Show 246, November 4, 2017: Executive Chef Michael Rossi, The Ranch Restaurant

Michael Rossi of the Ranch Restaurant and SaloonThe much-honored Ranch Restaurant in Anaheim was the recipient this year of The Golden Foodie Award for the Best Entrée in Orange County. (That is their 9th Golden Foodie Award.) The item is Executive Chef Michael Rossi’s signature Cowboy Ribeye. That’s a 58oz. bone-in rib chop with Grafton Farms white cheddar scalloped potatoes and Sauce Bordelaise. Oh yea…

The Ranch Restaurant & Saloon (launched in January of 2012) is an upscale fine dining and country music establishment located on the ground floor of Extron Electronics corporate headquarters in Anaheim. Chef Rossi has led the kitchen brigade there since a year and one-half before the actual opening.

It also offers a luxurious private dining and events center on the sixth floor of the same building. A personal vision and dream of Extron President and Owner Andrew Edwards, THE RANCH comprises a rustic yet elegantly styled restaurant based on regional American cuisine and fine wines.

THE RANCH delivers a notable combination of a quality culinary experience with a seasonally driven menu emphasizing the best local ingredients. Many of the fresh fruits and vegetables used on the menu (and at the bar) are grown on The Ranch’s own farm in Orange.

The Thanksgiving Dinner Menu for $85 is a standout. It’s four-courses. The Main course is a choice of Mary’s Organic Free-Range Turkey, Loch Etive Steelhead Trout, Wyoming Raised Buffalo Prime Rib or Pheasant Pot Pie. Advance Reservations are a must.

We get Chef Michael out of the busy kitchen to chat in-studio about the extraordinary project that is The Ranch Restaurant.

 

Show 120, May 2, 2015: Mixologist Dan Minjares, The Ranch Restaurant, Anaheim Part One

Dan MinjaresDaniel Minjares, a senior restaurant manager at The Ranch Restaurant & Saloon in Anaheim, has recently assumed an additional role as mixologist for the restaurant.

Minjares, a Southern Califorenia native, and a 33 year restaurant veteran was the beverage manager at SkyCity Restaurant at the Seattle Space Needle in Seattle prior to joining The Ranch team three years ago. Currently, he is combining the unique offerings of the restaurant’s heirloom vegetable farm in creating farm-to-glass cocktails, complimenting the restaurants’ seasonally driven menu.

The Edwards Ranch Estates heirloom vegetable farm is located on Ranch Owner, Andrew Edwards’s private estate and is where a portion of the produce is grown that supplies the restaurant’s menu. The farm supports Executive Chef Michael Rossi’s vision of a seasonally driven menu and provides Rossi the creative freedom and flexibility to design menus and dishes around the seasons. Initially intended for restaurant menu development, the farm will now support a seasonally driven beverage menu.

Rossi and Minjares are currently working together on plans for the upcoming season. “Having the ability to blend the flavors from fruits, herbs, peppers and heirloom vegetables grown on our own farm, creating our own unique flavors for cocktails, it just doesn’t get any better,” said Minjares. Currently Minjares is also barrel aging and crafting his own bitters and aromatics for the new Spring cocktail menu.

Expect The Ranch’s incredible heirloom tomato garden to be the base for The Ranch’s house-prepared Bloody Mary Mix. You can’t get any fresher than that.

Show 36, July 20, 2013: Michael Rossi, Executive Chef of The Ranch Restaurant and Saloon

Michael Rossi of the Ranch Restaurant and SaloonThe story of The Ranch is one of the most incredible restaurant opening stories in recent OC restaurant history. This elegant, handsomely-appointed, fine-dining restaurant is oddly located on the ground floor of the Extron Electronics office building a bit off the beaten path on E. Ball Road in Anaheim. The building is the newly-constructed corporate headquarters for Andrew Edwards, who is the sole backer of multi-million dollar The Ranch Restaurant and Saloon.

Master Sommelier Michael Jordan (ex-Napa Rose at Disney’s Grand Californian) recruited Chef Michael to the project. Jordan, as Vice-President of Beverage, orchestrates the beverage program and front-of-the-house operations for Mr. Edwards. He’s one of the OC’s most gracious, and experienced, hosts. Chef Rossi oversees the entire culinary program.

Much of the seasonal produce used at The Ranch comes from Edward’s 2-acre farm in Orange County. You just can’t get fruit and vegetables any fresher.

Chef Michael stands by every item on his thoughtfully developed menu but if he had to choose one entrée for this evening it would be the Colorado Grass-Fed Lamp Chops.

The Ranch has already been nominated for two Golden Foodies this year. Chef Michael is up for the Golden Chef Award. His brother, David, is contending for the Golden Pastry Chef Award.