Pascal Epicerie provides a delicate French touch

Greer Wylder

Pascal has a casual cafe and takeout next door, Pascal Epicerie &

Wine. Don’t be deterred by its strip mall location. It’s one of

Orange County top-rated restaurants. It serves fabulous French

Provencal cuisine, only top quality French imported ingredients and

local farmers’ market produce. Pascal’s Restaurant and Epicerie is on

Bristol Street North, between Irvine Avenue and Jamboree Road.

By popular demand, Pascal Epicerie & Wine opened 10 years ago to

accompany Pascal’s fine dining restaurant. Customers requested the

convenience of an everyday casual cafe and wanted to take home their

excellent food. Chef owner Pascal and Mimi Olhats chose the adjacent

space to open the Epicerie.

Since then, more locations have opened: The equally high-quality

Cafe Jardin at Sherman Gardens in Corona del Mar, and Cafe Pascal for

outdoor dining at South Coast Plaza (at the bridge of Garden

Terrace). Each location offers different menus -- Cafe Jardin serves

lunch weekdays offering “coastal garden cuisine;” Cafe Pascal serves

a French bistro menu (delicious sweet and savory crepes) and takeout

food.

Pascal Epicerie & Wine, a microcosm of France in Newport Beach, is

open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The Epicerie

serves many purposes -- part cafe, fresh deli, bakery, wine shop and

gift store. Manager Juliette McCourt says 95% of the customers travel

to France on a regular basis. They expect the finest.

French products include: cheese, beer, wine, champagne, soaps,

oils, jams, honey, ceramic coasters, silk lavender sachets, cards and

magazines. Even the best quality, hard-to-find saucisson (French

salami), and fromage blanc, a nonfat thick and creamy French yogurt

can be found here. Each week, ripened cheeses arrive from France that

you can’t find anywhere else. Special requests can be ordered.

Gourmet products include fresh foie gras, caviar, wild mushrooms and

duck confit.

Customers come early for freshly brewed Illy coffee and pastries,

or a Parisian breakfast, served from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. It’s a fresh

croissant or brioche, French baguette, jam, butter and choice of any

hot drink ($5.20). Throughout the day, stop in for lunch, takeout

gourmet foods, dinner, pastries, desserts and dinner. All bakery

items and desserts are made here daily by skilled bakers, excluding

the breads. Three local bakeries makes the baguettes for sandwiches

and provide the crispy baguettes, walnut bread and brioche buns.

Pascal’s found an expert French macaroon baker who perfected the

delicate and difficult cookies with coffee or lemon fillings. Some

say they’re superior to France’s version. Other specialties are

biscotti, caramelized palmier, chocolate nut truffles, flaky

croissants, mini-pastries, tarts and custom cakes.

Four prepared salads are sold by weight daily at $6.80 per pound.

The most requested pasta salad is made with bowtie pasta, pesto, feta

cheese, tomato, black olives and pine nuts. The green bean salad has

French beans, grilled almond and vinaigrette; fresh fruits salad with

fresh berries. The low-fat ratatouille has red and yellow bell

pepper, eggplant, onion, tomato, and zucchini with a touch of olive

oil. There are also three special salads that change daily.

Sandwiches come prepared labeled in white packages for to-go

orders or can be custom made. Favorites are the chicken rotisserie,

served on a soft baguette with sundried tomatoes, baby greens,

shredded Gruyere and vinaigrette ($6.15); the ham and cheese, French

white ham, gruyere, cornichons on mustard-buttered baguette ($5.75);

and the tuna, sliced from a whole filet, fresh tomatoes, olives and

pesto on a brioche bun. Other sandwich selections: grilled lamb,

pate, smoked chicken, saucisson, poached salmon, grilled vegetable

and Panini. Prices are $5.55 to $6.50.

Homemade products offered include soupe du jour ($3.65), mini- to

large quiches -- mushroom, leek, tomato basil and Lorraine ($2.75 to

$19.95) -- the popular onion or tomato tarts ($2.20 to $3.99) and

whole rotisserie chicken ($12.75).

Definitely order the plat du jour, poached monkfish with mushroom

sauce served with vegetables or rice, or monkfish with seared leeks

or tomatoes. It’s like no other. Other highly recommended dishes are

the hard-to-find cassoulet, beef Bourguignon and rack of lamb ($10.95

to $14.95).

Pascal caters well to his clientele. The Epicerie offers holiday

take home meals, picnics to go, catering, periodic wine tasting,

custom cooking classes, even wine lockers for storage. For simple and

excellent entertaining, bring in your serving dishes and the Epicerie

will fill them with your choice of dishes. Atkins dieters come here

for the specially prepared plat du jour made with halibut, or poached

salmon served with asparagus or broccoli.

To add to the ambience, the Epicerie plays classical French music,

and in-style lounge music -- with Arabic sounds -- selected from hip

cafes in Paris. Seating choices inside include 11 round bistro-style

tables and, in the front courtyard, 12 gray-speckle granite-topped

tables.

The interior features dated faux marbles walls behind the counter,

delicatessen style glass cases and a large wine and gift area to the

right of the entrance. Outside, there’s a traditional French wall

fountain, set between creeping fig, and a circular planter filled

with succulents and an olive tree. Those help with making an

attractive patio, despite its shopping center setting.

* BEST BITES runs every Friday. Greer Wylder can be reached at

[email protected]; at 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; or by

fax at (949) 646-4170.