Mare Culinary Lounge Owner To Open Second Location

Last night we attended a March of Dimes fundraiser featuring many of Orange County's finest, including Seakyeong Kim (Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale's), Andrew Sutton (Napa Rose), Rachel Klemek (Blackmarket Bakery) and Casey Overton (The Loft at Montage Laguna Beach). Between tastes and our glass of Tustin Brewing Company Oktoberfest, we kept our ears open for dining gossip. It paid off.

Opportunities to run into former On the Line subjects are few, so after spotting him, we made a beeline for Alessandro Pirozzi's table. Not only were we greeted with “Bella!”, we received a taste of their fabulous octopus carpaccio. After a mandatory hug and chit chat, Pirozzi lowered his voice to deliver the good news.

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His next venture will be in downtown Corona del Mar. We assume he means another Mare Culinary Lounge, but things were so hectic at his table, he could've meant Cucina Alessa. Either way, it's another beach community. It reminded us of his OTL response when we asked about the allure of opening his restaurants in beach cities. [Note: Pirozzi currently oversees the Laguna Beach Cucina Alessa and Mare Culinary Lounge only.]

“We were looking at a beach city for the first one. I said that if I opened five more restaurants, I would go for five more beach cities. The life is better at the beach. Every city is completely different, with different mentalities, but they are all beach people. I just love the fact that I can take one minute to walk across the street and look at the ocean. I have to be next to the ocean; everywhere I live, if not near the ocean, then a lake. I am a water person. I drive the coast every single day.”

Pirozzi anticipates opening this winter. If we go by a standard calendar, that's somewhere between December and February. Ah, more traffic along PCH. . . We're hoping it's on the ocean side.

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