Tranquil Thurdays - Lunch at Marche Moderne and Young Frankenstein

Rather than getting up early Saturday morning for a Photo Walk (photos usually featured on our Tranquil Thursday posts), we drove up to Costa Mesa for lunch at Marche Moderne, and the matinee of Young Frankenstein, the Mel Brooks' Musical, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. What a great day.  Lunch was heavenly and the musical was hilarious!

Young Dr. Frankenstein ("that's Fronkensteen"), together with his oddly shaped and endearing helper Igor ("that's Eye-gor")...If you get a chance to see this during the tour, I really recommend it!

We did manage to take a few photographs of our lunch. Thank you to Rose at The Bite Me Kitchen, and Mark, one of her dedicated Facebook fans, for recommending this restaurant.

I was unable to resist the Spontane, a three-course menu that changes daily. The first course was a salad featuring Red Oak lettuce, Peewee potatoes, shaved cucumber, hearts of palm, and tarragon vinaigrette.

John had the Santa Monica McGrath Family Farm Beet Salad, with pistachios, orange, goat cheese, and petite basil.  We liked the way the chef used a schmear of goat cheese along the bottom of the plate.

For my second course, I chose the Brown Butter Roasted Scallops, served atop Asparagus Risotto, with micro arugula and truffle jus

John was easily convinced to try one of the house specialties, Boneless Braised Short Rib with a mijote of Beluga lentils, horseradish, and red onion sauteed escarole

We shared my dessert course, Lemon Cheesecake with Meringue and Lime Gelato

We often get inspiration from our restaurant dining experiences, so don't be surprised if you see one or more of these dishes in a future blog post.

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