Orange County's hottest arrivals in shopping, nightlife, dining, entertainment, attractions, museums, theater, culture, sports and recreation. MAPS of Orange County

DINING
Go, North!
The new-and-noteworthy restaurant action of late is centered in the North County

Fire + Ice The spot at The Shops at Anaheim GardenWalk is seventh of a national chain that received Nation’s Restaurant News’ “Hot Concept!” award. Guests control their culinary experience, selecting ingredients and sauces and interacting with fun chefs at the enormous grill; it’s a good choice for families.

Haven Gastropub This cozy spot in Orange offers old-school ambience with candlelight, cobblestone and wrought-iron accents, and more than a dozen handcrafted beers on tap. Chef Greg Daniels was once head bartender at Mesa, known for its fantastic cocktails; try his bone-in short ribs with Firestone Union Jack IPA reduction and roasted garlic-carrot puree.

Spurs Chop House Steaks are back at Knott’s Berry Farm, inside Ghost Town opposite the GhostRider coaster. (There was a steakhouse on the spot in the 1990s.) The décor includes pictures of Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. A special diner’s pass available at the theme park entrance means you can dine there whether or not you’re a guest of the park.

DANCE
Temple Dancers
Russia’s legendary Bolshoi Ballet, under the direction of Yuri Burlaka, returns to the Orange County Performing Arts Center Feb. 24–28 with its stunning production of La Bayadère. The story of the temple dancer, or bayadère, her lover and their rivals is an ideal showcase for the superb ensemble; as dazzling as it is moving, it includes several of the greatest ballet showpieces, including The Golden Idol and Kingdom of the Shades.
The score is played with a live orchestra. It’s the Bolshoi at its grandest. Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, 714.556.2787 Map J13

HOLIDAYS
CHESTNUTS, NUTCRACKERS
Holiday highlights include Italian classical crossover tenor Andrea Bocelli, who sings favorite holiday tunes from his new album, My Christmas, at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The Festival Ballet Theatre presents The Nutcracker with stars of American Ballet Theatre (Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky alternate with Paloma Herrera and Gennadi Saveliev), Dec. 11–24 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The Joys of Christmas Toys is the theme for the 101st annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade.

EXHIBITS
Lingering Fever
Gold Fever! The Untold Stories of California’s Gold Rush, at Mission San Juan Capistrano, recounts the stories of individuals who emigrated from all parts of the world during California’s tumultuous and colorful Gold Rush era. Twenty-four photo-mural panels include representations of documents, photographs, daguerreotypes and paintings to examine facets including life in the rowdy gold camps, vigilante justice, the shaping of California’s future and the impact that James Marshall’s discovery continues to have on the state’s people, cultures, environment, politics and economy. 26801 Ortega Hwy., San Juan Capistrano, 949.234.1300 Map I17

EXHIBIT
New Guinea, Unmasked
Where Masks Still Dance: New Guinea is a stunning presentation focusing on the mysterious cultures that inhabit the island of New Guinea, home to more than 1,000 aboriginal tribes and 800 languages. The exhibit, opening Dec. 26 at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, features 35 black-and-white photographs by documentary photographer Chris Rainier, known for his revealing images of Earth’s last wilderness areas and the isolated indigenous peoples who inhabit them. The show explores masked ceremonies, crocodile cults, rites of passage, adornment, celebrations and rituals rarely documented in the West. 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana, 714.567.3600 Map G13

SHOPPING
New Jewels
Each necklace created by Judy Klimek, the visionary designer at Left Turn Jewelry in Laguna Beach, is bold and imaginative, an original hand-assembled piece of art using gorgeous gemstones. No two of the high-end, silver-set necklaces are alike—when a design is sold, it’s really gone. With that in mind, Klimek offers her latest left turn: Most necklaces now come with a matching pair of earrings. The new boutique was recently named a “Best of Citysearch” winner for Best Jewelry. 305 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach, 866.954.LEFT. Lugano Diamonds, in business for 40 years and in the area for three, moves into sleek new digs near Fashion Island in Newport Beach, offering its international staff of gemologists, lapidaries, designers and artisans, and exquisite collections and custom designs featuring diamonds, colored diamonds, gemstones and pearls. 620 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, 949.720.1258

EXHIBITS
Cine-Saurus!
It’s the biggest thing since creation! Cine-Saurus, at Fullerton Museum Center, presents the world’s largest collection of original dinosaur movie posters and recounts the history of dinosaurs in motion pictures. The exhibit addresses the science and art of the genre, explaining how the movies were made, from the early stop-motion animation techniques to computer-generated dinosaurs, and shows the influence of the movies on our culture’s perceptions about dinosaurs.

LIBATIONS
A Cocktail To Write Home About
Ringed with photos of Hollywood’s Frolic Room and New York’s Cotton Club, and filled with great live music, the bar at Mastro’s Steakhouse in Costa Mesa is best appreciated through the smoke and bubbles of dry ice rising from the lemon drop and cosmo martinis. They’re served with the shakers, and the generous pour yields at least two cocktails. But the visuals alone are guaranteed to raise your night a notch. 301 N. Pomona Ave., Fullerton, 714.738.6545 Map A3

THEATER
NO ORDINARY EVENINGS
Two productions put music and intimate scale center stage.

GEORGE GERSHWIN ALONE Acclaimed actor-pianist Hershey Felder renders his portrait of George Gershwin, American composer of such landmark works as Rhapsody in Blue and the opera Porgy and Bess; he offers new perspectives on Gershwin’s early background, personal life and artistic genius. The multi-award-winning one-man show, Jan. 12– Feb. 21 at the Laguna Playhouse, has enjoyed sold-out performances around the globe. Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, 949.497.2787 Map G15

ORDINARY DAYS Adam Gwon, winner of the Fred Ebb Award for excellence in musical theater songwriting, made a huge impression on U.S. and U.K. critics with this show; it gets its West Coast premiere Jan. 3–24 on South Coast Repertory’s intimate Julianne Argyros Stage. In it, a series of funny and fortuitous events proves to four young New Yorkers that ordinary days can be anything but. South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, 714.708.5555 Map J13

GALLERIES
A New Canvas
The Laguna Beach gallery scene seems to be bursting at the frame of late. Some might suggest it’s because we’ve turned an economic corner—but Laguna’s never been one to paint by the numbers.

Arin Contemporary Art An erstwhile oasis of art in the Nevada desert moves to much cooler digs on the Laguna coast. The former Las Vegas venue, Dust Gallery, is next door to Marion Meyer Contemporary Art, giving contemporary-art aficionados two great reasons to head for the stretch of Coast Highway becoming known as North Gallery Row. Represented artists include Nir Hod, an Israeli whose Luxury (black and chrome mirror, stickers on canvas, 2007) is at top right. Back to the Drawing Board: A New Look at Contemporary Drawing opens Jan. 7. 350-352 N. Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach, 949.715.4554

JoAnne Artman Gallery Another reason to head for North Gallery Row: JoAnne Artman—a resident of Laguna Beach for 25 years best known for Santa Ana’s SpaceOnSpurgeon—brings that edgy Santa Ana attitude to the intriguing stretch. The fortuitously named Artman offers an eclectic mix: photographs, pastels, watercolors, oils, acrylics and sculpture. One artist in the gallery is California native Yolanda Gonzalez, whose La Escritora is seen at right. You seem to hear her portrait subjects’ innermost thoughts; there is a softness beneath the bright colors. 326 N. Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach, 949.464.0107

Salt Fine Art The daughter of avid art collectors, Carla Tesak Arzente grew up in El Salvador without an inch of empty wall space around her. She was a creative director in New York City for more than a decade before deciding to apply her knowledge and love of art to a gallery. She likens the art trade to the salt trade—that it enhances and deserves to cross borders. She specializes in Latin American art. Spiral in Wine, right, by Panamanian Octavio Arosemena, suggests a visual stream of consciousness belying a meticulous order born of his background in science and classical music. 1492 S. Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach, 917.957.3387