Cuisine:

• Californian
• Mediterranean
• Lounge, club, bar
• Barbeque, Grill
• Bar

Sorrento Grille Description:
This downtown Laguna gem looks warm and inviting even from the outside, while the interior features golden mood lighting, a lively martini-and-wine bar, and main dining room downstairs and romantic, intimate balcony. Proprietor David Wilhelm was smart to bring along chef Ryan Adams, who formerly cooked at Wilhelm's now-defunct Chat Noir and Savannah concepts in Costa Mesa. Start with a hand-shaken martini and then order some appetizers like fried calamari, roasted garlic shrimp, Prince Edward Island mussels and grass-fed lamb "chopsicles" with smoked eggplant purée and mint chimichurri sauce. Or, pick a well-chosen glass of white wine for the smoky, creamy New England clam chowder. Entrées may include grilled wild salmon swimming in a brown butter vinaigrette or a tender Tuscan-style rib-eye steak with braised onions and potatoes surrounded in the steak's jus. The braised short ribs are also hearty, with mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables and a palate-opening horseradish hollandaise sauce. At meal's end, leave room for the signature "avalanche" dessert, which features a gooey, dark chocolate cake and melting French vanilla bean ice cream. Wilhelm has a good bottled wine list, but the by-the-glass selections are topnotch as well. Sorrento Grille is also known for its three-course prix-fixe Sunday suppers and its happy hour (nightly in winter and weekdays in summer from 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.).


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