For more than 50 years, the Dana Point Harbor, a slip space/nautical destination popular with locals and tourists alike, has been the coastal enclave’s hotspot. It’s where you take your family, your first date, or out-of-town guests to one of several seafood restaurants, watering holes, and gift shops.
But today, amid vacancies and an ongoing $400 million renovation set to reimagine the mile-long shoreline, the harbor’s allure has started to slightly rust during its period of adjustment. Enter downtown Dana Point, officially known as the Lantern Village. Located roughly one mile up the road from the harbor, it boasts a bevy of new dining options that lean heavily on chef-driven contemporary cuisine — and less on seafaring frippery.
Best of all, many residents won’t even to drive to get there.
Sandwiched between Pacific Coast Highway and Del Prado Avenue, this four-block island has sprung to life since the completion of the Prado West housing complex, which offers apartments (or, as the marketing copy calls them, “retreats”) from $3,900 and up. Anchoring the myriad food options along this stretch is Maison Cafe, which opened in April, after relocating from its former space on Pacific Coast Highway, and its smaller grab-and-go wine and cheese shop, Avec Moi.
The switch to a prime corner locale has made a world of difference for Maison Cafe. The new locale at Del Prado and Amber Lantern features breakfast-lunch and dinner menus. Diners can look forward to poached salmon belly rillettes, duck confit hash with root vegetables and a fried egg, a Dutch baby pancake topped with seasonal berries, and coq au vin. Chef-owner Danielle Kuhn adheres to organic and seasonal ethos with her cooking, so menu items are subject change depending on availability and seasonality.
Next door’s Avec Moi, a smaller eatery that doubles as a wine bar and provisions shop, offers to-go baguette sandwiches that change daily (my personal favorites so far have been the ham and…
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