About Andrea at Pelican Hill
There are Italian restaurants, and there are Italian restaurants with a view. Andrea, perched within The Resort at Pelican Hill above the Newport Coast cliffs, belongs to a category almost entirely its own: a room so visually commanding that the cuisine must rise to meet the setting — and remarkably, it does. The Pacific stretches to the horizon in three directions. On clear days, the Channel Islands materialise from the haze. This is the backdrop against which the kitchen rolls its pasta each morning by hand.
The name pays homage to Andrea Palladio, the sixteenth-century Venetian architect whose symmetry and proportion still define the visual grammar of the Western world. The resort's Palladian rotunda is the most Instagrammed structure in Orange County; Andrea's dining room, with its arched windows and terracotta tones, continues the architectural conversation indoors. It is a setting that makes everything feel more significant — the sommelier's recommendation, the first bite of pappardelle, the moment you've been planning for three weeks.
Executive Chef Keith Andreasen brings Northern Italian rigour to a California context. The kitchen's philosophy centres on daily-made pasta — more than a dozen varieties emerge from the pasta room each morning, simmered with sauces built from the season's peak ingredients. Primi courses arrive as the serious business of the meal; secondi follow with equal intention. The osso buco has the braised depth of a Milanese grandmother's best Sunday; the branzino is precisely as good as the Pacific proximity suggests it should be.
Service at Andrea operates at resort tempo — unhurried, attentive, alert to the occasion without needing to be told what it is. The wine list leans Italian, as it should, with particular strength in Piedmont and Tuscany. Pairings are offered at various commitment levels from by-the-glass selections to the full sommelier-guided journey. For the proposal, the birthday, the closing celebration — this is a room that understands its assignment.
Signature Dishes
The handmade pappardelle with wild boar ragu is the dish that returns guests to Andrea year after year — slow-cooked, richly layered, with a mineral note that cuts through the richness at precisely the right moment. The crudo changes with the season but invariably features the kind of fish that only a kitchen with excellent supplier relationships can access. The truffle risotto, when truffles are in peak season, is the extravagance worth budgeting for. Finish with the tiramisu: the original, executed with the precision that only comes from making it daily.
Best Occasion Fit: Proposal
Andrea is, without qualification, the finest proposal setting in Newport Beach. The clifftop position provides the kind of panoramic grandeur that makes the moment feel ordained. The resort can arrange private terrace settings, flowers, and champagne in advance — the hotel concierge team treats these arrangements as serious business, not an afterthought. Request the southwest-facing terrace table at sunset; the light on the water at that hour is the most persuasive argument nature makes for saying yes. For client dinners, the Pelican Hill address communicates an investment in the relationship that words cannot replicate. See also the full Newport Beach dining guide for more occasion-matched options.