It’s all about dad

Every dad usually knows what to expect on Father’s Day: a barbecue, beers, burgers, a comfortable chair and an endless run of sports shows on TV. Or so they hope.

The staff at the Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa took all those elements to mind when putting on the quintessential event for dads Sunday. And so “King for a Few Hours” was born.

After the consecutive and increasing success of “Queen for the Day” for the two years in a row, the staff at the Hilton decided to supply dads with their own form of the royal treatment complete with all the fixings a man could want.

Unlike the mom’s day event which attracted nearly 500 guests in its second year, Sunday’s lunch was kept at a much more intimate 50 guest, said Brad Logsdon the hotel’s director of marketing and sales.

“We kept it small by design,” Logsdon said. “We only had so many recliners.”

Men were treated to a day packed with testosterone.

Seated in one of 20 reclining chairs pulled from the hotel’s seventh floor suites, served buckets filled with ice cold Coronas and given a vantage point of at least one of the seven TVs all playing different sports related programs, the guys felt completely at home in their surroundings.

The menu added to the feeling, incorporating items common at any barbecue but with a gourmet touch. For $35 guests were offered a three-course meal made in a fashion worthy of dad. One of the main course choices, a Kobe beef burger was served with brie cheese, lettuce, tomato and a side of steak fries. Those in the mood for something meatier could also have the choices of a grilled rib-eye steak cooked in a port wine demi glaze, or ancho chili baby back ribs that came with garlic fries, coleslaw and corn-on-the-cob with jalapeño butter.

Tom Cruz, 52, and son Anthony Cruz, 31, both of Placentia, went with the ribs.

“They had a nice flavor and a good spice that topped it off,” Tom said. Usually ribs are made sweet and tangy, he added.

In the Cruz family the men still end up cooking the food on Father’s Day. The change of pace was welcomed, both said.

“As long as we don’t have to clean up afterward,” Tom Cruz said. “Most dads are pretty laid back. We just want to eat and relax.”

Following an appetizer and entrée, Cruz was treated to an intimidating piece of chocolate cake.

The gargantuan slice easily rivaled Claim Jumper’s famed Motherlode, almost spilling off the edge of long elliptical plates in was served on.

After the meal, the men were offered a cigar and ushered down the hall to a patio where golf pro Cameron Carr of the Tustin Ranch Golf Club waited for them.

“I was pumped,” Carr said after offering one of the dads some advice on his swing. “I like coming off campus to do some private stuff like this.”

But the hotel did not stop there with it’s attempt to pamper dad.

Near the close of the lunch a raffle was pulled for one lucky father to spend one weekend of his choice with a new Jaguar XK, provided by Bauer Jaguar dealership in Santa Ana.

“Kobe beef: It doesn’t get much better than that,” said Fausto Lionel Esquivel, who attended the event with his father, brother, two sons and all the rest of the family. “There’s first-class treatment here. This definitely a great deal for dad.”