Chef Tony

months outside the SGV. Each of them tells a story about directions in the cuisine’s local evolution. Chef Tony opened in Pasadena last month. It’s the latest restaurant from Tony He, who owns 17-year-old Seafood Harbour in Rosemead. He runs two similar

restaurants in Richmond, British Columbia. Seafood Harbour leans to oceanic luxuries; Chef Tony takes a more casual, lighthearted and often Westernized approach to the cuisine, particularly dim sum. (He doesn’t shy from the word “fusion.”) Har gaw comes in

Chef Tony    Needle    Pearl River Deli   

early March 2020. A story I wrote around then discussing the local evolution of Cantonese cuisine, which also touched on Johnny Lee’s first iteration of Pearl River Deli in Far East Plaza and now-closed Chef Tony in Pasadena, was among the last pieces I

peas and surprises, here’s another. You might not get a chance to taste this one because it was a daily special, very limited, inspired by a batch of first-of-the-season peas that had just arrived in chef Tony Esnault’s kitchen at Knife Pleat, the fancy

cook left for a mattress factory. “I understand, and I don’t begrudge them,” Yoon said. “The restaurant industry became an undependable place to earn an income.” Tony Esnault, chef at the Michelin-starred Knife Pleat at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa

all positions, but none has been more difficult than a dishwasher. The restaurant is still short two dishwashers, but Esnault and his wife and Knife Pleat co-owner, Yassmin Sarmadi, said they’re making it work any way they can. Chef Tony Esnault, right

daytime: Chef Tony Esnault and restaurateur Yassmin Sarmadi of Costa Mesa’s Knife Pleat will host a four-course lunch to be picked up and reheated at home. “Ivory soup” (a purée of sunchokes, celery and leeks with winter truffle), sea bream with fennel and

passing the torch to Crustacean’s 32-year-old executive chef, Tony Nguyen, with whom she has been developing the Da Lat Rose menu. While Crustacean is more of an Asian fusion restaurant, Da Lat Rose, which is located upstairs, will be focused on elevating

chefs as though he were a prince on the United Kingdom’s royal family tree. Chef Tony Esnault is a protégé of Alain Ducasse, who I discovered was an apprentice for Michel Guérard, one of the founders of nouvelle cuisine. I’m sure if I went back far

Mesa mall, including the Penthouse level, where Knife Pleat is located. The outage lasted nearly two hours. In the shadowy open kitchen, normally a well-lighted jewel box of burnished steel counters and state-of-the-art ovens, chef Tony Esnault looked

Plaza in Costa Mesa, operated by chef Tony Esnault and his wife Yassmin Sarmadi (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG) 4. Henry’s The new flagship dining room at The Waterfront Beach Resort is the most ambitious restaurant to open in

Gem    Omakase by Gino    Isla Cuban    Anjappar    Maison Cafe & Market    Knife Pleat    Henry's    CdM    Louie's by the Bay    Fable & Spirit   

, Laguna Niguel, (949) 248-1912, hendrix2go.com Knife Pleat at South Coast Plaza The restaurant is offering a four-course menu that includes soup, lobster salad, beef Wellington, chef Tony Esnault's signature vegetables and a bûche de Noël for dessert. The