Canada-based Joey Restaurant Group opened its first Orange County location at Newport Beach’s Fashion Island with a preview night Wednesday, Jan. 18.
The event featured a sampling of menu items such as hummus, Ravioli Bianco — shrimp, crispy onions, grana padano, truffle beurre blanc and steak, a sushi bar selection, gyoza and house-made guacamole with roasted corn.
While some of the items can be found at other L.A. locations of Joey, a limited-edition Joey spirit, as well as a reserve list, is exclusive to the Newport Beach location. One of the restaurant’s featured cocktails is an Old Fashion made with a special Joey reserve Maker’s Mark Peach Brûlée bourbon crafted in collaboration with the Joey bar team.
The menu, which Brand Manager for the Joey Restaurant Group Hannah Dawson described as “globally inspired but locally sourced,” will rotate so diners who frequent the restaurant can expect something new.
“We have a test kitchen underneath our cooperate headquarters which allows us to constantly be trying out new dishes,” Dawson said.
Stowe and fellow Joey chefs take group trips internationally to explore different cultural cuisines. The restaurant’s hummus was inspired from a trip to Morocco years ago, Dawson said.
The 9,367-square foot space includes a 1,992-square foot outdoor patio with a retractable roof and fire pit. The lounge area allows guests to order drinks as well as food or appetizers while they wait for a table. The patio will also have outdoor dining and an outdoor bar.
Inside, the large dining space is split between tables for larger parties and reservations and a standing room bar for walk-in diners who may just want to grab a drink or have a cocktail before dinner.
Diners can peer directly into the large kitchen, a model that can be found at other Joey locations as well. Art from local artists lines on of the walls and a unique Bocci light installation hangs above the tables in front of the kitchen.
The space, which previously housed Hawaiian and Japanese fusion restaurant Roy’s, was completely re-done.
“We had to re-do everything, we can’t just put on a new coat of paint for the type of work we want to do here,” Executive Director of Culinary for the Joey Restaurant Group Matthew Stowe said.
The new opening is less nerve-wracking because Joey has already made itself known in Southern California, Stowe said.
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“It’s not like we’re breaking into a completely new market like Miami. People know the brand and it certainly makes it easier for us to attract people to work here,” Stowe said. The restaurant group will expand to Florida in the coming weeks.
Staff at the Newport Beach location have been in intensive training for the past two weeks to get them prepared for the opening, but some employees have been working to get the restaurant ready at the location since December.
The restaurant will be open starting Thursday, Jan. 19 from 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. Monday-Sunday. It is one of the few restaurants at Fashion Island that opens until midnight, making it potentially a late-night hot spot in an area that tends to wind down earlier.
VISIT: Joey Restaurant, 453 Newport Center Dr. Newport Beach, 949-826-5699, joeyrestaurants.com.