THE GOSSIPING GOURMET: Get breakfast for dinner, or any old time

Emily, Terry’s daughter, loves breakfast for dinner and so does Elle’s sweetie, Tim.

In fact, lots of people like this rearrangement of the daily dining ritual, but in this town there doesn’t seem to be any place that caters to these antipodal appetites, except for The Pacific Whey Café in Crystal Cove.

So, while you might chow down on old-fashioned meatloaf or chicken Florentine marinara, they can dig into bacon and eggs or buckwheat hotcakes. Not only can you have breakfast for dinner, but also you can get homemade chili or beef stroganoff at 10:30 a.m.

In addition to the fact that you can order just about everything all day long, the food is pretty tasty, portions are generous and their burger is one of the best in town. If you actually eat dinner at dinner time, the prices are quite reasonable; but they serve only until 8 p.m., and the plates and utensils are all disposable.

In spite of the casual quality of the tableware and the fact that you order at the counter, the café is very attractive and features a large tree-filled patio and an ocean view, albeit, beyond the parking lot.

The Pacific Whey Café has design touches of a French brasserie that has mated with an open California-style eatery. The very high ceiling, painted silver with embossed molding, is reminiscent of turn-of-the century pressed tin. French art posters adorn some of the walls.

Ceiling fans and wooden tables with marble tops and assorted chandeliers complete the Gallic picture; but floor to ceiling windows facing out to the sea and giant potted olive trees with tiny twinkling lights are all California.

Anachronistically, flanking the patio doors are two giant silver throne chairs that seem to be awaiting the arrival of some royal personages.

Pacific Whey is also a bakery and, as you wait in line to place your order, you can drool beside a glass case filled with tasty pastries: cookies, brownies, lemon bars and muffins to name a few.

They have also jumped on the cupcake express, the hottest trend in sweets since Pinkberry froyo. Cream puffs and éclairs, crème brûlée bread pudding and deep dish apple pie, flourless chocolate torte and carrot cake tempt you to just skip your meal altogether and go straight to dessert.

The breakfast menu offers a large variety of omelets or classics like eggs Benedict and roast beef hash.

For lunch, there are soups, entrée salads, great burgers and a nice selection of sandwiches and paninis. The dinner entrées include lasagna, fish and chips, beef stroganoff and salmon.

One unique and very nice feature is a junior and senior menu for the younger than 10 and older than 65 set. These are smaller-sized portions of sandwiches and entrées for a reduced price.

The foodie grapevine has been abuzz with reports that their chicken pot pie is the best around, so it was the first thing we chose.

Since Mexican dishes feature prominently on their menu, (especially for breakfast) we ordered chicken fajitas, then a Pacific Coast salad just to get in something green.

Next, in keeping with the breakfast for dinner idea, we simply could not resist the lemon soufflé pancakes.

After gathering our utensils, glasses of water and a bottle of hot sauce, we adjourned to a nice table by the window to watch the sun setting over the roof of Javier’s.

After a short wait, our food arrived and we were surprised that the generous portion of chicken pot pie was served without a top. Although we have sometimes seen it served without a bottom, this was a new take.

The pot was made of flaky pastry and the hot chicken, veggies and sauce were poured into it, thus eliminating a second baking to re-heat the pie. The result is vegetables that are still crunchy, chicken that is not overcooked and sauce that isn’t thick or gelatinous.

In fact, the sauce was quite delicious, maybe the best of its kind “” creamy but not fatty, with a light lemon flavor, while the chicken was moist and very fresh tasting. The peas, carrots, cabbage and broccoli all retained their individual flavor and texture. It was as good as, or better than, the gossip that preceded it.

The chicken fajitas, on the other hand, left something to be desired “” flavor. The chicken was unseasoned as were the bell peppers and onions. Even with the addition of our trusty hot sauce, the taste was one-dimensional. The fajitas were served with a tiny cup of over-salted beans and, strangely, another little cup of mashed potatoes.

The Pacific Coast salad featured sliced apples, dried cranberries, blue cheese and “candied” walnuts, all overdressed with a nice champagne peach vinaigrette. The blue cheese was hard to detect, and the walnuts seemed dusted with sugar and cinnamon but the sugar wasn’t caramelized.

We ordered the lemon soufflé pancakes for dessert and they were yummy. Actually, they were lemon ricotta pancakes, and were light as a feather with lots of lemony flavor. They were served with raspberry butter, lemon curd and maple syrup. On the side was a nice fresh fruit medley. We could eat these any old time.

Since the devil sensed that we were throwing all caution to the wind, he made us go back for another dessert, their signature cinnamon custard Danish. This was not pastry wrapped around custard filling but more like a custard pie in a puff pastry crust.

However, the puff pastry was not buttery nor sweet, so we left it on the plate. The custard on the other hand was absolutely mouthwatering, a luscious dense cross between egg custard and crème patisserie. It must also be mentioned that this wedge was absolutely enormous.

We haven’t begun to cover the variety of extensive offerings from morning to night but Pacific Whey is always a pleasant casual place to get a bite to eat.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Pacific Whey Café (949) 715-2200 www.pacificwhey.com

WHERE: 7962 E. Coast Hwy. (Crystal Cove)

WHEN: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

PRICES:

Breakfast: $5.25 to $14.95

Lunch: $4.95 to $13.95

Dinner: $7.95 to $16.95

WINE:

½ bottles: $9 to $22

Bottles: $18 to $48

Corkage Fee: $10

ELLE HARROW and TERRY MARKOWITZ owned a la Carte for 20 years and can be reached at themarkos755@yahoo.com.