THE GOSSIPING GOURMET: A glorious selection of small plates

The “small plate” revolution has been storming the ramparts of fine dining. On the tail of the grazing phenomenon, the movement has gained steam with menus that are more casual, less expensive and filled with variety. Now K’ya in Laguna Beach has overthrown the reign of the three-course meal entirely with a new menu by chef Craig Connole, consisting of nothing but small plates, including lots of ethnic diversity and a huge variety of dishes from coq au vin to curried chicken; and from ahi poke to truffle risotto.

Renaming themselves K’ya Bistro, they have remodeled their menu to cover every possible category including: snacks, sides, communal platters, salads, soups, bruschettas, carpacccios, pastas and risottos, petite burgers, fish, meat and chicken. Wow! What a mouthful, and the prices range from $3 to $10. Double wow!

The menu can be described as international bistro fare, what they call, “Old World comfort food in casual unpretentious surroundings.” In the historic La Casa Del Camino, the décor of the dining room is updated Spanish/Mediterranean with a small outdoor patio bordering Coast Highway. A glorious view is to be found upstairs from the rooftop lounge where they serve lunch and a limited appetizer menu in the evenings.

Decisions, decisions, decisions! From the five different bruschettas, we opted for the smoked salmon, brie and asparagus with basil pesto. It was served on a piece of baguette, not the traditional toast. Basil pesto and the tasty salmon made a good combination. The thin asparagus spear provided some texture while the arugula and roasted red pepper garnish added dimension. The only disappointment was the brie, which was not ripe and therefore lacked creaminess and depth of flavor.

The generous portion of curried seared scallops was an inventive preparation paired with cold lentil salad and mango chutney. We like the contrasts in this dish: the cold salad and the warm seafood; the soft scallop and the crunchy lentils; with the sweet chutney acting as a nice foil for the spicy curry.

Our favorite dish of the evening was the spicy seafood chowder, a big bowl of zesty soup with lots of shrimp, scallops and very fresh fish. We would describe it as New Orleans style “” with its holy trinity of carrots, celery and onions, then just a bit of potato and a complex blend of herbs.

Tuna carpaccio with capers, red onion, seeded mustard and quail egg was not as tasty as it sounded because the raw tuna left something to be desired. In this brave new world of sushi bars, most of us know excellent tuna when we taste it. This was tired tuna and the quail egg had a sulfurous taste. Capers, mustard and onions perked things up, but it was our least favorite dish.

Much better was the red curry chicken. Slices of grilled breast sat on a bed of green beans and were topped with a slightly sweet, slightly spicy, Thai-style red coconut curry sauce.

There is an interesting selection of petite burgers. Besides the classic beef, there is ahi, portabello mushroom, lamb, chicken with pesto and lobster sausage. The latter was a pan-fried lobster patty, nicely seasoned, with the texture but not the sweet taste of lobster. The slider bun had lettuce, tomato, onion and a bit of spicy remoulade. The classic potato salad that accompanied it was advertised as “truffled.” It was perfectly fine potato salad but any evidence of truffle was completely undetectable.

In the pasta and risotto category, we went for the lobster truffle risotto. Although it sounded like an elegant dish, it was just the opposite, more like a really rich and homey mac ‘n’ cheese. A good risotto is about perfectly cooked rice in a flavorful broth with each grain distinct. Here, it was like rice in cheese sauce. The small pieces of lobster were identifiable again by their texture rather than their flavor, and once again the mystery of the missing truffle was never solved. Nevertheless, the dish was quite tasty, but perhaps it needs to be renamed.

When you browse a small- plates menu there are no accompaniments to speak of, but there is a selection of side dishes. We need our veggies, so we ordered their roasted vegetables, a nicely seasoned, buttery-tasting combination, highlighted by fennel.

The chalkboard announces the desserts of the day. Since we had trouble deciding, our gracious waiter brought us a selection for tasting. Our definite favorite was the pain perdu. This is French toast, but here it was gussied up with an orange marmalade and cream cheese filling. We guess it becomes dessert when you serve it with vanilla ice cream, but it’s good any time of the day.

Crème brulée is one of our favorites but this one was not at the top of our list. The burnt sugar layer was too thick, while the custard lacked rich vanilla flavor. It was just OK, as was the chocolate cake. Somewhere in texture between a soufflé and a molten chocolate cake, it was too sweet and overly buttery for our palate.

The white chocolate mousse tasted like flavored whipped cream. The flavor, however, was of orange liqueur, not white chocolate, albeit that white chocolate is a very delicate taste. Strawberries were an accompaniment and we reconfigured the dessert by using the mousse as a dip for the berries.

The peanut crunch was a homemade candy bar. The less said about it, the better.

With the exception of desserts, which we were really too full to enjoy anyway, K’ya is one of the most fun and tasty restaurant experiences in town. The new extensive small plate menu has more than something for everyone and functions as a serious recession buster as well, especially if you go on Monday nights and ask for the 25% discount for locals.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: K’ya Bistro (949) 376-9718

WHERE: 1287 S. Coast Hwy.

WHEN:

Breakfast: 7:30 to 10:30 a.m., dining room

Lunch: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., rooftop patio

Dinner: 4:30 to 10 p.m., dining room

PRICES:

Snacks and sides: $3 to $5

Small plates: $5 to $10

Desserts: $4

WINE:

Bottles: $21 to $275

By the glass: 3-ounce, 6-ounce, 9-ounce pours from $3 to $18

Corkage Fee: $5

ELLE HARROW and TERRY MARKOWITZ owned a la Carte for 20 years and can be reached at [email protected].