INSIDE SCOOP

-- Compiled by the Daily Pilot staff

We don’t really know if the air conditioner or the lights will be on

at Bayside Restaurant during one of those rolling blackouts. But we hear

you sure won’t go hungry there.

Even as Independent System Operators are ruminating the possibility of

a Stage 3 power alert, the chefs at Bayside are slow-roasting salmon,

tossing a mean romaine salad and whipping up some smooth chocolate

souffle with amaretto ice cream.

The restaurant will feature a special, four-course “Power Outage Menu”

designed exclusively for those dark days, which at this point seem to be

a possible recurring phenomenon this summer.

“You don’t need to sacrifice quality dining during power outages,”

says manager Marc Ghoukassian. “We’ve designed a special menu that allows

customers to still enjoy a delectable lunch during blackouts.”

The main menu items, he says, are slow-roasted throughout the day so

when the lights go out, the flavor is just right.

Some of the other items on the menu include Parma Prosciutto with

asparagus, rack of lamb, roasted beets and baby artichoke with fava

beans.

Tip to Edison and PG & E: The way to your angry customer’s heart may

well be through his or her stomach.

Here’s one fired up city bureaucracy for you

While Newport Beach city officials have been scratching their heads

for a while now to cut down on wait time for plan checks and the like,

things can get done pretty quickly. That’s if you’re trying to get

approvals for a new fire station, as the one that will open in Santa Ana

Heights at some point this week.

We’re talking just over 24 hours rather than the several weeks some of

you home builders and developers can end up twiddling your thumbs. But

don’t despair now. Even Tim Riley, Newport Beach’s fire chief, seemed

utterly impressed by the speed at which city officials went through the

process.

“Amazing!” he wrote in a memo last week.

Hey, it’s for public safety, right? And once the city’s new

interactive phone system is up and running, you’ll probably get your

project taken care of in no time as well.