KATHY MADER -- Dining Review
If I have said it once, I have said it 100 times: We are so lucky to
live here with the wonderful weather, the awesome Pacific and myriad
restaurants to choose from. Take Mexican food for example, we have so
many choices, from “just over the border” to “authentic” California-style
Mexican, whatever that means. Either way, you can find a restaurant here
that will sell it to you exactly the way you want it -- California-lite,
road-stand mysterious or heavy-duty traditional.
La Fogata on East Coast Highway in Corona del Mar, a favorite among
those in the “hood,” leans way toward the lean in the
I-am-going-to-hit-the-trainers-either-before-or-after-this-mealstyle of
Southern Californians. But La Fogata does it very well. If the standard
wait in line is any indication, a number of people are probably not too
happy I am giving this semi-secret away.
La Fogata promotes its food as “healthy Mexican grill and rotisserie
chicken.” I wonder if that is like when my parents introduce us as “our
children and Kathy.”
“We care about your health,” the restaurant says, and their menu gives
a list of all the ways they work toward a thinner and more unified nation
-- cholesterol-free olive oil, lard-free beans, organic blue and red corn
tortillas, grilled-not-fried vegetables, baked-not-fried chile rellenos
and an assortment of vegetarian dishes. In fact, I was always a little
reluctant to go to La Fogata because of their emphasis on fresh
vegetables.
Hans Khademi, the owner, started La Fogata after failing to find a
restaurant where the food agreed with him and he felt better for having
eaten. He says restaurants have “a responsibility not to poison their
guests” with old produce, pesticides and mucho lard. I couldn’t agree
with him more.
La Fogata means “bonfire” according to my friend and authority in all
things Mexican, George, and the name must come from the raging rotisserie
displayed in the window for all to see. A nice place to sit next to in
the winter, but in the summer, with a mouthful of poblano chiles, it’s
hot!
There are several relatively new restaurants that offer dine-in or
takeout California fresh Mexican food, but La Fogata stands out for
several reasons, the rotisserie chicken being the main one. The aroma is
tantalizing, and you can smell it throughout the block.
La Fogata advertises that its chicken is “Zacky Fresh.” I don’t know
if this means anything to you, but to a person who has been on a Tyson
chicken boycott for the last nine or so years, or to a person who just
likes to know that his or her chicken lived (and died) only a few short
hours away, this is good news. Don’t get me started on chicken.
The beef, or carne asada, is also mighty tasty, especially when
wrapped in a corn tortilla to make a taco -- these are great -- or in
that most base of Mexican food staples, the quesadilla. They make the
quesadillas in chicken, steak and, yes, vegetables, all wrapped in a
flour tortilla and stuffed with jack cheese. We always get one of these.
The chile rellenos (two for $6.49) are truly baked, as advertised, and
not fried. They are mighty tasty, and they don’t give you that common
post-Mexican food feeling of a bomb going off in your stomach. Some of
you may miss this. I know my dad will.
The menu offers the usuals that we have come to know and love:burritos
from the Baja ($5.99), with grilled vegetables and pieces of potatoes, to
the California Grande ($6.99); fajitas (7.49) with the meat of your
choice and a major selection of grilled vegetables; all that rotisserie
chicken, and even salads.
The best seller in this neighborhood is the grilled chicken breast
with grilled vegetables ($5.49). I must be from a different neighborhood.
Fresh salmon and ahi are the fish they use for their tacos and burritos.
An ahi taco is the way to go.
The only item that I didn’t particularly care for was the cheese
enchilada. It was smothered in a sauce that smacks a little of a sweet
marinara -- kind of funky, and I don’t like to confuse my regional
cuisines.
La Fogata has been here for seven years and with all this freshness
and health, it will probably be here, along with the owners, chefs and
patrons, for another 100. Is this a great place to live or what?
* KATHY MADER’s dining reviews appear every other Thursday.
FYI
WHERE: 3025 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily
HOW MUCH: Moderately inexpensive
PHONE: (949) 673-2211
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