Orange County's hottest arrivals in shopping, nightlife, dining, entertainment, attractions, museums, theater, culture, sports and recreation. MAPS of Orange County

DINING
La Vita è Bella!
IL BARONE RISTORANTE Franco Barone, longtime chef at Antonello, and wife Donatella, longtime manager at Nello Cucina, offer distinctive fare (e.g., filled paper-thin focaccia sheets, tripe) in Newport Beach. IL DOLCE On a busy intersection opposite Triangle Square in Costa Mesa, Roberto Bigne and his pastry chef wife, Fernanda, offer artisanal Naples-style pizzas and superb pastas—plus Argentine empanadas. FRANCOLI GOURMET Former Fashion Island spot reopens on the Orange Circle, offering its lasagna alla Piemontese and steak alla Piemontese, as well as specialty food products, ceramics and glassware. RUSTICA Chef Grant MacPherson offers Italian-inspired dishes such as peppered beef carpaccio and asparagus risotto in Francoli Gourmet’s vacated space, adjacent to Fashion Island’s new Nordstrom and Italian fountain.

SHOPPING
IN FLUXUS
Fashion Island’s long-anticipated Nordstrom, filled with spectacular merchandise and merchandising, has opened as part of a dramatic makeover of the elegant center. Even the shoppers are dressed to the teeth! Open next to luxe new Nordstrom are Fluxus and Michael Nusskern. Fluxus, a study in black and white, has two boutiques in Los Angeles with a celeb following. The casual line includes T-shirts, soft knit pieces and avant-garde pieces for men, women and kids. The inspiration for the latest collection was “backstage at a ballet rehearsal and front row of a rock concert.” Michael Nusskern carries women’s clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry and shoes; Orange County exclusives include Barbara Bui,
Vivienne Westwood and Isabel Marant.

EVENTS
All’s Fair
“The Beat Goes On” at the 120th anniversary edition of the O.C. Fair, a cornucopia of carnival rides, concerts and competitions July 16–Aug. 15 in Costa Mesa. Daily concerts at the Pacific Amphitheater include such acts as ZZ Top and the B-52s. There are livestock, pie-baking and beer-making competitions, and wine-tasting. Al’s Brain—A 3-D Journey Through the Human Brain with ’Weird Al‘ Yankovic, and Motorhome Madness Demolition Derby, are back. Think of the fair as deep-fried summer on a stick; vendors offer a staggering array of food choices, including chocolate-covered bacon.

MUSICALS
The Heights of Broadway
In the Heights, winner of four 2008 Tony Awards, including best musical, is about chasing one’s dreams and finding one’s true home. With an amazing cast and Tony-winning choreography and score, it’s a journey into a vibrant Manhattan community where the coffee is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries with it the rhythm of three generations of music. It’s the next chapter of the classic American story—what it takes to make a living, what it costs to have a dream and what it means to be home in the Heights. It’s at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa Aug. 3–15.

BASEBALL
ALL-STAR WEEK
The All-Star FanFest, July 9-13 at Anaheim Convention Center, launches an All-Star Week that culminates with the 81st MLB All-Star Game, July 13 at Angel Stadium. FanFest is the world’s largest interactive baseball fan event. More than 40 attractions include life-size video batting and pitching cages, clinics by Major League legends, autograph sessions with former Angels, MLB players and Hall of Famers, memorabilia, and Negro League and Hall of Fame exhibits. Separate from FanFest, All-Star Sunday showcases top minor league prospects at the XM All-Star Futures Game, and Hollywood and baseball celebrities with the All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game, both at Angel Stadium. Also slated are 5K runs and a Home Run Derby.

EVENTS
World’s Largest Surf Contest
The Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing at the Huntington Beach Pier draws hundreds of the world’s best surfers and about half a million spectators. Last year—with waves so big and messy that surfers had to be towed out by a jet ski—competitors included Kelly Slater and Mick Fanning. This year’s events take place July 31–Aug. 8. “There’s no better ‘surf stadium’ than Huntington Beach,” says Bob Hurley, Hurley founder and chairman. The U.S. Open, the world’s largest professional surfing competition, has a rich history dating back more than 50 years and is a pivotal point on the ASP World Tour. A 12-acre festival adjacent to the pier features concerts, fashion and youth culture.

MUSEUMS
Photo Fame
Featuring 150 works primarily from the Orange County Museum of Art’s own collection, 15 Minutes of Fame: Portraits From Ansel Adams to Andy Warhol takes its title from Warhol’s prediction that everyone can have 15 minutes of fame. The show includes early modern portraits, photographs of artists and celebrities from the 1930s to the 1960s, photojournalistic images from the 1960s, and contemporary portraiture such as the landmark photographic portfolios Women Are Beautiful (c. 1960–70) by Garry Winogrand and Tulsa (1980) by Larry Clark. As part of the participatory installation Photo Op, visitors can take and post photographs of themselves in the gallery.

CLASSICAL
Cirque de la Symphonie
Among highlights of the Pacific Symphony’s summer season at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, assistant conductor Maxim Eshkenazy leads a “Cirque de la Symphonie” program in which aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers and strongmen join the orchestra onstage July 17. The season begins July 4 with a salute to John Denver with vocalist Jim Curry, Pops conductor Richard Kaufman and fireworks. Music director Carl St.Clair leads the Tchaikovsky Spectacular on Aug. 7; cannons, fireworks and the 1812 Overture end the show, which also includes music by Rachmaninoff and Glinka.