Experience Earthscapes: A Unique Plant-Based Tasting Menu

Aptly named plant-based, tasting-menu-only destination Taste of Beauty has launched Earthscapes, a pair of eight-course “multidimensional culinary journeys” befitting the venue’s splendid Chinese tea paraphernalia-filled decor. Vegan ($99) or vegetarian ($89), each meal features meticulous presentations inspired by the planet’s various habitats. Highlights of Co-Owner/Chef George Guo’s vegan menu include the Island, which brings a Haitian pumpkin soup with rice-paper “waves” and edible gold leaf; the Hillside, a delicately sliced and curled eggplant evoking a wild chrysanthemum in bloom atop crisped perilla leaves; and the Desert, elm ear mushrooms with crispy chili threads and Mexican squash, elaborately presented on a bed of Gobi stones amid dry-ice “smoke.” Especially memorable on Guo’s vegetarian meal are the Eight Commandments, transforming and elevating breaded steak mushroom, and Lakeside Treasure, featuring lotus and taro roots plus dehydrated mandarins and shoyu. Among menu add-ons are a trio of prettily presented cocktails as well as pairings with tea, incense, and wine. Dessert? Look no further than the Gin & Tonic sorbet. 18420 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley, 714-587-9113, thetasteoeauty.com