Mother’s Day brunching day trips beyond L.A.

Threatening to sneak up on all of us again, Mother’s Day is just over three weeks away. You don’t want to be a last-minute brunch planner (take it from me), so make those restaurant reservations A.S.A.P. But why end the fun after dessert? Mother’s Day Sunday, on May 10 this year, is a perfect excuse for a family day trip.

Here are a few ideas, all starting with that must-do brunch:

Pasadena
Maison Akira is offering a three-course French lunch menu with a twist of Japanese. The main course will be a choice of sautéed Canadian scallops in a saffron sauce, grilled miso-marinated Chilean sea bass with lobster shrimp raviolis, or Angus chateau beef steak. Seatings are from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the cost is $55 per adult, $25 per child (4-10 years old; special children’s menu).

To walk it off: Stroll around Old Town Pasadena, browse and bargain hunt at the Rose Bowl Flea Market or smell the roses (among the 14,000 varieties of plants) at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Newport Beach
Can’t take Mom to Hawaii this year? Then get your aloha fare at Roy’s at Fashion Island. On Gayot’s list of best Mother’s Day brunch spots in the O.C., this restaurant boasts a menu of “Hawaiian fusion cuisine,” which typically includes such items as lobster potstickers and blackened ahi. You’ll have to wait until May 1 or so to book a reservation for this one, according to the staff person I spoke with, because the restaurant, until then, is busy preparing for Lei Day, on May 1.

Afterward, hit the beach, or ramble about Crystal Cove State Park.

Laguna Beach
Last year, I took my mom to Las Brisas. Because I didn’t make a reservation, we didn’t get a table with an ocean view, but we still enjoyed the Champers and food, which included Mexican pastries and seafood crepes (is your mouth watering yet?). The Mother’s Day menu will look a lot like the Sunday brunch menu. Seatings will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and it’ll cost $35 per adult, $17 per child. As of now, there are plenty of reservations available.

After you’ve had your fill, see the Laguna Art Museum next door (it opens at 11 a.m. on Sundays) and the many boutiques and galleries nearby.

Temecula
Ponte Winery in Temecula is offering its annual family-friendly Mother’s Day brunch, which will feature a buffet with breakfast goods, seafood and desserts; a separate children’s buffet; an open bar with wines, mimosas, bellinis and sangria; live entertainment and activities like face painting. The cost is $70 per adult, $30 per child 12 years and younger. Seatings are available 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Now that you’re in wine country, you may as well sample a little more vino. Here’s a list of Liam-Gowing’s favorite Temecula wineries.

- Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: PonteWinery.com]

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 7:24 am by Susan Derby and is filed under Business Travel, California, Family & Kids, Gourmet, Islands & Beaches, Los Angeles, Ojai, Orange County, Restaurants, San Diego. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.