The Ranch Restaurant: fine dining in the heart of Anaheim
A talented chef, fresh produce and great entertainment make for a winning combination
The Ranch Restaurant & Saloon in Anaheim, California, may have a country-and-western theme, but you sure won’t find any peanut shells on the floor. With its dark woods, Texan touches and seasonally driven American regional cuisine, the “little bit country” culinary establishment is the creation of rock-star businessman Andrew Edwards and is a must-stop for those riding through.
Located on the ground floor of Extron Electronics International Headquarters in Anaheim, the upscale restaurant is the personal project of Edwards, who owns Extron and the building.
“My company (Extron) has been in business for over 28 years,” said Edwards. “We manufacture over 1,600 powered products for the audiovisual industry.”
But over the last few years, Edwards said, he has worked to dedicate the ground floor of the building to his true passions: fine food, fine wine, country music and dancing the two-step.
Outstanding food
“The cuisine is good due to our talented executive chef, Michael Rossi, and the fresh produce from our own farm on Edwards Ranch Estates,” said Edwards. “Rossi has worked alongside some of the best chefs. His food can be described as layers of flavour. His approach to American regional cuisine is simple yet sophisticated, not overly manipulated.”
Edwards said that at The Ranch Restaurant, they like to celebrate the seasons.
“In the summer on our farm on Edwards Ranch Estates, we grow over 400 heirloom tomatoes and serve them in the restaurant," he said. "(They are) picked on our farm and then served right at your table that night for dinner.”
Edwards said the restaurant’s Colorado Grass-Fed Lamb Chops—served with fairy-tale pumpkin, Merguez sausage, Taggiasca olives, chickpeas and harissa—is a guest favourite.
“The lamb is so tender and layered with flavours,” he said.
Edwards' personal favourite is the certified sustainable Chilean sea bass served with Maine lobster risotto, sweet fennel and Meyer lemon and vanilla nage, which “really melts in your mouth,” he said.
Celebrity wine steward
The restaurant’s mouth-watering dishes are paired with any of the over 500 high-quality bottles of wine that have been carefully selected by master sommelier Michael Jordan, who previously served as the global manager of wine sales and wine education for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and general manager of Napa Rose restaurant at Disneyland in Anaheim. Jordan received a diploma from the Court of Master Sommeliers as well as a Certified Wine Educator diploma from the Society of Wine Educators, and according to Edwards “is one of only 15 people in the world to hold both diplomas.”
“There is no other concept out there like it, combining world-class cuisine and wine list with a country music venue,” Edwards said about The Ranch Restaurant & Saloon.
Reviewers agree
Comments from an article published on June 4, 2012, in the Orange County Business Journal by respected restaurant critic Fifi Chao confirm that dining at The Ranch Restaurant is a unique experience.
In her article, Chao also wrote that the restaurant “has taken on a great deal of importance in Orange County.”
“The chic trend is to have everything as fresh as possible in the farm-to-table or farm-to-fork tableau that customers think is so important today,” she told RVwest. “This changes our dining landscape in that The Ranch has acres of agri-space . . . and they bring this produce from their nearby gardens (Edwards Ranch Estates) directly to the restaurant’s kitchen. Even local farmers supplying certain items to restaurants can’t compete with this kind of dedication to pristine and immediate freshness and quality."
The Ranch is open nightly for dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. and features dancing Wednesday to Sunday in the attached saloon.
