The recent meeting of the Southern California Restaurant Writers at  Misto Caffe in Torrance also served to honor Chef Owner Luis Alvarez on the 25th anniversary of the restaurant.
Our dinner that evening showed the type of cuisine that has made Misto so popular for a quarter of a century.
We opened with a fried Manchego cheese with an apricot chadonnay sauce.  Next to arrive was a tomato bisque. We had a choice of entree, either the Steak Dianne of grill heavenly seabass.  I chose the Steak Diane which were medallions of filet mignon, with a red wine mushroom sauce layered on mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.
The seabass was grilled with herbs and olive oil,  lemon Beurre Blanc with mashed potatoes and steamed spinach.
Our dessert came from the Misto's in house bakery and was a flourless chocolate cake.
Misto is open seven days a week and is located at 24558 Hawthorne Blvd., in Torrance with ample off street free parking.  For more information call 310 375-3608, on the web at www.mistocaffe.com.