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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Three Seventy Common - Laguna Beach

Have you gone for the Sunday Socials at Three Seventy Common yet? If you haven't, you should; but if you're still unsure about whether you can commit to the ever changing prix fixe before you've actually tried something here, just go on any other day of the week and order the dish you see above.

This is the asparagus, fried egg, prosciutto, asiago and breadcrumbs. Yes, it's described exactly like that on the menu. It has no fanciful title or name (they save those for the drinks). They do this on purpose. The rest of the food menu is also nothing but a list of ingredients. Since they really do seem to cook with what's seasonal, it makes sense not to commit to a permanent name for a dish. Doing that would set the expectation it'll be the same the next time when it's almost never isn't.

In fact, it's likely that the asparagus will be replaced by something else green. The important thing is the rest are there to assist whatever's fresh, verdant and stalky. The egg, asiago, prosciutto and breadcrumbs form the indelible quartet that is the engine and driving force behind the dish. The egg is fried till the edges get crispy and lacy. The prosciutto gets rendered to taste like a salty porcine potato chip. And the asiago and breadcrumbs glues the once disparate flavors and textures together. Think of these components as the bassist, lead guitar, and drums.

The asparagus, which is grilled to take on some char and bring out the sweetness, is perfectly cooked to crisp-tender--it still snaps and has smokiness seeped into each spear. Still order the dish even if you see it being subbed out by broccolini--it's a worthy successor as Arnel Pineda is to Steve Perry.

Three Seventy Common
370 Glenneyre Street
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949) 494-8686


THIS WEEK ON OC WEEKLY:
Little Sheep - Irvine

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