By Lorraine and Phil Shapiro

Along with Wolfgang Puck and Nobu Matsuhisa, Joachim Splichal is one of the top chefs imprinting dining in Los Angeles and nationally. Opening the landmark Patina in 1989, L.A.’s favorite restaurant according to Zagat Guide for 10 years, Splichal’s casual French restaurants have branched out from the original style-setting Pinot Bistro in Studio City to Pinot Hollywood, Pinot Blanc in Napa Valley and Pinot Brasserie in Las Vegas.

For the last few years, Pinot Provence in Costa Mesa serves the vibrant cuisine of southern France and the Mediterranean tailored to local tastes. Just across from the South Coast Plaza and adjacent to the Westin Hotel, it’s a magnet for the shop and lunch crowd, hotel guests and those-in-the-know.

Splichal and his wife and partner, Christine, have created a cheerful restaurant resembling a Provencal chateau with the glow of old chandeliers, sconces and a massive fireplace. Impressive floral arrangements, chairs covered in French provincial prints and yellow-and-white striped banquettes, comfy with plump pillows, lend color to the main dining room with its high dark wood ceiling and wainscotting. Splichal and designer Cheryl Brantner toured France for antiques such as the silver coffee pots used as table lamps at the convivial bar.

The food, like the decor, is unpretentious in a menu touched with whimsy such as soup of yesterday (not du jour) with humble ingredients cleverly elevated. Executive chef, French-born Florent Marneau, and sous chef Troy Furuta cook in a style similar to the other Pinots.

To start, the signature salad of Belgian endive, wild cress, Roquefort cheese and candied pecans juxtaposes sweet and pungent tastes. Richly satisfying is earthy wild mushrooms, thinly sliced black truffles and Maine peekie toe crab underscored by cognac-scented lobster sauce.

Marneau’s talents shine in his way with seafood beginning with a seared diver scallop with bacon and basil-scented French lentils and grilled cippolini onions to fish entrees based on Atlantic salmon, New Zealand grouper, French cod and John Dory.

The rotisserie chicken, fragrant with lemon and herbs, served with pommes frites, is a bistro classic. For other traditional dishes, ask about the plat du jour or try rosemary and thyme short ribs, speckled with sweetbreads, served with girolles mushrooms and baby turnips.

The large wine list of mostly California and French varietals is a plus, with many fine wines by the glass. We liked a glass of 1999 Domaine de Coussergues, a full-bodied French Sauvignon Blanc, and the 1997 Chateau Godard Belvue Cotes de France Bordeaux, a meritage blend, from $7.50. A half-bottle of 1998 Napa Chateau Montelena had roundness and mouth appeal, $33.

For dessert, almost everyone gets Splichal’s signature chocolate chip croissant bread pudding with Wild Turkey bourbon-vanilla sauce, but we prefer the lighter praline and Valrhona chocolate mille feuilles with candied hazelnuts.

Belgian endive salad is $8.25, wild mushroom with peekie toe crab is $13.50, chicken is $16.50, short ribs are $22.50, desserts start at $5.

The restaurant is open for breakfast 6:30 to 10 a.m., lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, dinner 5:30 to 10 p.m. daily, Saturday and Sunday brunch 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.Valet parking.

Pinot Provence
686 Anton Boulevard
Costa Mesa
(714) 444-5900


The Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel has a fresh new look thanks to Hirsch Bedner’s redesign, beginning with its cream color exterior dotted by blue awnings and a circular drive with a fountain and flowers in the center.

The $15 million redecoration continues with the new Papillon bar and fireside lounge off the four-story atrium lobby, lined with 45-foot faux palm trees. The lounge with two marble fireplaces and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the Pacific is a cozy retreat. With comfortable sofas and chairs, you feel like you’re having a light bite, tea or meal in someone’s living room.

It’s a departure from the nearby Lavande, the hotel’s signature restaurant, named for the lavender fields of Provence. The new Chef de Cuisine Jeffrey Nimer designed a seasonal California-Mediterranean menu using fresh regional products. "Dishes are generously portioned and beautifully presented for perceived value," Nimer said. Most are interesting pairings such as appetizers of seared scallops on braised short rib shreds with lobster mushrooms, tuna tartar with kalamata olives, and roasted red and yellow beet salad with fava beans and warm French feta, from $14. Seafood and fish are specialties such as oven-roasted salmon with balsamic-honey-mustard glaze crowned by crispy leeksand bouillabaisse in saffron shellfish broth, from $28. The tasting menu of four courses recently introduced at $55, $80 with wine, allows sampling more of his innovative dishes.

The food at Papillon embraces Asian and Southwestern identities for emphatic flavor thanks to Executive Chef Yves Bainier, a French culinary veteran who honed his skills in Paris, Hawaii, Los Angeles and Australia. Bainier believes, "What you put in your mouth comes first, looks are second. I’m not after incredible presentation, but seasoning. I go for flavor, then make it pretty."

Scottish smoked salmon, sliced into sheer ruffles, top a pizza with a puff pastry base, garnished with creme fraiche and osetra caviar. Maine lobster quesadilla is accented with pepper relish, cilantro and guacamole. The popular roasted corn and grilled chicken salad, crunchy with pita chips, spiced with cilantro and lots of paprika, also is served for brunch.

Ahi tuna, almost the "chicken of the sea" on restaurant menus, is treated with creativity. The Cajun-blackened rim plays off the clean flavor of the fish on a tangle of Japanese nori seaweed. Large tiger prawns with a frizzle of fried Chinese noodles perch on ginger noodles tossed with sesame oil.

The wine list stands out for wines by the glass, half bottle and bottle from established California and French wineries. Since we enjoy Markham wines, we selected the 1999 Napa Markham Sauvignon Blanc and 1998 Merlot with a balanced style, from $32.

Desserts include favorites of New York cheesecake with cherry sauce, chocolate, vanilla and orange petite creme brulee and tiramisu, shaped as a butterfly, a riff on papillon.

Appetizers range from $7.50 to $14.50, roasted corn and grilled chicken salad is $12.50, tiger prawns are $18, desserts from $6.25.

Papillon is open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight. Lavande is open seven days a week, serving breakfast daily, lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday, and Sunday brunch.


Papillon and Lavande Restaurants
Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel
1700 Ocean Avenue
Santa Monica
(310) 458-6700