BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:Keep customers guessing

Husband-and-wife team Florent and Amelia Marneau always dreamed of opening their own French restaurant.

After years of working for some of Southern California’s finest French eateries, the Marneaus finally found the right time and place at South Coast Plaza.

After Troquet closed last year in the intimate and quiet corner of the shopping center, the Segerstroms asked Florent Marneau if he wanted to move in.

“This was just the perfect fit,” Amelia Marneau said.

For the last eight weeks, the couple has been enjoying their new restaurant, Marché Moderne, which they say gives them an opportunity to be creative in the kitchen.

Marche means “market” in French, and Florent Marneau said the market is an important influence in the restaurant’s freshness. Buying fresh, and many times unusual, ingredients is part of what makes the restaurant special.

“I tell [the produce buyers] I want something ‘marché,’ which means I want something fresh, something new,” Florent Marneau said.

This isn’t the couple’s first foray into fine dining. Before opening his restaurant, Florent Marneau worked for nine years at Pinot Provence.

He moved to the country from France when he was 21 years old after studying in his native country as a teenager. He started working at Pascal in Newport Beach before moving on to former Newport Beach restaurant Aubergine and Patina in Los Angeles before moving to Pinot Provence.

Amelia Marneau trained and worked as a pastry chef in Paris before moving back to the country where she worked at the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel and Bayside restaurant in Newport Beach.

The pair met while Amelia Marneau worked as a pastry chef at Aubergine. Two kids, two crazy schedules and a restaurant later, the pair say they still love what they do.

The second half of the restaurant’s name represents the rustic flair of the menu and the restaurant’s interior and outdoor cabana area.

The Marneaus also offer a daily lunch special during the week that costs only about $20 for three courses. On a recent day the offering included a velvety vegetable soup, an entrée of perfectly cooked halibut paired with heirloom tomatoes, garlic and watermelon radishes — one of Florent Marneau’s special market finds — and finished with an elegant pastry with cream.

The menu constantly changes, which is something the Marneaus say they do to keep customers and themselves happy.

“It’s one way for us to be very creative and buy some things that are unique,” Florent Marneau said. “And we thought, why not do it at lunch, too, and expose people to things they haven’t tried.”

The restaurant is open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. till 3 p.m. every day. Dinner service starts at 5:30 p.m. and reservations are accepted until 9:30 p.m. For more information call (714) 434-7900.