Orange County Register

A few nights ago, five Tatusians rolled up to the Wind & Sea restaurant in Dana Point Harbor for dinner. I hardly spoke a word on the way over because I couldn’t find a seatbelt strap and pictured myself flying through the windshield.

The cool night air and cooing water sounds were a relief. Inside, the place was calm with only three tables taken and yet we waited 10 minutes to be seated.

I had extremely low expectations and my order didn’t exceed them. Tuna sushi was bland and an accompanying dark sauce was sickly sweet. But I don’t count dinner a failure because two members of my family were intuitive (or lucky) enough to order salmon, which was cooked to the exact millisecond that yields a supple, pale pink flesh that tastes so remarkable, so simply of salmon and nothing else that you can’t wait until the next bite.

Is this how their fish is always served or was this dumb luck? I don’t know. There’s nothing here to indicate that the kitchen is run with fierce exactitude. The place is very family friendly and large-party friendly. Dishes are served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. And yet, they managed to serve two perfect pieces of salmon worthy of any three-star kitchen.

(Incidentally, the dinner menu online is but a quarter of what the place offers. Missing are full pages of fish and specials.)

Wind & Sea restaurant, 34699 Golden Lantern, Dana Point. (949) 496-6500.

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