Cuisine:

• Contemporary
• Others
• Californian

Sapphire Laguna Description:
A new and popular addition to Laguna Beach. Sapphire restaurant serves an eclectic mix of cuisines that the chef enjoys. Elements of a variety of cuisines including American and Asian influences. Sapphire is an anchor for the remodeled historic pottery place plaza. Sapphire is a high-end restaurant with a wide variety of food choices and an extensive wine list but it is an expensive restaurant. The elegant atmosphere is split, approximately half of the seats are inside, half are outside. Due to extensive press coverage and favorable reviews (including the Los Angeles Times), reservations are required. The restaurant is frequently full, especially on the weekend. There is also an affiliated gourmet store connected to the restauraunt, the Sapphire Pantry. They have a selection of gourmet foods, prepared foods and a cheese cellar with a variety of choices. The pantry opens at 7 AM for the breakfast on the go crowd.
Sapphire Laguna has stood the test of time as a down-to-earth restaurant in South Laguna Beach. Chef Azmin Ghahreman presides over this charming bistro, which channels Laguna's art and architecture along with the chef's culinary artistry and passion for world cuisines. Once The Pottery Shack and now part of Old Pottery Place, Sapphire Laguna owes its look to interior designer Si Teller, who combined Craftsman-style open architecture and warm woods with artsy Laguna touches like hand-blown glass from local artist John Barber. Ghahreman continues to rock the kitchen with his contemporary global cuisine. We enjoy starting with the earthy yet delicate wild mushroom "cappuccino," which comes with porcini foam. The light pumpkin ravioli gets full flavor from toasted hazelnuts, goat cheese and a burnt sage-butter sauce. Ghahreman cooks delicate fish in dishes like steamed halibut with shiitake mushrooms, cilantro, green onion and shoyu or pan-seared barramundi with an olive oil-poached tomato in an herbes de provence butter. The chef is also adept at slow cooking, as in his Kurobuta pork shank with butternut risotto, Brussels sprouts, quince mustard and cipollini onion jus. What to drink with your meal can present a pleasant challenge, as the cellar here features a well-chosen list of more than 900 wines. Head to the adjacent Sapphire Pantry for some hard-to-find international cheeses, fine wines, a European coffee bar, charcuterie, sandwiches, deli salads and chocolates to go.


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