Content area
Full Text
... Then Comes Party Celebrating Chef Yvon Goetz's Nine Years at Ritz-Carlton's Dining Room
EXECUTIVE DINING
Karyn Philippsen figures prominently in this week's column.
First, she's given me one of the great restaurant pleasures this year, the sweet and soulful Village Mediterranean Rim in San Clemente.
And then she's managed to get an impressive array of people to party at a moment's notice.
To explain all this, let me introduce Karyn. She was part of the opening sales and marketing team of the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, shared her talents with the Surf & Sand hotel for many years, was in the thick of national sales for Montage Resort & Spa in its first year and now is finding great success with her own hospitality consulting business.
One other thing: Karyn has a general contractor's license, which partly explains why her home is one of the most enchanting beach cottages imaginable. Oh that we could all live in a place with such peaceful friendliness and beauty.
This girl wears so many hats so well. I've forgotten to mention that Karyn is president of the Laguna Beach Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Karyn has tuned me into a little hideaway of a place in San Clemente that's captured a corner of my family's heart.
After tasting a good sampling of the food, experiencing the intimate atmosphere, getting to know the chef/owner a little, Village Mediterranean has made its way onto my list of favorite little places. It is, in a nutshell, loaded with charm.
Ave del Mar is the street in San Clemente that wends its way to the pier. Starting from El Camino Real, it's a mélange of side-by-side shops, unique boutiques, small hotels, a few restaurants and savory beach town apartments. Much like strolling through Carmel.
Amid it all is the adorable Village Mediterranean. The site once was a little all-purpose cafe when chef Nour Tilla bought it five years ago. He didn't rock the boat too quickly and continued to cook three meals a day for a while.
It gave Nour time to decide on what he really wanted to cook for the community. Since there's not a lot of creativity on the breakfast table, that meal was the first to go. He...