S. Irene Virbila heads down to Orange County to review Marché Moderne, which took over the former Goodell-owned Troquet in Costa Mesa. This is the second time in recent memory that Miss Irene deems a new OC restaurant worthy of higher praise than many LA-area restaurants she’s reviewed lately. (She three-starred Leatherby's Rouge Café in Feb.; the last three star LA resto was Mozza). Leave it to the French to wow her:
Florent Marneau, chef-owner of the new Marché Moderne in Costa Mesa, comes on full throttle with this bistro in the old Troquet space at South Coast Plaza. I've hauled a group of friends all the way from L.A. to Costa Mesa, and by the time we've finished our first courses, no one is complaining about the drive because it's clear this is probably the best bistro in Southern California.High praise for such an unusual location: "Once you're inside, you'd think it was Galeries Lafayette over there rather than Nordstrom.” Miss I. wanted to order everything, and found only one dish she didn't like, so she doles out three stars for Marché Moderne. Today the S. stands for "sacre bleu!" [LAT]
ELSEWHERE: Eagle Rock's Lemongrass finally opens, doesn't wow Mike & Maria; LA.com gets cheesy at Meltdown; Merill Schindler likes the Salt Creek Grille in El Segundo; Xiomara in Pasadena may be closed, but the one on Melrose still dishes out passable Cuban fare; Pasadena's Thaitalian surprisingly still standing; a bunch of bloggers went to the Library Bar last night, and all we got was this miserable flu (which kept Eater home).
