The Pork-and-Lamb Ragout Is a Must-Try Dish at Scarlet Kitchen & Lounge

It’s tough to imagine a dish named Liquid Gold living up to its name. The pork-and-lamb ragout with pappardelle pasta and shaved Parmesan at Scarlet Kitchen & Lounge has a backstory that’s golden, too. “I have a lot of family members in the CIA, including my grandparents,” says manager and owner Matthew Riordan, whose wife, Paige, is the chef. “My grandfather was a founder of the CIA in the late 1940s. At the time, he and my grandmother were stationed in Cairo, Egypt, where they had a mansion with maidservants and chefs, and one of those chefs was from Florence, Italy. It’s her recipe. I was raised on it. It’s very close to my heart.” 30865 Gateway Place, Rancho Mission Viejo, 949-503-3086