Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
Want a little taste of Hawaii for lunch, but still have dinner to fix for your family tonight? Visit the Plantation House Restaurant at the Maurice Car’rie Winery at 34225 Rancho California Road in Temecula! The restaurant was opened in December 2005 by Larry and Kathleen Leonard, who formerly lived in Hawaii for 15 years and know how to serve up great Hawaiian cuisine. In fact, the Inland Empire Magazine named Plantation House the Best Restaurant for 2007.
Kathleen says, “We have designed the restaurant to bring a touch of Hawaii to Temecula. Our goal is to make guests feel the ‘aloha’ spirit while dining with us.”
The Leonards were well known in Hawaii for their event planning and catering company called ‘Pele’s Catering Co. and Event Planning’ that they have also brought to Southern California. Their services include weddings, parties and corporate events with customized menus available.
The Plantation House Restaurant is a large Victorian-style building that is hard to miss if you are driving by. The wide porch and plantation style structure were built about twenty years ago, but look like they were built with the Leonard’s Plantation House Restaurant in mind.
The restaurant serves both lunch and dinner with ‘pupus’ (Hawaiian starters) offered for both. The starters such as ‘Kona Blue Crab Cakes’ and ‘Macadamia Nut Baked Brie’ will be sure to set the mood for the delicious entrees to come.
The ‘Lanai Menu’ (lunch menu) is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (4 pm on Sat. & Sun.), is full of pupus, soups, salads, and sandwiches. The dinner menu served from 5 pm to ‘close’ boasts pupus, seafood, pasta, meat and poultry entrees such as ‘Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna’ and ‘Hawaiian Style Seafood Linguini.’ Breakfast is served on Saturdays and Sundays only from 8:30 to 11:00 a.m.
Chef Mark Helprich prepares the menu items. “Our delicious salads sell the most,” says Alex, one of the servers. ‘Sold!’ I thought and ordered a ‘Pukaliani Nut Pear Salad.’ My friend ordered the ‘Grilled Salmon’ salad and we shared. Both salads were served on a bed of mixed greens, but the similarity stopped there. The ‘Pukalani Pear Salad’ was topped with thinly sliced fresh pears, toasted macadamia nuts and a mild and creamy goat cheese with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. The salad was so delicious that it made me regret sharing it! But, the ‘Grilled Salmon’ was good too and was served with cucumbers, tomatoes, feta cheese and pine nuts in balsamic vinaigrette. Both salads were great, but my vote goes to the ‘Pukalani Pear Salad!’
Try one of the Maurice Car’rie Winery’s award-winning wines with any Plantation House entrée. The ‘Muscat Canelli’ ($12.95 a bottle) is a sweet dessert wine that was a 2006 Silver Medal Award winner at the Los Angeles County Fair. The winery also stocks a fruity 2002 Cabernet Franc Rose; a fruity blush wine, the 2005 White Zinfandel and a 2003 Merlot which is a dry red wine, and several others. The winery was founded by Budd and Maurice C. Van Roekel in 1986. Buddy and Cheri Linn are the current owners who are introducing a new pineapple-flavored champagne. Just perfect for Chef Mark’s Hawaiian cuisine! The winery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
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