Orange County's Taste of the Arts, a 6-night series by subscription, will offer dinner and show
Just in time for summer and its 2025-26 season, Segerstrom Center for the Arts will team up with the restaurants surrounding the arts campus to give audiences dinner and a show with a new, six-night subscription show sampler series dubbed Taste of the Arts.
The series will offer three- or four-course menus at different Costa Mesa restaurants two hours before the corresponding show at the Segerstrom.
The series beings on July 24 with Costa Contemporary Kitchen and the American Ballet Theatre's 'Giselle.' The ballet, often regarded as one of the greatest of all time, is paired with the Peruvian fusion restaurant for a four-course menu with multiple options for each course. Diners can choose from dishes such as fried yuca frita in aji amarillo queso fresco dipping sauce; ceviche mixto made with fresh fish, calamari and shrimp with sweet potato in leche de tigre sauce and traditional Peruvian stir fry. Lomo saltado, featuring filet mignon, cherry tomatoes, red onion and French fries, served with a side of jasmine rice, will be just one of the entrées offered.
On Sept. 26, the series pairs Terrace by Mix Mix with Lea Salonga's 'Stage, Screen & Everything In Between' tour. The one-night-only performance brings the Disney icon who voiced the singing voices of Princess Jasmine and Mulan to Costa Mesa. The Filipino actress and singer's appearance is appropriately coupled with chef Ross Pangilinan's South Coast Plaza restaurant that showcases modern Filipino flavors as well as French and Italian influences. Dinner will be served Kamayan-style, a Filipino communal feasting experience with dishes like shrimp lumpia, garlic rice, pork adobo, chicken barbecue skewers and lechon kawaii.
For the Nov. 1 performance by Jazz Club Discovery artist, Caity Gyorgy, the nearby Leatherby's Cafe Rouge will offer a three-course menu. Located inside the Renée & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and highlighting Southern California cuisine with French flair, the Cafe Rouge spread will include day boat scallops with kabocha squash risotto finished with snap peas and truffle jus, a choice of petite fillet with aligot potatoes in caramelized onion emulsion and cabernet sauce or roasted honey nut squash. Baked ricotta garnished with pomegranate and Marcona almonds and creme fraiche panna cotta will be served up for dessert.
Tony-nominated Broadway veteran Tony Yazbeck comes to the Center on Dec. 11 for an evening of classic show tunes, new standards and tap dancing, paired with South Coast Plaza's Populaire Modern Bistro. Chef Nicholas Weber's three-course menu will include updated classic French bistro dishes the hip restaurant is known for. For the first course, diners can select roasted kabocha squash with burette cheese, aged balsamic and pistachio or scallop crudo with koji, pomegranate and puffed farro for crunch. Entrée choices include the very French steak au poivre with potatoes and bone marrow or a vegetable-centric risotto parmigiana reggiano with broccoli sprouts and rainbow chard. Dessert will consist of chocolate cremeux devil's cake.
'The Notebook,' a musical based on the best-selling Nicholas Sparks novel and subsequent film will be paired with the romantic Spanish restaurant, Vaca on Feb. 5, 2026. Just close enough to Valentine's Day, 'Top Chef' alum chef Amar Santana presents a three-course menu of grilled prawns in shellfish curry to start, followed by grilled short rib with potato espuma, maitake mushrooms and truffle jus with Marcona almond tort for dessert.
The series ends on April 28, 2026 when the Australian Chamber Orchestra, under the artistic direction of Richard Tognetti, brings orchestral music to Segerstrom Center. The performance is fittingly partnered with Outpost Kitchen, an Aussie eatery from Jay Lewis. The three-course menu will offer dishes like white fish yellow curry, Alaskan salmon, plant-based sausage and sweet potato noodle and Outpost Kitchen's signature key lime pie.
The subscription series is on sale now, with tickets priced at $1,350. Visit scfta.org for show and menu details.
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