We continue to countdown our 100 favorite dishes at local restaurants. We'll be sharing these with you every weekday until our annual Best Of Issue comes out. Enjoy!
#62. Roasted Beef Marrow Bones at Brasserie Pascal
You could trace back the popularity of roasted beef marrow bones to one man, Fergus Henderson. His restaurant, St. John, was a restaurant that did two seemingly impossible things: it made off-cuts of meat chic and British food relevant. Henderson's cookbook, Nose to Tail Eating: A Kind of British Cooking, became a sort of tome on how to prepare the often neglected cuts of an animal; and one of the most popular dishes at the restaurant and in the cook book was his roasted beef marrow bones.
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Here in Orange County, the best place to get roasted beef marrow bones is not an English place, but a honest-to-goodness French restaurant by none other than Pascal Olhats. At his Brasserie Pascal, Olhats splits the bones lengthwise, an improvement, actually, from the cross-sections that Henderson chooses to prepare his. Done the Olhats way, you can run the tiny tines of you fork straight down the tube to get at every last speck of the marrow's Jell-O-like jiggle, which is salty, fatty, and unlike any animal product you've ever had before. You spread it on toast and it melts like chunky brown butter.
The thrill of eating of your first one will feel like it's a forbidden kind of food, as if you're eating something you're not supposed to enjoy. You can't help but feel lightheaded and then sorrow when you think about how many precious beef marrow bones you've previously let gone to waste without so much as any thought about the goodness that was hidden inside.
Brasserie Pascal, 327 Newport Center Dr., Newport Beach, (949)
640-2700;pascalnpb.com.
Open for lunch, Mon.-Sat., 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.; happy hour, Mon.-Fri.,
5-7 p.m.; dinner, Mon.-Wed. 5-9 p.m.; Thurs.- Sat., 5-10 p.m.; Sun., 5-8
p.m.; Sunday brunch, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Entrées, $10-$30. Full bar.
The list so far:
Jerk Carnitas Torta at The Crosby
#99.
Nem Nuong Cuon at Brodard
#98.
Pork Chop Anything at Nice Time Deli
#97.
Flying Saucer at Alberto's
#96.
Frozen Custard at Marc Burger's in Macy's Signature Kitchen
#95.
Collard Greens at Johnny Reb's
#94.
Strawberry Shortcake from Job's Daughters
#93.
Cuban Sandwich at DeSimone's Deli
#92.
Lamb with Preserved Cabbage at Mas Islamic Chinese
#91.
Baked Rice at Luc Dinh Ky
#90.
Beans on Toast at The Olde Ship
#89.
Midnight Al Pastor Burrito or Taco at Taqueria Tapatia
#88.
Budino di Cioccolato, Pizzeria Ortica
#87.
Beef Teriyaki Bowl, Teriyami
#86.
Salmon Onigiri at Cream Pan
#85.
Beef Fat Fries at SideDoor
#84.
Silken Tofu & Thousand Year Old Egg at Asian Tapas
#83.
Cambodian Beef Jerky at Sophy's
#82.
Com Tam at Com Tam Tran Quy Cap
#81.
Chipotle-Piloncillo Goat Cheese at SOL Cocina
#80.
Nem Nuong Cuon at Au Lac Restaurant
#79.
Blackened Mushroom & Tofu Burger at Taco Loco
#78.
Fried Veggie Fish Fillet at Dong Phuong Tofu
#77.
Tofu Vegetable Salad at BCD Tofu House
#76.
Che Ba Mau at Thach Che Hien Khanh
#75.
Barracuda Sushi at Ohshima
#74.
Whole Lamb with Kabsa at Olive Tree
#73. 5 a.m. Chitterlings at
Tri-Village
#72.
Spinach Empanadas at El Gaucho #2
#71.
Croissants at Molinos Bakery
#70.
Beso de Monja at El Rincón del Sabor
#69.
Fatteh at Kareem's
#68.
Korean Beef Rib Sandwich at Kaffa
#67.
Rice Flour Pupusas at Pupusería San Sivar
#66.
The Hash Browns at Pop's Cafe
#65.
Seven Courses of Beef at Thien An
#64.
Baby Back Ribs at Blake's Place
#63. Fish and Chips at The Chippy
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.