This Monday at KXFM 104.7’s “Best of Laguna Beach,” I welcomed Chef Nick Gstrein, Co-Partner of The Drake Laguna Beach and Co-Chef with his famed dad, Chef Paul. This show was a hoot - audio replay above ☝️, especially as Nick had plenty of amazing announcements and I introduced a new CONTEST I’m doing for live listeners … first run was bumpy on my side of the controls, but Chef Nick killed it!
First, a quick intro on our newest incoming restaurant, Yuzu Sushi, which is soon to be opening in the old Sushi Laguna location on Ocean Avenue. Here’s info on their background (they started with a Costa Mesa location) and their plans for opening day (happening SOON!!)
Then we drop into “Drake Day” with Chef Nick. Here’s what we covered:
✅ Popular plate switchups for spring, including Nick’s favorite, a play on a “light version” of Pork Schnitzel (see photo below) and how Nick uses a vast science to determine when it’s time to order for Peach Season.
✅ Yet another fully acclimated science on how Chef Paul and Nick determine the latest “food trends” that they try out for their own.
✅ When it comes to “tweezer” food, what does this former big-hand college football player do?
✅ My most recent experience with Chef Paul’s “Tasting Menu” craziness. Chef Nick recommends where to reserve your space for the best tasting menu, the best evenings to ask for the Tasting Menu, why rounding up friends makes it even better, and when the chefs DON’T do a Tasting Menu. (lol)
✅ Nick announces that he and his wife are expecting - a BOY! He announces the boy’s name and talks through the Gender Reveal Party and his biggest fear about that entire day. He also talks about how he first met his wife, a lead bartender in a popular watering hole in Austria.
✅ Nick talks about their new restaurant, The Drake at Sunset. He covers …
Their supreme location at the edge of WeHo and Beverly Hills
What he and his Dad (Chef Paul) decided to do about splitting their time between The Drake Laguna Beach and The Drake at Sunset (hint: they’re not going anywhere).
Choosing a great chef and what they want that chef to cook.
We talk about all the L.A. chefs that have been displaced after the gigantic L.A. fires and heir hopes for attracting a great chef.
Their planned opening timeframe.
THEN, I introduce my “20 on the Line” Listener’s CONTEST … I do 20 rapid-fire questions for Chef Nick and if he answers them all in 2 minutes, listeners then get a shot at a $100 gift card from The Drake. Among the many questions, he notes his favorite musician that matches his cooking vibe, the first toy he’s going to be buying for his son, his biggest guilty pleasure food, whom he’d love to cook for (dead or alive), the name of the bar he met his wife in, the most underrated cooking ingredient of all time, his favorite cocktail at The Drake and more…
And the winner is! Well, after THIS first surprise guest called in (you’ve got to hear this hilarious exchange), KXFM listener MICHAEL won with Nick’s answer of his biggest guilty pleasure food. Congrats, Michael!
✅ Nick announces the upcoming wine, cocktail and tequila pairing dinners the team is working through - announcements coming shortly on dates. Subscribe to their mailing list at their website for more details.
✅ Chef Nick finishes by describing his favorite new dish at The Drake, the full pork tenderloin as their “light” Schnitzel dish. It’s hearty, to say the least.
Wow - we covered a lot of ground! Thanks, again, for tuning into my “Best of Laguna Beach” radio show each Monday at 2 pm PT/5 pm ET at KXFM 104.7. Tune in, turn on! And click this KXFM icon for online live streaming anywhere in the world:
“See” you next week!
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