We were taken out for a really nice dinner tonight by Jeannie Luong, who helped us find our new home. Jeannie is physically tiny, not five feet tall. She’s a dynamo in every other respect!
Jeannie escaped Vietnam as the US withdrew from Saigon. She came to SoCal, got her law degree and now sells real estate. There are lots of immigrant success stories here in Orange County.
We were joined by a friend of Jeannie’s and our Irvine cousins, at Il Fornaio. It is a spectacular Italian restaurant nestled amongst the office buildings that flank “The 405” in Irvine. There are twin bocci courts out front.
Our party was seated directly in front of the left half of Il Fornaio’s split kitchen. We got a meal and a show!
I ordered, Linguine Mare Chiaro:
Thin flat pasta with clams, mussels, prawns and scallops; seasoned with tomatoes, crushed red pepper, garlic and Trebbiano wine
Helaine had, Capellini al Pomodoro:
Angel hair pasta, chopped tomatoes, garlic, marinara sauce and fresh basil
Dinner was very good as was the service from a color coordinated, uniformed staff. I did sense a little disappointment from the waiter when no one ordered wine.
This was a special place, not the kind of Italian food you’d get on a whim. We will be back. Very impressive.
Thank you Jeannie.
Glad you had a good dinner. Pix are NOT what I needed to see today as I’m prepping for a colonoscopy tomorrow… 🙁 Food looks GREAT!!
Sounds like (and looks like) you both had delicious meals! It’s nice when you start learning about the local “haunts”. 😀
Glad to hear that So.Cal has finally discovered Italian! 40 some years ago, we went out to a well known (then) Italian Restaurant in Down Town LA—they didn’t know what cheese Raviolis were–only meat–and the sauce had a spanish taste to it. Pizza also was a problem. When friends came back East, the first thing we would do was take them out for Pizza or a good Italian meal. Maybe now, enough Easterners have moved West and brought their Culture with them!