RESTAURANT REVIEW:

With the success that A La Carte owner Estrella Harrington has had with her Laguna Beach location, it was surprising she didn’t venture out of that city sooner.

That location has been satisfying south Orange County residents for 22 years, but Harrington opened the Newport Beach location only three months ago.

Let us all hope it doesn’t take that long to expose another part of the world to her incredible mix of salads, sandwiches and soups.

She has transformed a storefront into a European-type bistro. It functions more like a gathering place than a restaurant. There is a counter you see when you walk in, and to the immediate left is a high table and chairs for people to enjoy coffee. The eight tables are directly left and separated from the front of the store.

What I found so refreshing about Harrington’s operation are the small touches — like the red candles on the window ledge that mix so well with the mustard-colored wall, or the white serving dishes that are so bright you can see your reflection in them.

This is a place I wish were closer to my house, but I am certainly going to utilize it for both dining in and taking out. I have already planned a picnic basket for the Hollywood Bowl.

On this, my first visit there, I started with the famous crab corn chowder, which is made daily. It was thinner than I expected; I was thinking it would be creamier, but it was very good.

The corn was very fresh and popped through the other ingredients. There were sufficient amounts of crab that were accompanied by small chunks of potato, but not too many, which is the sin of many chowders.

Also in the soup were shreds of carrots, diced celery and flecks of pepper, all of which added to the flavor.

I then had half a ham sandwich, which, considering the other sandwich selections, seems a little boring, but the ham is premium and made in-house.

The more adventurous sandwiches are the grilled ahi, which has sushi-grade ahi mixed in a teriyaki sauce. The Cajun fried chicken is a great choice if you like spicy.

The grilled chicken breast is dressed with Cajun spices and served with a jalapeño jelly. If you really enjoy pain, get the Rajun Cajun, which puts jalapeños along with the jalapeño jelly.

Whatever sandwich you order, I would suggest getting the French baguette. It is one of seven breads offered — sourdough, wheat baguette, wheat bread, wheat bun, squaw bread and rye being the others. The baguette I had seemed like it was just out of the oven, it was so soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside.

The last dish I sampled was the macaroni and cheese. This is a healthy portion of four cheeses, ricotta, Swiss, white cheddar and Parmesan. This is an extremely creamy dish, and the cheeses are blended well with the elbow macaroni.

The establishment has a wide selection of teas and coffee drinks. The usual suspects are there — Chai latte and tea au lait — but I found some I hadn’t seen before, such as the China white peony and Japanese cherry sakura.

The coffees are more routine, but there is a wide selection of mochas and lattes.

I believe next time I will call on Harrington and plead with her to open a location in Huntington Beach, closer to my house. The more people exposed to her food, the better.

ADDRESS: 704 E. Balboa Blvd., Newport Beach

PHONE: (949) 673-7173

CUISINE: bistro

SPECIALTY DISH: corn crab chowder

ALCOHOL SERVED: beer and wine

DRESS: casual

FAMILY FRIENDLY: yes

CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED: American Express, Visa and MasterCard

RATING: ***

JOHN REGER is the Pilot’s restaurant critic. His reviews run Thursdays.