Exploring the delights of the Village Farmer

Kathy Mader

Sometimes the diamonds in a piece of jewelry are so big that you

miss the semiprecious stones that surround them but actually serve to

make the piece what it is. South Coast Village, across the street

from South Coast Plaza, really is a “crown” of restaurants, ranging

from the big-time gems of Gustaf Anders and Antonello’s to the

“semiprecious,” humbly named the Village Farmer. But just because

this restaurant may not shine as brightly as the others, you still

don’t want to miss it.

The Village Farmer is in what I would call the back of South Coast

Village, with patio seating right in the heart of the village. And

while the Village Farmer is pretty darn cute inside, with

hand-painted hydrangeas and antique-looking art giving it the feel of

a cottage, I always go for the patio.

You can definitely tell which areas of the restaurant have been

recently renovated and which could still use a good carpet cleaning,

but the newest addition of the tearoom is beautiful and perfect for

“tea” related events, i.e. wedding or baby showers, birthday parties

and a girls’ day out. They also have a little gift store that is

worth taking a look at, and will soon be opening a children’s reading

room, which is a really cool idea.

The main part of the restaurant is divided into two areas by

folding French doors. In one of these areas you can even hold

business meetings or large luncheons.

I confess I had not a high interest level in the Village Farmer as

“farmer” conjures up pictures of health and thereby healthful food,

which translates in my head as “health food” and off I go from there.

However, judging from some of the bods out there, people actually are

interested in eating healthfully. Who knew?

The Village Farmer proves that healthful doesn’t have to mean the

dirt of the earth is still attached. They have an entire section of

“vegetarian delights,” an oxymoron in my opinion, that range from

fresh fruit platters with yogurt ($8.95) and a tostada with black

beans ($8.45) to a veggie burger ($8.25).

Needless to say, I veered away from that and went to the “hot ‘n

hearty” section looking for the big eats. We found them in the

delicious white chicken chili ($4.35) and the turkey meatloaf

($9.95), an open-faced sandwich with gravy. The gravy was a touch

bland, but the meatloaf rivaled any I’ve had with beef. I can go so

far as to say I was inspired to attempt a turkey meatloaf at home.

Unheard of.

My husband, Brian, had the Monterey chicken sandwich ($8.95), a

grilled chicken breast with jack cheese and avocado, and liked it

fine. Not fancy, just good. I was a bit disappointed in the bread.

The Village Farmer serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The

breakfast menu focuses on the omelets and the “old favorites” of

waffles and pancakes. The dinner menu has an entirely different feel

from both the breakfast and lunch menus, and offers pasta dishes such

as fettuccine primavera ($10.25), chicken picatta ($11.75) and

eggplant parmesan ($10.75), and even personal pizzas. The dinner

menu, in my opinion, seems more reasonably priced than the lunch

menu, but the lunch menu by far has the most varied selections.

The Village Farmer serves up interesting daily soup specials that

include corn chowder, turkey tortilla and red lentil. My very

favorite thing, though, was the delicious and addictive cinnamon iced

tea that, thankfully, you can purchase in the gift store. I probably

drank two gallons of this and was chewing my tongue by the end of

lunch, but it was so worth it.

All in all, the Village Farmer has held its own among the

“fancies” for almost as long as South Coast Village has been there.

And they serve a better iced tea than any of them.

* KATHY MADER’s dining reviews appear every other Thursday.