It’s the fresh way for Pacific Whey

Greer Wylder

Pacific Whey’s growth from a small, 1,000-square-foot neighborhood

bakery to an all-day cafe known for its terrific homemade comfort

food has attracted fans from everywhere.

In September, Pacific Whey Cafe and Baking Company moves to Ladera

Ranch, a new South Orange County community. Another one will open

this fall at the Lake Las Vegas luxury resort, just 17 miles from the

Las Vegas Strip, and Palm Springs will have its own location in

spring 2005. Each month, Pacific Whey is approached by about 50

investors wanting to open another location.

The company started in 1995, when Haute Cakes Cafe co-founder and

executive chef Gina De Michael sold her share of the popular cafe at

Westcliff Court. She turned around and opened Pacific Whey Cafe and

Baking Company at the Newport Hills Shopping Center.

A baker by trade, De Michael could show off her talents at Pacific

Whey, creating signature cookies, tarts and pastries. As business

increased, De Michael expanded her offerings to include fresh

homemade lunches, and in 2002, she brought out home-style dinners.

Along the way, De Michael entered into a partnership with Cheryl

Clancy and Marc Wilsey, who contribute to every end of the

restaurant.

In March 2003, the partners opened a spectacular second Pacific

Whey Cafe and Baking Company at Crystal Cove Promenade on the Newport

Coast. Even with a soft opening (they didn’t advertise), news spread

quickly by word of mouth. During their first two days in business,

they served more than 1,000 meals. Lines formed out the door.

On Saturdays and Sundays, this location regularly serves up to

1,200 people. Soon they will add an additional 1,500 square feet to

accommodate a larger kitchen to meet the huge catering and delivery

demands. They’ll also add more bathrooms and an express area that

will serve homemade ice creams and gelato.

While both sites serve the same made-from-scratch foods, the

Crystal Cove Promenade serves as the prototype for future locations.

“We wanted to build something we can easily replicate,” Wilsey

said. “[Someplace] where people can say, it smells like, tastes like,

feels like, Pacific Whey.”

The owners visited historic cafes and bakeries in San Francisco,

borrowing classic European design cues, including a white Carrera

marble pastry case, community tables made by Aspen Elegance, a rock

wall, a vintage poster wall and a silver patina ceiling. These

details can easily be translated to new locations. The footprint for

their restaurant model also includes a location that offers great

parking and outdoor seating for a Southern California experience.

“We who choose to live in Southern California live here for a

reason,” Wilsey said.

The Crystal Cove Promenade offers outdoor seating with views of

incredible sunsets over the ocean. Guests can enjoy beer and wine on

the patio year-round.

Pacific Whey fits another Southern California lifestyle

requirement, that its customers feel welcome in any attire.

“People feel equally comfortable walking in from the beach or the

office,” Wilsey said. “Cyclists meet here on the weekends, while

others hold business meetings.”

Pacific Whey also focuses on freshness.

“We have a battalion of people chopping fruit, we filet our own

salmon, the lettuce on your sandwich was delivered and washed that

day, and the turkey was roasted the night before,” Wilsey said. “We

don’t take short cuts. We do real food.”

Wilsey admits it’s easy to get caught up in saving money by using

convenience foods, but at Pacific Whey, that doesn’t happen.

“There are no preservatives, artificial ingredients in anything we

make,” Wilsey said.

Fresh produce deliveries arrive daily. At the end of each day, all

unused foods are donated to Share Our Selves, a Costa Mesa-based

charity helping Orange County’s homeless.

Pacific Whey specializes in fresh food and tempting pastries and

cookies. Breakfast is served all day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. They bake

their own granola, and they offer 14 kinds of fresh fruit for their

fruit bowl ($5.95). Customers rave about the fruit.

“Since fruit deteriorates at different times, we only commingle

fruits when they hit your plate,” said Wilsey.

Other breakfast favorites include omelets with fresh Atlantic

salmon served with dill cream cheese, tomatoes and onions ($12.95);

and the Pacific scramble with fresh spinach, Roma tomatoes and basil

($8.95). Egg whites can be substituted in any egg dish for an extra

$1. The extensive breakfast offering includes waffles, French toast,

crepes, breakfast burritos, quesadillas, and filet mignon and eggs

any style ($7.95 to $12.95).

At lunch and dinner, the choices include burgers, grilled

sandwiches, cold sandwiches, entree salads and comfort food dinner

specials served after 5 p.m. Guests can choose from down-home chicken

and dumplings, served Southern-style; filet mignon over biscuits; and

Pacific Whey pot pie, an upside-down version where the bowl is the

crust.

Other choices include Cajun swordfish with papaya relish, grilled

asparagus and mashed potatoes; grilled halibut Oscar with crabmeat

hollandaise, asparagus and mashed potatoes; and grilled Atlantic

salmon with a citrus sauce, mashed potatoes and Blue Lake green

beans. All dinner specials come with mixed field greens salads or

Caesar salad.

The bestselling salad is the Pacific Whey summer salad -- a blend

of field greens, Medjool dates, carrots, red onion, goat cheese,

toasted walnuts, strawberries and grapes, tossed with a strawberry

vinaigrette ($9.95). The Burger 101 selection includes your choice of

ground sirloin, veggie, portabello, ground chicken breast or grilled

Atlantic salmon ($8.95). Burgers arrive on freshly baked brioche

buns, served with your choice of 12 fresh items (each item add $1).

On the weekends, the bakery makes fresh beignets (fried fritters)

covered in powdered sugar, just like Cafe du Monde in New Orleans.

Guests drive from all over to buy them while they’re still warm. And

they sell hundreds of the cinnamon custard Danish, cut in

pizza-shaped triangles.

Other bakery items include a cinnamon rolls, flourless chocolate

torte, cobblers, bread pudding, cake and pies. A dozen varieties of

cookies are baked fresh daily, including their signature oatmeal

cherry toffee and bittersweet chocolate espresso.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at

greerwylder@yahoo.com; at 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; or by

fax at (949) 646-4170.