Girlfriend’s Lunch

Laguna Beach has always been one of my favorite spots to lunch with a girlfriend. There are plenty of great restaurants to choose from, beautiful points of interest throughout town, and of course great shops and boutiques to enjoy. I recently took one of my girlfriends to lunch at a Laguna favorite, Sundried Tomato. Tucked away amongst retails stores off Forest Avenue, Sundried Tomato was the perfect choice for a quiet and relaxing lunch.

Since both my girlfriend and I are busy mothers of young children, we wanted to take our time enjoying our lunch and making sure to enjoy every minute. We wanted to  give ourselves plenty of time to catch up and talk. We decided to start our lunch off with the Oven-Baked Artichoke.

Melted parmesan cheese, pine nut piccata and tarragon aioli

Not only does the Oven-Baked Artichoke look pretty, it tasted fantastic! We enjoyed the warm artichoke leaves paired with the melted cheese of each bite.

Sundried Tomato offers a ½ & ½ special that allows for the combination of a variety of salads, sandwiches and soups. My girlfriend and I decided to use the ½ & ½ special as our salad and soup option. She chose the Chicken and Apple Salad and I, the Signature Creamy Sundried Tomato Soup.

Chicken and Apple Salad with organic baby greens, gorgonzola, candied pecans, Dijon vinaigrette

The Signature Creamy Sundried Tomato Soup

We enjoyed splitting this ½ & ½ entrée, still giving us the opportunity to enjoy another plate without already being too full. While enjoying our salad and soup we kept gabbing and sipping our chardonnay as we waited for our main courses to arrive.

I went with the Creamy Sundried Tomato, Chicken and Vegetables over Bowtie Pasta (hold the chicken.) The cream sauce was lightly seasoned, had tender vegetables and was topped with gorgonzola to give it an additional creamy element.

Julienned sundried tomatoes, gorgonzola and vegetables (asparagus, squash, zuccini)

My girlfriend, a Sundried Tomato patron in past, chose her favorite menu item as her main dish, the Crispy Blackened Chicken Spring Rolls off the Starters menu. It had just the right amount of crunch and the dipping sauce added a little kick.

Crispy Blackened Chicken Spring Rolls paired with honey-cilantro pesto 

After a great meal we thought we didn’t have any room for dessert…but when our server told us that the seasonal cobbler was peach, we looked at each other, laughed and said, “Yes, bring one out!”

Seasonal Fruit Cobbler with peaches

Of course like all girlfriends, especially those that are busy Mothers, much more chit chatting ensued during and after dessert. By the time we looked at our watches, two and a half hours had passed! We had experienced great food and wine, friendly service and had nearly, but not quite, exhausted all conversation topics.

Sundried Tomato is located at:

361 Forest Avenue

(949) 494-3312 for reservations

Hours:

Sunday-Thursday 11:30am to 9:30pm

Friday and Saturday 11:30am to 10pm

Happy Hour Bar Specials 2-7pm Daily

Join Sundried Tomato every Monday night for Wine ‘n Me Deals. Enjoy two courses for $15 per person plus tax, every Monday after 4:30pm.

If you sign up to be an Official Laguna Beach Foodie you have access to exclusive offers to Sundried Tomato and other Laguna Beach restaurants.

By Anne-Marie S.