaurant > Asian
Region: Garden Grove
Puerto Madero Market
1225 W. 17th St.
Santa Ana, CA 92706
Category: Restaurant > Argentine
Region: Santa Ana
Phoenix Club
1340 S. Sanderson Ave.
Anaheim, CA 92806
Category: Restaurant > European
Region: Anaheim
Loreley Restaurant
1340 S. Sanderson Ave.
Anaheim, CA 92806
Category: Restaurant > German
Region: Out of Town
Powell's Sweet Shoppe
27000 Alicia Parkway, Ste E
Aliso Viejo, CA 92677
Category: Restaurant > American
Region: Laguna Niguel
Forn Al Hara
512 S. Brookhurst
Anaheim, CA 92804
Category: Restaurant > Middle Eastern
Region: Anaheim
Zen Vegetarian
9329 Bolsa Ave.
Westminster, CA 92683
Category: Restaurant > Vegetarian
Region: Westminster
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SONGKRAN FESTIVAL
April 13-15
The thing to do for the Thai New Year of Songkran is to soak one another with water pistols. In Thailand, merry street parties break out with revelers who sometimes employ real elephants with hair-trigger trunks as water hoses. Some traditionalists lament the whole thing as an anamorphosis of the ritualistic cleansing of Buddha statues, but it’s damp, harmless fun. Southern California’s few Thai temples do feature crowds that ring in the New Year with water fights and food, but if you aren’t keen on getting drenched, celebrate at Thai Nakorn. The food consumed by Thais during the holiday differs from region to region, but at Thai Nakorn, you can sample just about everything in the cuisine’s glossary. Try the pad Thai (a street food enjoyed during Songkran as much as it is the rest of the year), but make it a New Year’s resolution to try something new, like the wild boar curry from the much-lauded specials menu. 11951 Beach Blvd., Stanton, (714) 799-2031; 12532 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove, (714) 583-8938; thainakornrestaurant.com.
TAX DAY
April 15
After the pain of writing a check to Uncle Sam, the parking nightmare and long lines at the post office, and the frustration of having to figure out where you put form 30426-B, Orange Countians both stressed and impecunious should repair to any location of Bánh Mì & Che Cali for its namesake Vietnamese sandwich. For a couple of bucks each, you can get a French roll or baguette filled with your choice of Southeast Asian charcuterie, garlicky mayonnaise, pickled carrots and daikon radish, chiles and cilantro. Try a dac biet, with pate, Vietnamese head cheese and white-pork shoulder, or go for a xiu mai, juicy pork meatballs with just a touch of caramel sauce. For dessert, try some of the coconut-laden dessert puddings: che ba mau is three sweet beans in coconut-milk syrup, and che chuoi uses the same syrup, but instead enveloping soft-cooked bananas. Bánh mì and che are a special bargain: Buy two and get the third free. Three sandwiches and three half-pints of che for $8 ought to make any IRS victim happy—at least until the next quarterly estimated taxes are due. 13838 Brookhurst St., Garden Grove; (714) 534-6987; 15551 Brookhurst St., Westminster, (714) 839-8185; 18122 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley, (714) 593-6300; 8948 Bolsa Ave., Westminster, (714) 897-3927.
CINCO DE MAYO
May 5
It would be nice to review a Pueblan-style restaurant for this entry, given that this most-misunderstood of Mexican holidays recalls the 1862 Battle of Puebla. It would be great to send ustedes to a place that sells epic cemitas poblanas (the sandwiches that make tortas seem as small as sliders) or tacos árabes, even a good version of mole poblano. But Pueblan restaurants don’t exist in la naranja at the moment, so the next logical step for those who wish to celebrate the holiday properly instead of the grotesque tequila-and-sombrero spectacle that happens in el Norte is to eat at a Oaxacan restaurant. The state is renowned not only for its moles, but also for Benito Juarez—the Lincoln of Mexico, the president who led the country against the French and Hapsburg occupiers whom the Battle of Puebla staved off for just a year. El Fortín is the county’s best Oaxacan restaurant, where Cinco de Mayo doesn’t bring out the burros and mock mariachi, but rather platters of moles; table-big tortillas called tlayudas, smeared with black-bean paste; and baskets of stringy, milky Oaxacan cheese. If you’re lucky, it’ll also show clips of the festivities of Oaxaca’s own state holiday, the Guelaguetza. 700 E. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, (714) 773-4290; 10444 Dale St., Stanton, (714) 252-9120; restaurantelfortin.com.
MOTHER’S DAY
The second Sunday in May
How is it that Mother’s Day came to be associated with breakfast in bed? A byproduct of TV-sitcom plots, perhaps? Of course, there’s taking her out for a fancy brunch at someplace that pours the hollandaise as if it were gold, then charges you a jacked-up fee. But there is an out: Break of Dawn, a breakfast joint situated halfway between a short-order diner and a four-star luxury-hotel restaurant. It’s no coincidence that chef/owner Dee Nguyen used to cook at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, home of OC’s most-celebrated luxury brunch. All his years there taught Nguyen the art of the egg: encased in tempura, poached, fried and served with linguiça, duck, even beef tongue, all trotted out quickly and usually by Nguyen himself. The crème brûlée French toast— made with Mexican chocolate, then draped with caramel-chocolate sauce—has made many a mom want to pinch the chef’s cheeks in gratitude. Because she loves you, she won’t ever tell you so, but she’ll take it over your pathetic attempts at toast and eggs any day. 24351 Avenida de la Carlota, Laguna Hills, (949) 587-9418; breakofdawnrestaurant.com.
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