THE GOSSIPING GOURMET: Hotel restaurants offer first-class cuisine

We’re going to go out on a limb here and say that the Loft at the Montage resort has the most inventive cuisine in town. There was a time not so long ago when this would have been a surprising thing to say about hotel food.

Lately, however, good restaurants have been showing up in hotels all over the world, most notably in the least expected of places: Las Vegas! Here in Laguna, we are fortunate enough to have a world- class resort with a world- class kitchen ... at world-class prices.

The chef, John Cuevas, is coming into his own, turning out adventurous, exciting cuisine that is somehow simple and yet complex. He was formerly the sous-chef at the Studio, the Montage’s highest-end restaurant (which we hope we can afford to review some time in the future).

The very best restaurants these days are employing a whole new team of professionals in addition to the pastry chef and sommelier.

At the Loft, there is a cheesemeister who finds, cares for and recommends cheeses as an appetizer or for dessert. Most interestingly, there is a forager. If you are not familiar with the term in this context, it probably originated with Alice Waters, who had on her staff a person whose specific job was to search out the finest ingredients from local farmers, fisherman, ranchers etc.

Entering the beautifully appointed Montage, one is struck by the spectacular ocean view. Inexplicably, one must go downstairs to get to the Loft.

You enter the restaurant through the bar/bistro area where they also serve a light menu. There are two attractive and warmly lit dining rooms and a large outdoor balcony, all dominated by the splendid view.

At the opposite end of the main room is a large wood- burning rotisserie fronted by a long counter featuring a mouth-watering display of artisanal cheeses presided over by the chef du fromage.

We were seated by a window in the smaller room, notable for the raised curtained booths along the back wall. The ambience, considering the prices and the caliber of the food, is somewhat more casual than formal. The same can be said of the service, which is impeccable. Nibbling on warm pretzel bread, we pondered our options. Whenever foie gras appears on a menu, we are powerless to resist but we needed some help with our second choice.

Should it be harissa scented spiny lobster with charred citrus and baby cilantro or perhaps rice noodles with pickled cabbage and Spanish chorizo or the diver scallops?

Our excellent waiter encouraged us to try the scallops. Good advice! Two large impeccably browned moist scallops, topped with a stalk of braised celery and foamed with almond milk were taken to another level by the chamomile-infused cherries.

The foie gras, served on toast, was accompanied by a decadent and delicious cream of onion soup with melted gruyere. Fortunately, there was only a tiny cup of it because it was impossible not to finish.

Now, about the foie gras: perfectly cooked foie gras has to be seared on the outside and just barely cooked on the inside. Unfortunately, this lovely piece was burnt on the outside and actually cold inside.

Nevertheless, it was still pretty good and we ate every bit. On the lighter side, there are three salads, including marinated Alaskan king crab with baby strawberries, tarragon and pepper cream.

On another evening, Terry took the equally knowledgeable and gracious waiter’s recommendation for entrées and chose the skate wing with shitake mushrooms. The thin flat fish was sautéed in butter until crispy, then capped with tender shitakes, simple and spectacular.

Other fish to choose from are pan-seared local white sea bass with roasted pepper, crispy artichokes and whipped mustard oil or the pepper-crusted hamachi, charred chicory, Meyer lemon and clam juice.

The wood-burning rotisserie produced a wonderfully smoky organic chicken. It was brushed with a slightly fruity mustard glaze and imaginatively paired with house-made, delicately flavored sauerkraut, studded with slices of garlicky chicken sausage, also made in-house.

What at first appears to be simple roast chicken is transformed by the compelling combination of bold accents. The only thing that kept this dish from absolute perfection was the slightly dry breast meat.

The dry-aged coffee-crusted New York strip steak is the specialty of the house. An excellent piece of meat, glazed with bourbon caramel sauce, is accompanied by a small wedge of fourme d’Ambert (a light blue cheese) creating a sort of deconstructed riff on steak with gorgonzola sauce; again, another blissful blending of tastes.

There are only two sides available, an incredibly rich, creamy orzo pasta with oodles of butter and cheese, so bad and yet so good; or, for the health-minded, sliced heirloom tomatoes with fleur de sel.

Alas, even a forager can’t dig up good tomatoes out of season. These were mealy and tasteless and our conscientious waiter insisted on bringing us another, much better-looking portion. Sadly, there was only a slight improvement.

Maren Henderson, the pastry chef, is attempting to create cutting-edge desserts. For example, each component in the smoked Meyer lemon meringue with olive oil cake and huckleberry ice cream, all lightly drizzled with olive oil. was tasty but the added olive oil was weird.

Each complicated dessert is further enhanced by your choice of an accompaniment: blood orange cream soda and basil syrup, burnt honey madeleines or chocolate covered ice cream bonbons. Kudos for originality but sometimes there’s just too much of a good thing.

The setting is gorgeous, the service is highly professional yet unpretentious, the cuisine excellent but be warned, the prices are the highest in town.