Every summer we go to Laguna at least once. Our friends Mark and Lisa stay at the Montage for a week, and we always come up to visit. This summer we went to a restaurant that was new to me, but upon checking I found out it's alive and well for the past ten years. It's 230 Forest, and if you spend any time in Laguna, you will definitely want to try it. It's very casual, yet the food is exquisite. I sat down and looked at the menu and had great difficulty deciding what to get. I liked everything. We had a reservation, but if you don't, spend some time walking on Forest Street while waiting for your name to be called. It's a great street, with art stores, clothes, specialty food stores, and home furnishings. Here's a little more about 230 Forest and its delicious food.
Chef/owner Marc Cohen is an imaginative and artistic chef. Each plate is a work of art, and his culinary style can be described as Contemporary, with Pacific and Mexican influences. His menu is long on fish and shellfish, and fresh fruits and vegetables from Southern California. From his roots in Baltimore he came west to establish this fine restaurant. He also has another restaurant in Irvine, Opah Bar and Grill, and he is soon to open a third restaurant, Westmark, in Laguna, a grazing restaurant.
The appetizer section of the menu was my favorite. Prosciutto wrapped shrimp, homemade burratta with marcona almonds, raisins and honey (I had this), wagu beef carpaccio with kale and pecorino, Maryland crab cakes with lemon poppy slaw and remoulade (I also had this), roasted baby artichokes, cracklin' shrimp with sweet and sour chile plum sauce, and fried calamari. Next, came the soup and salad section, with maui onion soup, a deconstructed blt salad with blue cheese buttermilk dressing, halibut fishermans chowder, flat iron steak salad, and candied salmon salad with dried cranberries, walnuts and goat cheese. (almost forgot Caesar salad, kale salad and chopped seafood salad). Who needs a main course after all this deliciousness? Certainly not me. I had the burratta and the Maryland crab cakes and loved it all. Others at our table had the cracklin' shrimp and fried calamari which both looked fantastic.
They do, however, have a wonderful entrée menu. Ron had a simply prepared trout with fresh vegetables. Lisa and Mark shared the artichoke chicken pasta, which they loved. Other entrees include pork chops, ahi, halibut, scallops, jadori chicken pot roast, steak, and linguine carbonara. I wonder how a restaurant that offers so much can do it all so well, but they do. They also have a beautiful bar and very busy happy hour. Next time you're in Laguna, check out 230 Forest. If you're like me, you're going have trouble deciding what to order. Everything sounds so good.
Another wonderful evening with Mark and Lisa. I'm sorry we don't get to see more of them. They live in Henderson, Nevada and Freeport, Bahamas and when they're not in one of those two places, they're probably traveling the world. I hope we can see more of them in the future.
Every summer we go to Laguna at least once. Our friends Mark and Lisa stay at the Montage for a week, and we always come up to visit. This summer we went to a restaurant that was new to me, but upon checking I found out it's alive and well for the past ten years. It's 230 Forest, and if you spend any time in Laguna, you will definitely want to try it. It's very casual, yet the food is exquisite. I sat down and looked at the menu and had great difficulty deciding what to get. I liked everything. We had a reservation, but if you don't, spend some time walking on Forest Street while waiting for your name to be called. It's a great street, with art stores, clothes, specialty food stores, and home furnishings. Here's a little more about 230 Forest and its delicious food.
Chef/owner Marc Cohen is an imaginative and artistic chef. Each plate is a work of art, and his culinary style can be described as Contemporary, with Pacific and Mexican influences. His menu is long on fish and shellfish, and fresh fruits and vegetables from Southern California. From his roots in Baltimore he came west to establish this fine restaurant. He also has another restaurant in Irvine, Opah Bar and Grill, and he is soon to open a third restaurant, Westmark, in Laguna, a grazing restaurant.
The appetizer section of the menu was my favorite. Prosciutto wrapped shrimp, homemade burratta with marcona almonds, raisins and honey (I had this), wagu beef carpaccio with kale and pecorino, Maryland crab cakes with lemon poppy slaw and remoulade (I also had this), roasted baby artichokes, cracklin' shrimp with sweet and sour chile plum sauce, and fried calamari. Next, came the soup and salad section, with maui onion soup, a deconstructed blt salad with blue cheese buttermilk dressing, halibut fishermans chowder, flat iron steak salad, and candied salmon salad with dried cranberries, walnuts and goat cheese. (almost forgot Caesar salad, kale salad and chopped seafood salad). Who needs a main course after all this deliciousness? Certainly not me. I had the burratta and the Maryland crab cakes and loved it all. Others at our table had the cracklin' shrimp and fried calamari which both looked fantastic.
They do, however, have a wonderful entrée menu. Ron had a simply prepared trout with fresh vegetables. Lisa and Mark shared the artichoke chicken pasta, which they loved. Other entrees include pork chops, ahi, halibut, scallops, jadori chicken pot roast, steak, and linguine carbonara. I wonder how a restaurant that offers so much can do it all so well, but they do. They also have a beautiful bar and very busy happy hour. Next time you're in Laguna, check out 230 Forest. If you're like me, you're going have trouble deciding what to order. Everything sounds so good.
Another wonderful evening with Mark and Lisa. I'm sorry we don't get to see more of them. They live in Henderson, Nevada and Freeport, Bahamas and when they're not in one of those two places, they're probably traveling the world. I hope we can see more of them in the future.
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