A SENSUOUS ORANGE Tangerine By Joel Chusid There are subtle touches of orange in a sea of white - part of the ceiling, a few of the chairs, even the Veuve Clicquot Champagne buckets. Yet it’s casual, with white-jeans attired waitresses and black-jeans clad waiters and friendly yet elegant service. Tangerine is open and warm, a contrast after ascending to the second floor from the bright blue-lit lobby of The Water Club, San Juan’s newest boutique hotel. First impressions are that this is not San Juan, but Miami’s South Beach. Tangerine is small and intimate, with only 7 candle-lit tables inside and 5 more on the terrace. Cesar Fernandez, formerly the Executive Chef at the El San Juan Hotel, has put together a romantic menu to go with the décor. In fact, the dinner menu itself is called "Anticipations – An ‘aphrodisiac’ menu for lovers or for people who just like each other".  That’s why starters are labeled "Foreplay" ("whetting the appetite; the fliration") and include sweet carrot soup with crème fraîche, Asiatic organic baby greens, crispy Vietnamese lobster rolls, tempura frog legs, and muscovy duck salad. Entrees are "Loss of Innocence" ("an entrée to remember") and feature an excellent skin-on baked Atlantic salmon in a rice-wine citrus vinaigrette served with non-pencil asparagus and ginger-sweet pea mash, salt-baked head-on shrimp with herbed fingerling potato and bay spinach, Asian tarot root-crusted double Colorado lamp chops with Moroccan grain, crisp pan-seared sea bass with sea urchin butter essence, and cinnamon-basted breast of chicken in young coconut peanut sauce with potato garlic mash. Dessert is, what else, "Sensuous Pleasures" ("a sin committed, but quickly forgiven") and were indeed special. The "Ultimate Fire and Ice Dessert" was balsamic macerated exotic berries topped with nut crumble and Gio’s "Cassanova" vanilla bean infused ice cream. Just as tempting were "Decadent Chocolate-Chocolate Tangerine Sensation" and Banana Chocolate Cheese Cake Tempura dripping with ginger-vanilla-chocolate fudge sauce. The menu follows all this up with the simple "Cigarettes and Coffee" ("the buttery brown liquid reminded me of his perfect skin"). There’s an adequate wine list in the front of the menu, with several types of champagne, and white, blush, and red wines from France, California, and Spain. Tangerine has only been open since November 1 but has attracted a celebrity clientele. If your travels take you to San Juan, check it out. Because of its small size, reservations are recommended well in advance. It’s only 10 minutes from the international airport. Tangerine, 2 Tartak Street, Isla Verde, Carolina, Puerto Rico 00979. 787-728-3866. Get more "Jetset Dining with Joel Chusid" here. Do you have any questions, comments or suggestions? Email: jwdineline@aol.com Copyright © 1998 Inter Active Media Solutions. All Rights Reserved. The interactive components of this site require that you use a current browser version of Explorer; be sure to maximize your window out so you can see the entire page. This page was created by Inter Active Media Solutions.