Most fine hotels do an excellent job on brunch. However Accents Champagne Brunch at the AAA Four-Diamond Sutton Place Hotel in Newport Beach is tops.
Chef de Cuisine Laurent Mechin provides a tempting display of sushi, international seafood and salads, succulent roasts carved to order, hot entrees, breakfast favorites, imported and domestic cheeses for a lavish feast. With five attending chefs, the constantly replenished dishes are fresh and inviting.
What first stands out at Accents Restaurant is the space itself. Its a soaring four-story atrium with reflection pool and garden-like setting of potted palms and white umbrellas. In the background, the Gerard Babut Trio performs, while Anton the Magician entertains with magic tricks.
An eagle, carved by Lamberto Valdez from a 300-pound ice block, has a commanding view of the sushi selection. Nearby, are New Zealand green-lipped mussels, clams, peel n eat shrimp, crab claws, poached salmon and fish terrines. We can never pass over the cured and smoked fish with gravlax, smoked trout, mackerel and Norwegian salmon to be eaten with capers, chopped onions, hard-cooked eggs and tomatoes. Bagels are on the side.
A return trip is in order for steamship of beef or rotisserie chicken, turning on the spit. Served in silvery chafing dishes, there might be turkey scallopine with lemon caper sauce or baked halibut with orange papaya sauce. Potato gratin, porcini risotto, a vegetable medley, Oriental chicken salad, pasta salad, corn and kidney bean salad, chilled asparagus spears, California field greens with candied ginger dressing, and caprese with fresh sliced tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil round out the spread.
Mechin said, We prepare lots of duck. Duck pate and Oriental duck with honey ginger glaze on both brunch and dinner menus. From a chef offering such exciting dishes, it s surprising that so many people go for breakfast fare of Belgian waffles with pure maple syrup, bacon and turkey sausage, eggs Benedict and omelets made to order.
A separate room is devoted to desserts! People find the petit fours, chocolate-covered strawberries, Napoleons, creme brulee, creme caramel, strawberry shortcake, cheesecake, floating island and cookies irresistible.
Sunday Champagne Brunch at Accents is $30 per person, $37 with house Champagne, $45 per person with the months premium Champagne. Tax and gratuity are not included. The restaurant is open for Sunday brunch from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Breakfast and lunch as well as Sunday brunch are served at Accents restaurant. Dinner is offered in the former Antoine Dining Room, a more intimate space. Special wine dinners are held in the Wine Cellar, noted for its collection of more than 300 different wines and Champagnes from France and California. Please call for information or to make reservations. Situated near John Wayne Airport, this is a glamourous property from a hotel chain that s synonymous with style and service, the Sutton Place Grande Hotels Group.

Accents Restaurant
Sutton Place Hotel
4500 MacArthur Boulevard
Newport Beach
(949) 476-2001

If you havent been to il Cielo in Beverly Hills lately, you re in for some wonderful surprises. With a new chef in the kitchen, new menu, exciting new wine list and an elegant casual look, the restaurant is cooking on all burners. Says Manager Joe Michael, We ve taken it up a notch.
Their three-course brunch is the hot new ticket in Beverly Hills where few restaurants offer such a meal. By popular demand, Chef Vittorio Lucariello introduced brunch, serving 200 people on Father s Day. What could be nicer, than spending an afternoon in the dappled shade on the patio, eating inspired Italian food, at $29.50 per person, children 6 and under, at $18.
Lucariello, at 28, has awesome credentials, studying at culinary school in his native Naples for five years and working at top restaurants in Italy and France, before he was inducted by Mauro Vicente for Rex. At Primi last year, the restaurant was cited as one of L.A.s 40 best by Angelino magazine.
Now, Lucariello brings sunny southern Italian flavors to il Cielo s former Northern Italian menu, not heavy tomato-paste sauces nor garlic, but as subtle, fresh accents. A starter of Parmigiana di zucchini with tomato and green onion salad shows Lucariellos light hand with the freshest ingredients. (He visits the farmer s market in Santa Monica twice a week for organic fruit and vegetables.) Besides salads, grilled shrimp, speared with a rosemary sprig, are set on a bed of porcini and champignon mushrooms for another popular starter.
The richness of panettone makes it ideal for French toast, served with yogurt and a medley of fresh fruit. Three baby lamb chops, treated with blueberry merlot sauce, come with baby carrots and a sliced potato stack.
When it comes to dessert, Lucariello makes hazelnut panna cotta Napoleon in a sea of deep-flavored berry compote, capping it with candy-coated hazelnuts, like exclamation points. The ubiquitous tiramisu is rich and creamy with just the right note of espresso, echoed by cappuccino sauce. In another hazelnut-influenced dessert, warm chocolate cake is accented by gianduia (chocolate-hazelnut) sauce.
To drink, we liked Bouvet Brut, by Tattinger, at $6 a glass, but you might try the Tuscan 1996 Brachetto dAcqui, a sweet red sparkler, or a Bellini. The extensive wine list changes frequently as top varietals, especially premium Italian bottlings, some in limited supply, are added.
A tasting menu of six courses is a feast of flavors with both fish and meat at $58, fish or meat, $45. It might include imported fish such as loop de mer, since they receive a shipment of European fish on Thursday or Friday.
The restaurant is open for Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
il Cielo
9018 Burton Way
Beverly Hills
(310) 276-9999