ALL ABOUT FOOD: Path leads back to Laguna

Nancy Wilhelm’s journey from a serving wench at Gulliver’s to the inspired creator and managing owner of Tabu Grill “” the restaurant that has recently received the highest Zagat rating ever awarded in Southern California “” has been a long and interesting one.

Growing up in El Monte, she spent weekends on her grandparents’ dairy farm, a long way from the sophisticated world of fine dining. As a young woman and single parent, she applied for a job as a waitress at the Jolly Ox in Huntington Beach so she could work nights.

She admitted to the boss that she needed training but, she says, “He looked me over and said ‘you’re hired.’” She found that she loved being a server from the very beginning.

She moved on to Gulliver’s in Newport Beach, where she met famed restaurateur Hans Prager, demanding culinarian, who became her mentor.

These were her “wenching” days, as the uniform for waitresses here consisted of a very short flared skirt and a very low-cut peasant blouse. There, she met her future husband, David Wilhelm, who was working as a manager. Fraternization was frowned on, so they left Gulliver’s together and went to help with the opening of Cano’s. This fancy restaurant had a Moroccan décor, and Nancy moved up to a turban and a Moroccan costume.

These were their hippy days of home-baked bread and Gallo hearty burgundy, and the couple decided to move to Boulder Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains to open a kitchen store.

David pursued his hobby of cooking and Nancy worked in the store during the day and as a waitress in the local French bistro. His passion for cooking led him to a job in the kitchen, where he learned the basics of French and Italian cuisine.

After a couple of years, they had to close the store. Around that time, a friend asked them to open a restaurant for him in Crested View, Colo., which is a ski resort. When the ski season was over, so was her marriage, and she returned to her beloved Laguna where she had lived in the ‘70s. David soon followed her, and they got back together.

They continued their history of working in and opening many of the best restaurants in Orange County. With partners they opened Bon Appetit in Corona del Mar. Then onto Hans Prager’s Ritz in Fashion Island. With new partners, they then opened Pavé in a courtyard in Corona del Mar, where David was the chef and they had one of the first prix fixe menus in Orange County.

Their old friend Larry Cano opened El Torito Grill, and David, who had developed an interest in Southwestern cuisine, worked with him on concepts, development and oversaw the kitchen. Cano’s empire included Player’s, Remick’s and Prego, where Nancy worked.

It was at this time that Nancy’s daughter had a serious accident, and she quit working for a while. Several years later, when she was ready to work again, she was determined to have a restaurant in Laguna.

The space on Forest Avenue that was formerly The Cellar became available, and she and David opened Kachina, a Southwestern fusion restaurant that she helped design.

It featured long banquettes that made the most of the tiny space. It was a huge success and received fabulous reviews. Nancy stayed at Kachina and a ran a tight ship while David brought in partners and began a restaurant empire that included Zuni Grill, Diva, Bistro201 and Barbacoa.

Perhaps it was too much too soon, and David walked away from it all, left the company, and the couple divorced. Nancy worked for the company for a while but wasn’t happy working for somebody else.

Shortly thereafter, David was asked to come on board at Sorrento Grill after the original chef had left. David then asked Nancy to help him out.

It was her concept to change this quiet, upscale restaurant into a hot spot featuring a martini bar. The concept worked, but the interested parties could not get along, and Nancy decided she’d had enough of the restaurant business.

Thus began a peripatetic career that included working as an aesthetician in a spa, where she was bored to death, and in a retail store she opened in Laguna featuring clothing and jewelry from Hawaii and the South Seas.

She sold it after a year when a woman came in and offered to buy it. She then moved to Beverly Hills and worked in the office of the doctor who had previously done her daughter’s reconstructive surgery.

Somewhere along the line she realized that she “missed Laguna and the smell of cooking.” Returning to town, she began working on a concept for a new restaurant that was going to be called Tabu in the former Kachina space, but two weeks before escrow closed, the deal fell through, leaving her depressed and staring out of the window for a month. Nevertheless, she picked herself up and got a job as a manager at the new restaurants at the Balboa Bay Club.

Her partner, who was going to do the construction on the aborted Tabu, told her that the old Dexter’s space was available, and he introduced Nancy to Christine Hallenberg and her husband who owned the property.

Because the space was so small, she was reluctant to go forward, but her vast experience led her to believe that she could make it work. Her concept was Pacific Rim steak and seafood.

With designer Christine on board, a charming restaurant emerged, with Christine and Chuck as partners.

Nancy’s chef was Jeff Platt, who had been at Napa Rose. His concept of the food was more “Napa Valley,” but they blended the two and it worked, although Nancy was always pushing for more Asian influences.

After two years, Jeff left. In the kitchen was a young, very hard-working line cook, Kevin Gerald Jones, who had been coming up with some very interesting specials, so she asked him to do a tasting menu for the partners. He also favored Pacific Rim cuisine and really stepped up to the plate.

She promoted him to chef and under his stewardship Tabu Grill has earned a 29-point rating in the Zagat restaurant guide.

After paying years of dues, learning every aspect of the restaurant business and working for other people, Nancy has proven herself to be the consummate restaurateur.

Tabu Grill is located at 2892 S. Coast Hwy.

The phone number is (949) 494-7743.

ELLE HARROW and TERRY MARKOWITZ owned A La Carte for 20 years. They can be reached for comments or questions at themarkos755@yahoo.com