Description
Go not for the prix fixe at Silver Trumpet, but rather for the regular menu. Some of the dishes are as beautiful as the windowed view overlooking a shimmering manmade lake, as well-executed as any Laguna Beach bistro, and, at times, even creative. A chicken noodle soup started with a dry bowl of tooth-tender carrots, zucchini, pencil-thin asparagus, penne pasta tubes and bits of char-roasted chicken; its invigorating broth was not introduced until it arrived at the table, poured from a separate vessel. An appetizer of shellfish had three clams, three meaty mussels, and three curled balls of shrimp in tomato-based sauce chunky with chorizo and white beans, which made the dish more substantial than an equal portion of bouillabaisse or cioppino. The grilled hangar steak comes with a crunchy-skinned, twice-baked spud that looked like a miniature tree stump waiting to burst a creamy middle imbedded with good bacon and gilded with gobs of melted Cheddar cheese. But even better was its counterweight: an arugula salad dressed with just enough vinaigrette and shaves of Parmesan that cleansed the palate for the next mouthful of meat and potatoes.
