{"id":467363,"date":"2026-09-18T01:02:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T01:02:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467363\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T01:02:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T01:02:35","slug":"ocs-most-captivating-new-restaurant-is-hidden-in-a-business-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467363\/","title":{"rendered":"OC\u2019s most captivating new restaurant is hidden in a business park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just off the 405 freeway at the border of Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, a block down from IKEA and a couple of business parks over, you’ll find Darkroom.<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s the kind of address where you’d expect to find a dentist’s office or a logistics company \u2014 instead, it’s home to some of the most inventive food in Orange County, and arguably beyond, anchored by a formidable wine program featuring small producers.<\/p>\n

The location is a deliberate choice by Zach Scherer, Darkroom\u2019s chef-owner, that has turned the restaurant into a growing word-of-mouth destination. For Scherer, hiding in plain sight was never a compromise. It was the plan.<\/p>\n

Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n

If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n

Inside Darkroom<\/p>\n

The interior of the restaurant is a completely different story. Its decor matches that of an angsty teenager who shops at Hot Topic, with an affinity for industrial and goth music, and a bit of new wave mixed in.<\/p>\n

\"Dimly<\/p>\n

Darkroom’s interior leans into its irreverent, gallery-meets-Hot Topic aesthetic.<\/p>\n

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Wales Communications<\/p>\n

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Courtesy Darkroom <\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

Your eyes might take a minute to adjust to the low light before a friendly server wearing a tattered band T-shirt greets you and escorts you to your table.<\/p>\n

Scherer wears his nonconformist attitude with pride \u2014 and intention. “If you’re a little too serious, Orange County won’t love it,” he said, and it shows: the room is built to feel like the opposite of a hushed tasting menu.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Chef Zach Scherer (right) and Drew Adams work the pass together \u2014 the same partnership they describe as “like a band.”<\/p>\n

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Wales Communications<\/p>\n

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Courtesy DARKROOM<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

Scherer runs the kitchen with longtime partner Drew Adams \u2014 a lifelong Orange County resident \u2014 who also oversees the pastry program. The two think of Darkroom’s identity “like a band,” Scherer said: a shared core sound, no matter who’s guesting on a given dish. (Their tasting-menu concept, Chrysalis, runs out of the same kitchen some nights \u2014 a five-course tasting menu happening in parallel.)<\/p>\n

The menu<\/p>\n

Start off with the Scotch olives, fried Castelvetrano olives with anchovy and lamb merguez, served over spiced sumac yogurt. Meanwhile, a couple of slices of their zucchini bread with koji butter, topped with silky jam\u00f3n serrano, provide some comforting bites.<\/p>\n

\"Charred<\/p>\n

Grilled and marinated Jimmy Nardello peppers \u2014 a short-season ingredient the kitchen deliberately doesn’t overwork.<\/p>\n

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Wales Communications<\/p>\n

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Courtesy Darkroom <\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

From there, seasonal produce takes center stage, with grilled, marinated Jimmy Nardello peppers served with fennel-pollen labneh and sprinkled with walnut dukkah, hitting equal notes of sweet, spicy, nutty, and fresh. Followed by honeynut squash from Weiser Farms \u2014 poached in a light broth known as nage, made with bits of country ham and horseradish, topped with rainbow chard, a dish that reads Southern-meets-European.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Darkroom burger, cut in two \u2014 only 10 are made a night.<\/p>\n

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Wales Communications<\/p>\n

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Courtesy Darkroom <\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

Cap things off with The Darkroom burger, cut in half, made with dry-aged beef, molten Comt\u00e9 cheese, and gooey caramelized onions, served between soft, glossy brioche-style buns, swimming in a light au poivre bath. It’s a dish that, like the others, exhibits strong technique but still wears its fun on its sleeve \u2014 all the makings of a truly memorable meal.<\/p>\n

The philosophy<\/p>\n

Scherer’s goal is to make the Orange County food scene nationally competitive with San Francisco, New York, and Chicago \u2014 and the seasonal fluency on display that night, from summer’s last Jimmy Nardellos to fall’s first honeynut squash, is the technical proof behind that claim.<\/p>\n

\"Seven<\/p>\n

The fried Scotch olives \u2014 Castelvetranos stuffed with anchovy and lamb merguez, set over sumac yogurt.<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Wales Communications<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Courtesy Darkroom <\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

The menu’s dynamic approach \u2014 its ability to oscillate between cuisines \u2014 reflects that same nonconformist identity, reinforcing the idea that the food doesn’t take itself too seriously, just like the space around it.<\/p>\n

Scherer’s ambitions don’t stop at Darkroom’s walls; he’s also developing Three Eyed Tiger, a cocktail-forward concept nearby.<\/p>\n

“The food we’re making now is the food that I’m the most proud of, because it really shows our identity,” said Scherer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just off the 405 freeway at the border of Costa Mesa and Santa Ana, a block down from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,184053,184047,184048,184049,184050,184051,184054,184052],"class_list":["post-467363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-best-restaurants-orange-county","tag-chrysalis-tasting-menu-orange-county","tag-darkroom-costa-mesa","tag-darkroom-restaurant-orange-county","tag-drew-adams-chef-darkroom","tag-orange-county-business-park-restaurant","tag-seasonal-menu-orange-county-restaurant","tag-zach-scherer-chef"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}