CHECKING IN WITH ... Dan Marcheano:

Dan Marcheano is an institution in Newport Beach — not just to diners who frequent his Arches Restaurant on the Balboa Peninsula, but also to the Marines his business has supported for years. Next week, both of Marcheano’s restaurants — the Arches and the recently opened Arches on the Water — will offer special menus for the city’s second annual Restaurant Week.

Your restaurant is a popular hangout for the Marines. Do you ever get people from the other branches of the military?

Yes, we do. We get a good amount of Special Forces. Navy SEALs have been known to come in, and just everyday people who were in whatever branch of the service, whether the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard. We get a lot of people military-wise who appreciate the community support we do with the Marines. Naturally, I can’t do every branch of the military, so I hope my fellow restaurateurs will take care of the others.

Do you ever get anti-military or anti-American customers?

We’ve had some who are rather confused. I remember one gentleman, a college student, looked around the restaurant at all the Marine paraphernalia and asked if I was pro-war. I told him, “No, I don’t know of anyone who’s pro-war. We support the people who go to war so we can all have our opinions and we don’t have to worry about an enemy coming in and taking us over.”

So, as a Marine, whom are you supporting for president in 2008?

I’m naturally going to vote Republican. That’s No. 1. I haven’t narrowed it down. I see quite a bit of good in some of the Republican candidates, but I’m going to keep analyzing it before I let out a yell about whose bandwagon I’m jumping on.

Have you ever voted for a Democrat?

I would have voted for John F. Kennedy, but I was too young at the time. People like Kennedy and Harry S. Truman, they would be Republicans nowadays.

What’s your diet like on a typical day?

When I get here between 4 and 5 in the morning, I like to scramble an egg with a piece of dry toast. Weekend, I’ll have an egg plus an egg white and scramble them in olive oil. Sometimes I’ll put a little chives in there to give it extra flavor. Lunchtime, I enjoy my sandabs and I also enjoy my salmon, halibut, but I still try to cut back on the beef. But I like a rib-eye. Supper for me is usually a salad.

What’s your biggest food craving?

Pasta or pizza. Either one of them. I like the heavier pastas like the rigatonis or the bow-ties. When it comes to Italian food, I do eggplant Parmesan that is just unbelievable.

Where did you learn how to cook?

My father. He was an outstanding cook. I still use the same recipes my grandmother and my father used.