Orange County Business Journal Staff

Posted date: 11/27/2006

 

When a highly regarded executive sous chef from a prestigious hotel leaves to open his own restaurant, one tends to think that the venture mainly will be a dinner house and probably a fancy one at that.

So when Dee Nguyen left his chef position at Ritz-Carlton hotel in Laguna Niguel, those of us who knew him as such a charming and passionate chef thought he’d be following that formula.

I soon found out that he was opening a breakfast and lunch restaurant in Laguna Hills. The restaurant, Break of Dawn, now is open and such a pleasant discovery for us. This is such a gem of a restaurant to soothe our palates.

There’s so much more to this story. Dee’s experience as executive sous chef at the Ritz-Carlton was remarkable, but fatherhood pushed him to take his career in another direction.

Dee was determined to be closer to home, especially after learning about his son’s disabilities from a medical mishap. He left the corporate world to start the family business, Break of Dawn. 

You often can spot Dee holding or playing with his son, Berlin, during short breaks. 

Dee’s love for food stemmed from cooking for his friends in college at University of California, Riverside, where he received a bachelor’s in psychobiology.

After graduation and working for a year, he decided to attend the California Culinary Academy of San Francisco in pursuit of his real dream—to do beautiful things with food.

After graduating from culinary school in 1999, Dee continued his career at the

	Nguyen, Break of Dawn dining room: artistic calligraphy part of decor

Ritz-Carlton. There, he had an opportunity to work with award-winning chefs, including Christian Rassinoux and Yvon Goetz, who helped speed his maturation toward professionalism.

Local papers and magazines have identified Break of Dawn as the new hot spot. The California Avocado Commission used Dee as their spokesman for TV including the “Bringing It Home with Laura McIntosh” show.

Break of Dawn is something creative, even amidst the shopping center location. An awning has the restaurant’s name painted on it in the most beautiful calligraphy. There’s more of that artistic calligraphy as part of the interior decor. The room itself is large and casual with lots of wood and windows. One side sports a long cocktail bar. Several modern, disc-shaped chandeliers hang from a barrel-vaulted ceiling. A few lovely flower arrangements perk up the space (Dee does his own flower arranging too).

Dee chose some sayings about food and life and had the calligrapher turn them into massive pieces of art. Different and gorgeous.

One of the most striking is of framed chef’s jackets. The first is from when he graduated from the culinary academy, and the other is his Ritz-Carlton jacket. We know they denote a love and sense of pride for this cooking life.

Dee’s vision is to integrate a hint of Vietnamese flavors with refined European sophistication. The resulting food is wonderful. Exciting flavors explode in your mouth.

Start the day with juice, a fantastic cup of coffee, or any of the specialty coffee drinks and tropical or Asian teas.

For breakfast, you can have something as simple as cereal but the word “superb” sticks to the steel cut Irish oatmeal brûlée that will be cooked with your choice of pecans, berries, fruit, chocolate chips and more, or just plain if you wish.

Omelettes, eggs Benedict and egg combo meals are on the menu. French toast made with cinnamon-raisin brioche, waffles and even buttermilk pancakes are all delights for the eye and the tummy when they come from Dee’s kitchen. Imagine having sweet potato hash with eggs and braised cabbage for breakfast with a twist or an oatmeal galette with poached egg and smoked salmon. These items are also available through lunch service for $3.50 to $10.

Through a doorway on one side of the restaurant is the bakery. It features several kinds of freshly made muffins: banana-walnut, coconut-pineapple, cappuccino and chocolate chip among my favorites. There are fantastic sticky buns, pastries enveloping wild blueberries, lemon cream cheese and even almond bear claws. Croissants, of course, entice us as do the very French style of cakes. The flaky apple strudel struts its perfectly European background. All pastries can be ordered for breakfast, with a latte or cappuccino. Pastries are $1 to $3.

For lunch, Dee continues to amaze us with beautifully presented food and dishes we never expect to see in his casual atmosphere.

If still in an egg mood, I go for the jalapeño grilled corn bake with its complements of barbecue pork, eggs, slaw and the essence of five spice seasoning floating through.

In another dish that brings eggs right into the lunch slot, short ribs, falling off the bone tender, comes with crepes filled with mushroom and onion ragout and a duet of eggs cooked in red wine.

There is a wonderful chicken stew that has bits of meat, carrot, onion and mushroom bathed in a lightly curried lemon grass and coconut milk broth. Mahi mahi fish is served atop a salad of Hawaiian hearts of palm, organic greens and tomato. Wild salmon also is available on the current menu.

I happen to love noodles and here I find them in the traditional Vietnamese style beef broth with thinly sliced tender beef, rice noodles and bean sprouts making an appearance in the bowl.

As a salad, the “must have” is comprised of shrimp, scampi style, mingling with crispy rice noodles, some chunks of tomato, toasted peanuts and a mix of specially selected greens. There are things like meatloaf with biscuits, butternut squash bisque and sandwiches offering their own intrigues.

Sandwiches are made Vietnamese style on baguettes with housemade dressing and vegetable complements. Fillings run through barbecue pork, meatball, sesame chicken, various cold cuts and a vegetarian selection. Sandwiches, salads and lunch entrees are priced $7.50 to $12.

It is hard to envision that a casual setting can find such a loving partner in food that is as carefully prepared as any from a fine hotel or elegantly laden restaurant. But, that’s part of Dee’s personal magic. He brings his passion at these affordable prices to us on the plates.

Consider Break of Dawn a superb addition to our dining. It sits behind Trader Joe’s at 24351 Avenida de la Carlota, Laguna Hills (in the extended part of Laguna Hills Mall). Phone: (949) 587-9418.