Russell Bendel, Kyle Simpson, Gabe Whorley and Jared Cook, the restauranteurs that form the RJB restaurant group, opened their sixth restaurant, Parlor Woodfire Kitchen and Cocktails last July in the space that was formerly Brick restaurant on El Camino Real across the street from their first restaurant, Vine. The four partners also own Sapphire, Ironwood, Olea and Bloom all located in south Orange County communities. 

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Gabe Whorley, Regional Beverage Director, Jared Cook, Executive chef and Joe Guillena, Operations Manager on a weekday afternoon to discuss Parlor’s concept and tour the revamped space; the main dining area and bar, the spacious, elevated, enclosed patio in back of the restaurant, a quick step into the kitchen to see close up the amazing wood stone six-foot hearth oven being prepped for pizzas, and a view of the French rotisserie rotating whole chickens around a rack. 

 

The renovated space also contains a beautiful, welcoming bar with 14 stools and a long brown and white granite countertop with a view into the visibly open kitchen; also seen from the dining room. The dining areas seat 120 customers and boast gorgeous tabletops made of reclaimed and refinished wood. Accenting the new décor are the white-washed interior brick walls, onyx and glass tiles from Texas, positioned along the support beams and strategically placed on the front of the oven. The remodeled space has a nostalgic feel with a modern twist. In fact, talk about a bit of sentiment, Dave Cassano who sold his restaurant, Cassano’s in 2024, donated a cool, quite large light up PIZZA sign from his place. It’s shown in a perfect spot in the patio area.  

Jared Cook (what a perfect name for a chef!) who has worked in the restaurant business for 20 years, trained Parlor’s Executive Chef, Jimmy McAndrew, a young man who learned the ropes in the kitchens of the sister restaurants, and has come up to speed very quickly with Parlor’s concept of a new American pizza place, with pasta dishes, specialty salads and several sumptuous starter items on the menu.  

 Gabe, a native San Clementean, who still lives just a few blocks from Vine and Parlor, has been employed in restaurants since high school. He developed nine tasty craft cocktails for Parlor. El Camino Real is a favorite, consisting of tequila, lime, thyme, melon liquor, American Blanco and cucumber. Another favorite is Splash Zone, light rum, tiki rum, banana liquor, lime, pineapple, ginger, and tiki bitters. There are also two Mocktails listed on the menu, Dry Dock and On the Wagon, plus a couple of non-alcoholic beers and a variety of wines by the glass or bottle. Gabe and the bartenders are also proficient at making patrons favorite standard drinks. Both Gabe and Jared depend on herbs and other produce from the garden behind Vine to create specialty drinks and add flavor to menu items. It is definitely a big plus to have the two venues across the street from each other. 

Meanwhile Joe who has had 40 years in the business is ‘hands on’ keeping the operation running smoothly. The four partners all take turns working in the six restaurants to assure consistency within their established group. 

In addition to the tasty cocktails, Parlor features beers from local beer purveyors, Left Coast Brewing, Docent Brewing, Artifex Brewing and Delahunt Brewing. Artifex has developed a special beer with a nod to the four partners, 4 Amigos Beer, and Parlor has collaborated with Artifex to have food delivered by Toast to their location. 

A couple hours after my chat with Gabe, Jared and Joe, I was invited to return with a friend to sample some of their menu items. We waved to Jared in the kitchen as Joe led us to our table in the patio area; a spacious free-flowing space ideal for bridal showers, rehearsal dinners and dinner meetings. Our server Brynn was personable and attentive. The partners have hired young locals to learn the business from the ground up. In fact, Joe’s daughter worked in the restaurant before heading off to college in the Midwest; including some nights washing dishes. 

My friend and I each ordered a craft cocktail, I ordered the Cheeky - mezcal, lemon, passion fruit liquor, luxardo maraschino, and ginger beer. My friend was delighted to see that the ‘fabulous Spanish liquor 43’ was included in a couple of the cocktails, so she ordered Less Thinking, More Drinking - vodka, elderflower, yuzu, lavender, grapefruit, liquor 43, and lemon. Both mixed drinks were presented beautifully and palate pleasing. 

We were served half portions of each of the starters so that we could try them all; creamy burrata and Heirloom tomatoes, garlic confit, basil sprouts, pistachio pesto with grilled sourdough ciabatta, Sugar Pumpkin Crispy Arancini, whipped goat cheese, crispy sage leaves, pepitas, Prime Beef and Pork Meatballs, marinara sauce, garden herb ricotta, aged parmesan, Sweet and Spicy Frenched One Bite Chicken Wings and Grilled Sourdough Ciabatta. All delicious! We skipped the salads although all four, Organic Arugula Salad, Caesar Salad, Prime Flat Iron Steak Salad and Pulled Rotisserie Chicken Salad sounded yummy.

 My dining companion ordered the Tagliatelle Bolognese, prime short rib and brisket, Berkshire pork, spicy tomato ragu, pecorino Romano while I ordered Fennel Sausage Rigatoni, maitake mushrooms, pink peppercorn butter, bottarga, aged parmesan; both entrees were incredible. We were instructed to save room for dessert, so our server packed up more than half our entrees to take home. We were stunned when the Ice Cream Sundae was placed on the table between us consisting of Neapolitan ice cream, bourbon vanilla bean whipped cream, hot fudge, salted peanuts, brownie pieces, caramel and sprinkles to add on as we pleased. A flashback to ice cream parlors of my youth. The chef figured out a way to pack it up in three separate ice cream containers with the side treats in little containers to go. 

Joe tried to talk us into taking a pie home. Their pizzas are made with a 30-year-old sourdough starter that Jared got from a French baker. He explained the idea that the partners had when developing their concept of a modern American pizza parlor, “my vision of the perfect pizza is a sourdough crust, big puff bubbles from cold fermentation crispy, chewy outside with a soft interior, topped with quality ingredients. It’s a simple formula—approachable yet elevated.” 

The menu has nine pizza offerings, Artisan Cheese, margherita, Pepperoni, Hot Hawaiian, Meat Lovers, Vegetable, Truffle Roasted Maitake Mushrooms, Fennel Sausage and BBQ Chicken. The cheese is ordered from Wisconsin-based Grande Cheese Company, the flour is King Arthur Sir Galahad artisan flour, and the tomatoes are 100% California grown - often from Vine’s garden. The pizza oven is fueled by white oak and almond logs, with a gas flame and an infrared burner to maintain even cooking of the pizzas. 

The ambiance at Parlor is family friendly with its varied menu, great price points - entrees are under $29 which is becoming a bargain these days when eating out at a restaurant with tasty high-quality ingredients and service.