One year after opening Benny & Mary’s in Irvine, Cynthia Vigil and Chad Reinhardt have hit publish on their latest culinary narrative: Story Kitchen + Bar in Anaheim Hills, which opened Thursday, Oct. 17.
Led by executive chef Christy Gray (former sous chef at Puesto), Story offers lunch, dinner and weekend brunch menus. Lunch and dinner highlights include miso butter noodles with garlic- and mirin-sauteed mushrooms and white mis butter; short rib-loaded fries with jack cheese and pico de gallo; goat cheese and tomato crostini; oven-fired pizzas like chicken pesto, margherita (dotted with pistachio pesto) and beef bulgogi; smashburgers; short-rib grilled cheese; ribeye steak; steak and lobster with potato puree; yuzu lobster pasta; miso-glazed sea bass and more.
For dessert, diners can choose from a cherry ricotta cheesecake, carrot cake, chocolate cake, a classic sundae, a banana cookie butter pie or hazelnut chocolate crunch semifreddo.
ALSO SEE: Here, Try This: Lemon bucatini at Benny and Mary’s
Story Kitchen + Bar’s cocktail program features a bevy of creative libations. (Photo courtesy of Story Kitchen + Bar)
A creative cocktail menu features such boozy concoctions as Adult Green Juice (gin, mezcal, lime, lemon, pineapple, ginger, cucumber, dill and bitters), My Latest Passion (infused citrus vodka, cinnamon, grapefruit, lime, passionfruit and Alma Tepec chile pasilla liqueur) and De-bris (an earl grey-infused Rittenhouse rye with amaro, allspice dram, chocolate and smoked cinnamon).
Zero-proof mocktails are also available for teetotalers.
The weekend brunch menu features bloody Mary deviled eggs, ribeye chilaquiles, steak and eggs, biscuits and gravy with sausage and country potatoes, baked eggs, eggs benedict, skillet scrambles, pancakes, Fruity Pebbles-crusted French toast, chicken and waffles and strawberry matcha waffles, to name a few. Cocktails include an espresso martini, Bloody Marys, michelada and, of course, mimosas.
A kids menu is also available for the wee ones.
Story Kitchen + Bar’s main dining room features dark expansive interiors with booth seating and bird murals. (Photo courtesy of Story Kitchen + Bar)
Similar to Benny & Mary’s, Story’s decor eschews exhausting minimalist and wood interiors in favor of whimsy, color and dark allure. A massive bird mural flank a wall. Maximalist chandeliers dangle from the soaring black ceiling. Dining room chairs upholstered with dark floral prints. Dramatic arched windows allow in just enough natural light. And booth seating make yet another welcome return to the O.C. dining landscape.
Story is the latest installment of Vigil and Reinhardt’s growing restaurant collection, which includes Toast Kitchen & Bar, Benny & Mary’s (whose secret dining room, located behind a bookcase, appeared on this season’s “Real Housewives of Orange County”) and Julep Cast Iron Kitchen & Drink.
Hours: Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Happy Hour is offered Sunday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Find it: 8150 E Santa Ana Canyon Road, Anaheim
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