Knife Pleat at South Coast Plaza: A Modern French Atelier Tailored to Perfection

Tucked into the penthouse level of South Coast Plaza, Knife Pleat feels less like a restaurant and more like a couture salon devoted to the art of dining. It is the shared vision of Michelin-starred chef Tony Esnault and restaurateur Yassmin Sarmadi, a duo whose names have become shorthand for refined hospitality in Southern California. Their stage is a luminous, 5,000-square-foot room of soft tones and sculptural light, with floor-to-ceiling glass, a seven-seat bar, and a striking exhibition kitchen where the brigade moves with balletic precision. Step onto the plein-air patio, and the buzz of the center fades into a pocket of calm, exactly the balance this team set out to achieve.

A name stitched from food and fashion

The name “Knife Pleat,” a term from high fashion, signals the couple’s playful nod to their setting. Conceived to complement South Coast Plaza’s contemporary style, the restaurant marries aesthetic discipline with culinary craft: crisp lines and delicate textures in the room, exacting technique and graceful flavors on the plate. If the kitchen is the heart, Yassmin is the soul—her warmth and tactful choreography of the dining room make the experience feel like an elegant dinner party hosted at home.

The chef’s signature language: seasonality and finesse

Esnault’s menus read like love letters to Southern California’s farms and markets. The Ecology Center, Santa Monica Farmers Market’s storied stalls, and mushroom foragers translated through classic French technique. One emblematic dish, Légumes de Saison, assembles more than a dozen vegetables, each prepared separately to reveal its character, then composed with the clarity of a still life. That same intelligence flows through the menu as the seasons turn; every quarter brings fresh expressions without losing the restaurant’s core identity.

A native of France who trained at the François Rabelais school in Lyon, Esnault honed his craft at Michelin-starred kitchens across Europe before becoming a protégé of Alain Ducasse—reuniting with the icon in New York at Alain Ducasse at the Essex House and Adour, and later moving to Los Angeles to helm Patina at Walt Disney Concert Hall, where the restaurant earned a rare four-star Los Angeles Times review.

Drinks with structure—and sparkle

The beverage program is as thoughtfully tailored as the cuisine. Wine Director Victor Moreno leads a team of sommeliers that curates both Classic and Grand Wine Pairings—the latter showcasing highly allocated, often hard-to-find bottlings. A Non-Alcoholic Pairing ensures everyone can engage in the dialogue of flavor. From the bar, the mixologist composes signatures like the Baccarat, Supreme, and Smooth Operator—cocktails with the same textural detail the kitchen obsesses over.

The room is as atelier

With roughly 80 seats split between an airy dining room and patio, Knife Pleat feels intimate yet expansive. Views into the open kitchen double as a living theater; diners at the bar can watch Esnault’s finishing touches up close. The design, created by Johnson Fain in collaboration with Sarmadi and Esnault, leans into high-fashion understatement: plush yet restrained, luminous yet soothing, a canvas where plates can truly shine.

How the experience unfolds

Service is a study in precision with warmth: each dish is presented and explained, every preference quietly noted. Tasting menus are the purest expression of the kitchen’s voice, and exceptional experiences dot the calendar. A perennial favorite is Afternoon Tea, hosted on Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The noted tea service begins with a choice of premium LaMill tea and includes an assortment of classically composed tea sandwiches and delicately made pastries. This refined service includes a clear note to disclose allergies at booking; please note that the team cannot accommodate gluten or dairy allergies for tea.

Looking ahead, Knife Pleat’s annual White Truffle Experience returns on Friday, November 21, and Saturday, November 22, with a $450 tasting menu and an optional $275 wine pairing. The evening is deliberately focused; dietary changes and corkage are politely declined to honor the fleeting magic of Alba’s finest. Seats go quickly for this hallmark dinner.

A Michelin-starred standard

Knife Pleat holds one Michelin star in the current California selection—an affirmation of the restaurant’s high-quality cooking and holistic polish. It is, simply, one of the state’s touchstone destinations for modern French cuisine.

Community, responsibility, and roots

Beyond the plate, Sarmadi and Esnault weave themselves into Orange County’s cultural fabric. Sarmadi serves on the boards of Second Harvest Food Bank and Pacific Symphony, advocates for AAPI community initiatives, and the couple welcomes Girl Scouts behind the scenes to demystify how a high-end kitchen runs. Their sustainability ethos is equally intentional;  from sourcing to waste reduction, a quiet throughline that respects the region that feeds the restaurant’s creativity.

If you go

Knife Pleat

• Address: 3333 Bristol St., Suite 3001 (Penthouse Level inside South Coast Plaza), Costa Mesa, CA 92626
• Phone: (714) 266-3388
• Instagram: @Knifepleat
• Newsletter: Subscribe to our mailing list for the most up-to-date events and menus.
• Website: knifepleat.com. Reservation details, current hours, and event announcements, such as Afternoon Tea and the White Truffle Experience, are available on the restaurant’s website.

For diners who crave contemporary French cuisine rendered with elegance, restraint, and a fashion-house eye for detail, Knife Pleat feels inevitable. It’s the rare room where everything – light, texture, tempo, and taste – falls into place, course after course, season after season.