STEPHEN SANTACROCE -- Dining Review

Today marks a special day for French winemakers and wine drinkers

around the world. At 12:01 a.m., the first bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau

will be sold, ushering in the first wines of the new millennium.

The release of the Beaujolais Nouveau is traditionally a celebration

in France accompanied by parties, music and special dinners. Not to be

outdone, many of the area’s French restaurants are hosting special

dinners of their own, so that we here in Newport and Costa Mesa can join

in the worldwide celebration.

Beaujolais is a wine variety made from the gamay grape, which can

legally only be grown in the Beaujolais area, at the very southern part

of the Burgundy Region, near Lyon. Rumor has it that the gamay grape was

first grown here in 1395, and the release of the Nouveau, or “new,”

Beaujolais was originally a reward for workers to celebrate the harvest.

Beaujolais Nouveau is released directly after fermentation, with no

aging. The result is a crisp, fruity wine that is light and refreshing.

My first experience of the Beaujolais Nouveau was 12 years ago at

Pascal Restaurant (1000 N. Bristol St. in Newport Beach, (949) 752-0107).

Owner Pascal Olhats has continued the tradition every year since, and

this year is serving a five-course meal featuring a first course of pike

dumplings in a lobster sauce, reminiscent of lobster bisque. Entrees

include chicken Lyonnaise style, with lots of sauteed onions, or salmon

in a red wine sauce.

Dinner is followed by a cheese course and then dessert of either apple

tart or “floating Islands,” a delightfully airy poached meringue. Live

accordion music will accompany the meal.Dinner, which includes a

half-bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau, is $62 per person and will be served

Friday and Saturday.

For an early tasting of the new wine, stop into the Epicerie, next

door to the restaurant, at 5:30 p.m. today.

Pinot Provence (686 Anton Blvd. in Costa Mesa (714) 444-5900), is

serving a special menu Friday, Saturday and Sunday in honor of the young

wine. The menu will feature a fricassee of shellfish with portobello

mushrooms followed by a main course of duck breast and leg with wild

mushrooms and caramelized onions. A slice of apple tart with Calvados

(apple brandy) ice cream will finish the evening. The price is $42 per

person, not including the wine.

By 1938, the harvest parties had started to get out of hand, and the

French government passed strict regulations regarding the release of the

Beaujolais Nouveau. Today, it cannot be sold anywhere in the world before

the third Thursday in November.

Trendier wine merchants boast of having special chartered flights fly

in the new release, and this year Georges Duboeuf, one of the largest

producers, is having a live Web cast of the release, complete with

celebrities from MTV and the Food Network.

Bistro le Crillon (2523 Eastbluff Drive in Newport Beach (949)

640-8181) is getting in on the party with a special dinner Friday night.

Accordion music, a seeming tradition for a Beaujolais Nouveau dinner,

will accompany a meal that starts off with a salad of mixed baby greens

accompanied by an assortment of pate and French dry sausages. Diners can

then accompany their wine with either beef bourguignon, the classic beef

stew served over noodles, or Mussels Provencale served with a side of

crispy Pommes Frites (that’s right, French fries). And, if you haven’t

already guessed, dessert is a caramelized apple tart.

In addition to the Beaujolais Nouveau, check out the excellent

selection of red wines personally selected by the restaurant’s lively

owner, Diego Ostoschi. Dinner is priced at $19.95 per person, not

including wine.

Beaujolais Nouveau is produced in weeks, rather than months or years,

and the result is a red wine that’s as close to a white as a red wine can

get. The quick fermentation results in no tannins, which give red wine

their complexity, but can also account for their astringent taste as

well. Beaujolais Nouveau should be served chilled and is not a wine to

keep in your cellar for any length of time. If you have some left after

New Year’s, you’ve probably had it too long.

Mistral (440 Heliotrope Ave. in Corona del Mar (949) 723-9685), is

having a wine tasting today with complimentary hors d’oeuvres, and will

be serving a special dinner Friday evening. Dinner on Friday will start

with an appetizer buffet featuring an assortment of pates, cheeses,

olives, salami and crisp baguettes. Entrees include a choice of leg of

lamb or chicken provencal with tomatoes and black olives. Oh, and yes,

dessert is a caramelized apple tart. The price of celebrating at Mistral

is $19 per person, without the wine.

While the French celebrate the harvest by releasing this special wine,

we here in the United States are getting ready for Thanksgiving, our own

harvest celebration. And as it turns out, Beaujolais Nouveau is a perfect

companion for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s soft enough for lighter foods,

but has enough acid to cut through the gravy-doused turkey.

The Pleasant Peasant (4251 Martingale Way in Newport Beach (949)

955-2755), is offering a Beaujolais Nouveau dinner tonight notable in

that they’re not serving apple tart for dessert. Here the dinner will be

finished with a poached pear in cassis (black currant liqueur) and

vanilla ice cream. Prior to that, your meal will start with slices of

Lyonnaise sausage served with a warm potato salad, followed by a choice

of the soup de jour or house salad. For the main course, choose between a

coq au vin, chicken stewed in red wine, or salmon in a butter and herb

sauce. Dinner, including a half bottle of wine, is $32 per person.

Early this morning, I’ll be hoping for two things: the arrival of this

year’s Beaujolais Nouveau and waking up knowing whom the next president

will be. Actually, at this point I’m more concerned about the former --

maybe Bush and Gore should both relax a bit and enjoy a glass of

Beaujolais Nouveau. After all, priorities are priorities.

* STEPHEN SANTACROCE’S restaurant reviews appear every other Thursday.

Send him your comments at o7 food_critic@hotmail.comf7 .