2 minute read
Best Date Night Restaurant
CINDY YAMANAKA, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Every evening at The Hobbit begins with champagne and hors d’oeuvres in the wine cellar. Diners then proceed to their tables for a six-course, French-inspired meal. 1. The Hobbit
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Imagine going to a friend’s house for an evening. Assuming, that is, that your friend is a renowned chef with a 1,000-bottle wine cellar. And imagine you’d been waiting months to be invited.
That’s kind of what awaits the patrons at The Hobbit, a restaurant where dining is described as an “experience.” At the fine-dining Anaheim restaurant, there is one seating, from 7 to 11 p.m.
The Hobbit, tucked in a beautifully appointed 1930s house, has been a notso-well-kept secret since 1972.
The restaurant offers a six-course, prix-fixe menu of French-inspired cuisine chosen by the chef, Wednesday through Sunday. The menu is seasonal and there is one main entrée per week. Diners can find the main course for their reservation date on the restaurant’s website under “upcoming entrees.” There is an alternate to the evening’s main course for an added fee.
The evening begins in the cellar with champagne and hors d’oeuvres over which diners can decide on the wine to have with dinner. Help with pairings is available.
The evening continues with a course of shellfish, fowl or light meat and a salad. After a break during which diners can visit the patio or wander into the kitchen and speak with the chef and friendly staff, it’s back to the table. After a palate cleansing sorbet comes a main dish then dessert and liqueurs.
2. Orange Hill
With its setting and spectacular views, this upscale steakhouse perennially scores high with readers. In addition to its popularity as a restaurant, Orange Hill is a much sought after event space.
The eatery bills itself as “a hilltop hideaway offering prime steaks and primo views.”
Inside and out, Orange Hill takes full advantage of its not-to-be missed vistas with a wraparound patio and floor to ceiling windows. The grounds also feature waterfalls, koi ponds and fire pits.
The menu features highlights for red meat and seafood lovers alike. Steaks include a 48-ounce black Angus tomahawk, or a steak progressive, with four cuts of premium steak.
On the sea side, diners can choose among lobster, shrimp, salmon and bass. Or pile it up with the restaurant’s seafood tower with East and West coast oysters and other assorted shellfish.
A full bar is available and features a number of home-designed craft cocktails.
With its historic ambiance, its location tucked beneath the Villa del Sol and décor by the set designers of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland, The Cellar delights in being called OC’s best hidden secret.
The restaurant invites diners to “Take a step back in time and join us downstairs.”
As with other date-night getaway eateries, The Cellar is about both the menu and the experience.
Luckily, diners are covered on both ends. The menu is limited but top notch. The signature dish is a classic Chateaubriand for two from a center-cut 20-ounce Cape Grimm filet mignon and carved tableside. Other steaks, sea food, duck and lamb are available.
The Cellar has a nice wine list and mixologists known to create new cocktails daily.
Oh, and check out the Grotto, where a number of historic Hollywood canoodlings have occurred.
3. The Cellar Restaurant
305 N. Harbor Blvd.; Fullerton 714-525-5682; cellardining.com
