Critic’s Notebook: A closer look at the Chef’s Table at Bello

Last week I published my annual dining guide to Orange County, the 75 Best Places to Eat. The restaurants were ranked again for the first time since 2019, and for the first time ever this year’s guide also included star ratings.

At No. 7 (with 3 stars), Bello in Newport Beach was the guide’s highest ranked Italian restaurant. I described it as being “two restaurants in one, working out of the same kitchen, sharing the same bar and staff.” The core idea behind Bello, run by chef/owner Sandro Nardone, is “Italian food the way it’s served in Italy,” meaning the kitchen doesn’t look to New Jersey for inspiration. But they do make one hell of a pizza and the branzino is the best fish of any Italian restaurant in OC. But that’s just half the story.

The Chef’s Table (technically the kitchen counter) at Bello in Newport Beach (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The restaurant’s secondary concept is the Chef’s Table at Bello, an intimate six-seat dining counter overlooking that same kitchen but with an exclusive 12-course tasting menu overseen by chef Zach Scherer with a heavy assist from chef Andrew Adams.

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With his constantly changing menus inspired by local farmers markets, Scherer challenges the red-sauce stereotype of Italian cuisine even more so than Nardone. If you look closely, you’ll see hints of Italy’s slow-food philosophy and vaguely familiar ideas or ingredients — porcini mushrooms paired with chestnuts, for example, or a sly reference to ravioli — but in the end this food is more difficult to categorize. It doesn’t immediately identify as Italian. It’s not exactly modernist, nor is it fusion, either, though you might encounter curiosities like hamachi poached in dashi or mussels served in oxidized wine that’s been whisked with milk powder.

Since I didn’t have space in the dining guide to elaborate, here’s a closer look at some of the highlights from my last dinner at the Chef’s Table.

First course: Oyster. This was an incredible way to begin, a single oyster removed from its shell and served in a teacup filled with celery water. It sounds absurd, but it was revelatory. I’ll never look at celery the same way again.

Oyster in celery juice at the Chef’s Table at Bello in Newport Beach (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Third course: Caviar, parsnip, wild rice. This was a brilliant little tart, its shell made from rice, the custard some sort of parsnip cream, with caviar playing the role of salt. Beautiful and delicious.

Caviar, parsnip and wild rice at the Chef’s Table at Bello in Newport Beach (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fourth course: Hamachi. This little piece of dashi-poached fish with a hint of grapefruit and walnut was one of the starkest, simplest dishes of the night. It was also one of the best.

Poached hamachi with grapefruit and walnut essence at the Chef’s Table at Bello in Newport Beach (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Sixth course: Mussels. I briefly teased these mussels recently. They were served in a sauce of oxidized wine whisked with milk powder. Best mussels in recent memory.

Steamed mussels in a sauce of oxidized wine and milk powder at The Chef’s Table at Bello (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Seventh course: Raviolo. This one dressed like an Italian but spoke with a French-Scandinavian accent. Hiding beneath that sheet of pasta is a spoonful of cauliflower that’s been roasted with bone marrow, the whole of which is topped with bottarga. One of my favorite dishes.

A freeform raviolo at the Chef’s Table at Bello in Newport Beach (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Eleventh course: Kumquat and strawberry semifreddo. This was probably the most Italian thing of the night, a classic semifreddo made with oversized kumquats from Scherer’s mother’s backyard. This might be the best semifreddo I’ve ever encountered anywhere in the world.

Kumquat semifreddo at the Chef’s Table at Bello in Newport Beach (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Scherer himself selects, pours and explains all the wines, a different bottle for every course, all absolutely terrific. Unfortunately — and this is my biggest quibble with the experience — fresh glasses aren’t provided for each new wine. Rather, the same two glasses are merely emptied and refilled again and again, even when transitioning from white to red. Some people might not consider that a big deal, but dining at the Chef’s Table is not cheap. The price starts at $245 per person. Call me a snob, but prices like that ought to warrant clean glassware for each successive drink. And I wasn’t even wearing lipstick like some of the other guests.

The Chef’s Table at Bello in Newport Beach (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Still, this was easily one of my favorite meals of the past year. Nobody else in Orange County is cooking like this. I look forward to watching this one blossom.