Dining Review

Kathy Mader

It’s time to start clacking your castanets, there’s a new

Spanish/Mediterranean restaurant in town, offering something new and

different. After all, any restaurant named after a private, 2,000-acre

plantation on the Mediterranean island of Majorca that at one time housed

Cistercian monks in its 10th century mansion, would have to be

distinctive.

La Granja Mediterranean Grill, pronounced (La Gran-ha) at the corner

of Bristol Street and Jamboree Road in Newport Beach, provides a warm,

rustic, rancholike interior, with the dark wood beams on light colored

walls and bright original paintings from Majorca, the largest of Spain’s

Balearic Islands. When you enter the restaurant, you are impressed by the

decor’s ability to transport you to another place and quite possibly,

another time.

Everything is imported here, from the owners -- the Gelabert family --

and the chef -- Francisco Sanchez del Moral -- to the 18th century wine

press that was used to process grapes at the original La Granja estate.

Throughout the restaurant, you will find various artifacts that validate

the Spanish authenticity of the place, including an original olive press,

as well as an 300-year-old cheese press. Even the recipes, and all their

secrets, come straight from the mother land.

I am sure the mother land would approve of La Granja’s rendition of

the traditional sangria, a delightfully light drink, chock full of

wine-soaked pears, apples and oranges. Although they do offer a full bar

and California and Spanish wines, the sangria is really the only way to

go and complements well the spicier dishes. In addition, order this and

the less adventurous diners will quickly become trail blazers in Spanish

cuisine. I saw it with my own eyes.

To be fair, the menu isn’t strictly Spanish, but a “fusion of

Mediterranean cuisines,” explained Andres Gelabert, the general manager.

La Granja blends classic Spanish cooking with some of the flavors of

their neighbors, such as Italy and France. But the final products are

both familiar and unique.

We started with the gazpacho ($4.95). This is not the food-processed,

tomato and celery gazpacho your grandmother tried to pass off as

authentic. This is a thin, almost watery, broth of pureed tomato, bell

pepper, cucumber, garlic and olive oil. This soup is presented with a

little ritual that apparently is crucial to the gazpacho experience. The

accouterments are placed in the bottom of the bowl in a design and then

the cold gazpacho is slowly poured over the top. La Granja’s version of

this classic Spanish sopa is packed full of flavor, and an excellent

start to your eating adventure.

As an appetizers or tapas we had the tortilla Espanol ($4.95), a

potato, onion and garlic torte. This is a dense, chewy treat, best

accompanied by a spicy salsa, or the pica pica calamari ($4.95), diced

calamari in a spicy bell pepper sauce. Alone, this potato torte can be a

shade bland.

There’s a little Spanish restaurant in San Francisco that I try to

visit every time I go because its paella, the national dish of Spain, is

so sensational. I use it for the standard by which to judge all other

paellas and La Granja’s comes pretty close. This paella is tasty;

traditional, and saucy, with chunks of fresh fish and chicken, scallops

and shrimp in a sea of saffron rice. They offer a different take on

paella in the pasta paella con bogavente (21.95) a saffron pasta dish

topped with fresh Maine lobster. We didn’t try it this time but they

promise it is worth coming back for.

An additional house specialty, the halibut gratinado ($16.95) comes

with my highest recommendation. This is another destination dish, as my

husband would say. It’s a walloping piece of tender halibut served on a

bed of thinly sliced mushrooms in a light garlic sauce, topped with

shrimp and bread crumbs and broiled to “Basque perfection.”

La Granja’s desserts are good to eat but even better to look at. Try

the bizcocho ($4.95), a cream and cake delight served with a raspberry

sauce and a macadamia nut ice cream. They also have the Spanish version

of a creme brule which is always worth ordering.

Open for less than a month, there are bound to be hitches at La

Granja, but the chef and general manager are more than willing to go the

extra mile to fix, clear, change or revise your order.

So get out of your Mexican and/or Italian restaurant rut and try La

Granja. It will be an eating experience to remember, unless of course,

you order more than one pitcher of sangria.

WHERE: 1000 Bristol St. North, Newport Beach (corner of Jamboree and

Bristol)

WHEN: Every day from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 6 to 11:30 p.m.;

entertainment is from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday

HOW MUCH: Moderate

PHONE: (949) 252-9396