When you least expect it, in an area of Beach Blvd, that could not be called chic, next to a trailer park, a sixties style building, with a groomed front yard and a large parking lot, is home to Park Avenue Restaurant in Stanton. As soon as you enter the restaurant you forget that the area is not conductive to fine dining.
Park Avenue has a welcoming large bar, many booths and tables. The lighting is dimmed. On the walls, black and white pictures of the Vegas Rat Pack era are displayed. The whole place has a charming kind of retro chic atmosphere.
At the end of the dining room, conveniently accessible from outside as well as inside, a large banquet room with a capacity of 100, opens on a patio in a surprisingly secluded garden. A tall fence completely covered by a vine and bushes surround the property, which is quite large, and cuts down the noise from nearby Beach Boulevard. A large circular platform can accommodate musical groups and doubles as a dance floor. The yard is nicely sloped, beautiful olive trees provide plenty shade. The grounds are meticulously kept and enhanced by a few decorative touches: a stone bench, an old wheelbarrow full of flowers and large planters. At the back of the garden a small gate leads to an area with large raised beds where the Chef grows most of the vegetables and herbs served in the restaurant. While taking the tour my dining companion and I could not believe that we were in Stanton. We felt like we were visiting a small winery in the Temecula area. It was a very refreshing experience.
The restaurant has been established for five years and is led by David Slay, chef and managing partner. David Slay is third generation American restaurateur. He started his training at an early age in his father’s kitchen, then went on to more formal apprenticeships with classically trained European chefs at famous restaurants in Las Vegas and France, including Trois marches restaurant in Versailles and Beauvilliers restaurant in Paris. More recently David Slay is best known for his great success at “La Veranda” in Beverly Hills, the Californian European style bistro he founded in 1989.
At Park Avenue David Slay insists on calling his cuisine Classic American Cuisine. It was a surprise to us as we could recognize so many accents of French cuisine in the menu. We assume that David Slay did not want to have the French label attached to his cuisine at Park Avenue because he selected to specialize in steaks and chops with healthy, fresh, simple sides, most of them from his vegetable garden. The restaurant serves, among others, cuts of meat rarely found on restaurant menus such as Trip-tip, skirt steak, flat iron steak all cooked to perfection en enhanced with a variety of fresh home grown herbs.
On the menu you will find Grilled rib eye steak brushed with herb butter, chopped sirloin with caramelized onions and Arugula, Flat iron steak topped with blue cheese, grilled skirt steak with soy and ginger marinade, Bone in rib eye with Rosemary and garlic rub, Granny Smith apple stuffed pork chops, grilled lamb chops with almond and mushroom wild rice. Park avenue burgers are 10 ounces of g round sirloin basted with home grown herbs and sweet butter mix on a fresh house made bun. They are served with house made chips, fries or slaw. Park avenue offers also several seafood dishes: Baked Salmon salad with fresh clipped Mango-Cilantro vinaigrette, Seared Maine Scallops with Grain Mustard Pan Jus, and Seafood pie.
As soon as we were seated, our server brought us a breadbasket with slices of crusty baguette, delicate wheat rolls and salty wonton wrapper crisps served with addictive tomato herb butter. We started our meal with a warm Spinach salad; tossed tableside, with pepper bacon, warm herb & apple cider. For main course, my dining partner selected the pepper steak with herbs tossed fries and Dijon mustard sauce. We had a couple of bites and found it deliciously tender and spiced to perfection.
We chose the seafood pie, a combination of salmon, shrimps, scallops and white fish, tomato, wine and herbs sauce in a pastry shell, served tableside. We enjoyed this dish very much. For dessert we shared a bread pudding with homemade ice cream and caramel sauce, an absolute delight. Park avenue has a well-diversified wine list. The service is friendly, extremely efficient and professional.
In their annual restaurant edition Orange Coast Magazine rightfully named Park Avenue top restaurant of the year.
We had a great tine, you will too.
Park Avenue is located at 11200 Beach Blvd., Stanton Ca 90680 Tel 714 901 4400. Open Tuesday thru Friday 11:00 am – 9 pm Saturday & Sunday 4 pm – Closed Monday. www.parkavedining.com
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