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