Spring is in bloom at Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar, or to be more specific, on its plates and in its glasses.
Chef Gabriel Caliendo is using flowers to access some of the dishes and specialty drinks on his spring menu, which will be rolled out Tuesday, March 26.
Caliendo is vice president for food and beverage for the Orange County-based casual restaurant chain. It has 26 locations in Western states. Thirteen are in Southern California, and the footprint is growing.
He makes two major menu changes a year, in spring and fall, with 12 to 15 new items each time. He also does a refresh in summer with three-month promotions and a string of limited-time drinks and food items following the seasons.
A lot of those dishes are “rooted in Americana, which is very much what Lazy Dog is all about,” Caliendo said in the Brea restaurant, where he has a test kitchen.
Although founded in Huntington Beach, Lazy Dog has a Rocky Mountain theme with rustic decor and creative takes on comfort foods made with sourced, seasonal ingredients.
Caliendo likes to riff on “grandma’s favorites.”
This spring’s seasonal menu includes his take on pork ‘n beans, made with pork belly “slow-braised in bone broth” and topped with pickled mustard seeds and green onion crumble.
There is also a pork belly BLT and an heirloom bean salad, which is one of the dishes accented with edible flowers supplied by a San Marcos grower called Fresh Origins.
It’s one of six companies Caliendo is partnering with on the menu because they are “passionate about what they’re doing.”
“We’re going to call out their names on the menu. We’ve done that since we opened here and there, but the whole menu, that’s something new,” Caliendo said. “We want to showcase these Americana products.”
Another partner is Zürsun Idaho Heirloom Beans, which has dozens of legumes in its catalog grown on “small-scale farms in the Snake River Canyon region” of the state.
“They’ve got like 50 beans. When you look at them, it’s like Jelly Bellys, all different colors, all different textures,” Caliendo said. “We chose four of their beans because we had to draw the line somewhere … They’re gorgeous.”
Lazy Dog partners with Local Hive Honey on its spring dessert, vanilla bean custard, and other dishes that include honey. The Colorado company works with beekeepers throughout the United States and can supply restaurants with honey from hives in their own regions.
Caliendo’s test kitchen is stocked with bottles of honey on shelves in a corner, and the contents of a bottle labeled Southern California has a different color than the honey from Northern California.
A walk-in refrigerator holds bee pollen, a topping for the custard.
“A lot of people don’t know what bee pollen is,” he said. “It’s kind of fun to put on there to surprise and delight.
“It’s a little pellet that’s on the back of a bee and it’s a concentration of pollen. … it just smells like flowers, and when you taste it it has a slight sweetness to it. It’s not crunchy but it has a texture to it.”
Caliendo calls the test kitchen his playground.
“Basically I never have to leave. I’ve got a TV. I’ve got Queen playing.”
But a lot of work gets done there.
“It’s a space to do all the R&D, which is difficult to do in an operating restaurant like this. … Then there’s the training. Once we actually solidify a menu, all of the regional chefs and regional directors will come here and I’ll teach them one on 15, or whatever it is now, how to execute the menu.”
Caliendo is also working on more menu changes. An enthusiastic craft brewer, he is developing a pastry stout.
“Mine is a maple bar stout. I dumped maple bars that I bought at the local doughnut shop into the beer when I was boiling it. And then after it fermented, I added a really nice maple syrup to it.”
“In the fall I’m looking at maple syrup instead of honey as a partner,” he added. “I’m always thinking ahead to what matches the season.”
Lazy Dog spring highlights
Goat Cheese and Pepper Jelly: Appetizer with scratch-made jelly.
Green Goddess Salad: Served with house-made dressing and topped with a squash blossom stuffed with goat cheese.
Heirloom Bean Salad: Includes sweet peas, feta cheese and fresh herbs tossed in a lemon vinaigrette.
Pork Belly BLT: With candied bacon, served with mayo on whole grain wheat bread.
Pork Belly ‘n Beans: Slow-braised in bone broth and topped with pickled mustard seeds and green onion crumble.
Black Bean Jackfruit Tostada: With black beans, cabbage, avocado, queso blanco, pickled jalapenos and salsa on lightly breaded, flash-fried jackfruit instead of a tortilla.
Vanilla Bean Custard: Topped with local hive honey, candied almonds, fresh berries and bee pollen.
Spiked Sweet Peach Tea: With Stillhouse Original Whiskey.
Gin & Elderflower Tonic: With Aviation Gin.
Carrot & Cucumber Tonic: With Rain Cucumber Vodka, fresh carrot juice, and turmeric. In line with a trend toward what chef Gabriel Caliendo calls beneficial beverages, “a drink that is going to give you something back.”
Smoked Orange Negroni: Made with small-production, barrel-aged Aviation Gin. “We actually blow-torch the wood we put the glass on,” said Caliendo. He said this drink will only be available in early spring and will be off the menu but advertised on table talkers.
Southern California locations: Brea, Cerritos, Downey, Irvine, Orange, Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Valencia, West Covina, Westminster
Information: 714-596-9960, www.lazydogrestaurants.com