nirvanaCulinary Nirvana Found at Nirvana Grille

Chef/owner Lindsay Smith-Rosales’s homegrown produce informs the menu at both Nirvana Grille locations.

By Roger Grody

Chef/owner Lindsay Smith-Rosales of Nirvana Grille picks her homegrown Turkish figs daily in the summer with her 3-year-old son, Diego. At her eclectic restaurants in Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach, the figs are stuffed with goat cheese and drizzled with balsamic reduction or paired with house-made goat cheese-maple ice cream and Grand Marnier for dessert. Smith-Rosales also grows rainbow chard, mint and blood oranges at her Laguna Hills home; the artichokes and Meyer lemons in Nirvana Grille’s logo grow at the restaurant. “With a garden, it becomes more about the food and ingredients, not simply what sells well,” notes the chef, who would cover the entire property at her restaurants and home if she had time to care for it all. 303 Broadway, Laguna Beach, 949.497.0027; 24031 Marguerite Pkwy., Mission Viejo, 949.380.0027 nirvanagrille.com

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