Two weeks ago I dined as a guest of Leatherby’s Café Rouge and I was pleasantly impressed. I have been meaning to get in to dine at Leatherby’s for quite some time now as there was an offering of so many different Pre-theater dinners that coincide with the shows going on at the theater next door, Segerstrom Center for the Arts! The dinners offered at Leatherby’s are titled as the same name as the show that is currently happening at the theater and the names of each course also match themes and quotes from the show! It is pretty awesome! Leatherby’s Cafe Rouge is part of the Patina Restaurant Group. They have a variety of amazing restaurants.
I have dined at Leatherby’s Café Rouge in the past with my husband for Valentine’s Day & we had a lovely dinner. This pre-theater dinner experience was a similar experience in that we had a pre-fixe menu with wine pairing as we did on Valentine’s Day, but it is also a time sensitive meal because the goal is for people to dine prior to the show.
Showtimes vary and pre-theater lunch and dinner hours can be found later in my article. Leatherby’s Café Rouge has a full dining room with people excited for dinner and the show daily and I was excited to be a part of the action! The 42nd street show ran from November 10-22 & the price was $45 for the 3-course menu only and $66 when including wine pairings. Stay tuned for more pre-fix theater dinners. The last one coming up will be from December 10-20 and it will be paired with the show, The Nutcracker! The Nutcracker is one of my classic favorites!
Back in May I personally selected the 42nd Street dinner because I thought the menu sounded amazing! I am a big fan of theater in that my mom actually used to work at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts back in the day when it was called the performing Arts Center and I am from New York, so theater shows are in my blood! I did not have the opportunity to see 42nd street that evening, however I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner that accompanied the show.
Our server brought out our basket of bread, along with fresh bread sticks and we mulled over the different options listed on the prix-fix 42nd Street pre-theater dining menu. There are two options, the market menu and the regular prix-fix menu. There are slight variations for each menu, but they both have a fabulous variety.
To wet our palette, our server brought out two glasses of white wine to our table, a Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay & a Cakebread Chardonnay. We have been to both of these wineries before and both of these glasses were quite lovely paired with our first dish or even enjoyed individually!
For our first course, we had the Philadelphia “cheese steak” prepared with oxtail, house made cheese “whiz”, caramelized onion and peppers, and Kennebec fries. We both loved this dish and I am very happy we each had our own because we would have fought over the last bite! I loved the homemade “cheese whiz” created by Executive Chef Ross Pangilinan as it added extra flavor to the already flavorful oxtail.
Prior to our second course, our wine pairing was brought to our table, which was a glass of Ballard Lane Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon and a glass of Hall Cabernet Sauvignon. Both of these wines were bold full-bodied and could easily be paired with red meat or chicken. This was perfect because for our second course, we tried one dish from the market menu and one from the standard prix fixe menu and these wines paired perfectly with both dishes!
For the second course we enjoyed “You’re going out there a youngster, but you’ve got to come back a star!” which was a chicken dish made with crisp chicken roulade, parsnip tortellini, forest mushroom, mushroom sabayon, and wild arugula. The blend of these flavors was delicious, but this dish was a little bit on the salty side for me. Paired with the Ballard Lane Cab, this wine did balance out the garlic and herbs and lessen the saltiness on our palate.
For the second course, we also had the Cab Natural Beef Tenderloin from the Market menu. This dish was prepared with bacon potato gratin, cherry tomatoes, balsamic glazed cipollini, green beans, mushroom, and peppercorn sauce. This steak blew me away! It was cooked perfectly and my hubby and I both agreed that this dish along with the Ballard Lane Cab from Paso Robles were our most favorite delectables of the evening! I asked for this steak medium rare and it was perfectly cooked!
Lastly, we served our third and final wine of the evening from the wine pairing prix fixe meal. The wine selected was St. Supery Moscato (Italian name for Muscat). This wine has a very sweet flavor and usually goes well with either a sweet dessert or it can even go by itself as dessert. This was a good selection to pair with our next dish. I have enjoyed visiting the St. Supery Winery in Napa Valley in the past and they have some fabulous wine!
For dessert we had the selection from the market pre-fixe menu prepared by Chef Ross Pangilinan. This dessert was called Candy Bar & it was jam packed with yummy chocolaty goodness making me reminisce of our most recent Halloween! This dessert was created with brownie, Oreo, peanut butter bar, milk sorbet, salted caramel ganache, & Nutella chantilly. We enjoyed this decadent creation intensely with our St. Supery wine and at the end of the meal we were left quite satisfied!
The hours for Leatherby’s Café Rouge on performance nights are as follows:
DINNER (Performance nights)
Tuesday – Saturday: Seatings from 5pm – 8:30pm
Sunday: Seatings from 4pm – 8:30pm
*On performance nights, Leatherby’s Café Rouge remains open 30 minutes after the last performance begins.
LUNCH
Leatherby’s will be open for lunch on days of weekend matinee performances
Saturday: 11:30am – 2pm
Sunday: 11am – 1pm
Leatherby’s Café Rouge can be found in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. They are located just east of South Coast Plaza and can be reached easily from either the 405 or 55 freeway. The warm and inviting atmosphere at this restaurant that creates exceptional modern American dishes with a focus on seasonal ingredients is a must visit! Chef Ross Pangilinan’s pre-theater prix fixe menus are awesome in that he prepares each menu based upon themes for each individual show.
Have you ever dined at Leatherby’s Café Rouge? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below! 🙂
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