Perched atop a tiered, open-floored, breezy layout in Orange County’s Grande Dame Shopping Mall South Coast Plaza makes an ideal location for this really outstanding Japanese restaurant Hamamori, which specializes in top-quality sushi. The space is sparkling, fresh and gleaming as is the fish that they serve; accented with glass and modernistic chandeliers it is a pleasure to spend time here and accounts for the many repeat customers, some of which, dine here as frequently as a few times a week.

I first sampled Charlie Palmer’s cooking at the River Cafe in New York at some point during the mid-eighties and thought it was very good.

After Palmer served some time at Georges Blanc in France where he was impressed and inspired by the small artisan producers that brought their home-grown or produced goods to the kitchen door of the restaurant. It so happens, that I have spent a few nights dining at Georges Blanc and spent the night in the well-run hotel on the premise in Vonnas, and previous to that I dined at his mother’s famous restaurant in the same location called La Mere Blanc, one of the great gastronomical shrines, at the time, of France.

In 1988 Charlie Palmer opened Aureole in New York and a collection of other restaurants followed across America.
He firmly believes in using produce from small farms and is inspiring farmers, cheese producers and others in food production to keep quantities small and quality high.

This reiteration of Charlie Palmer has just recently opened at the South Coast Plaza and I trust that the tradition will live on in Orange County and I will keep tabs and report on the results.