WaterMarc

At WaterMarc, the chef has created a casual, upscale tapas bar with an emphasis on small grazing plates and excellent cocktails, with a lengthy selection of wines by the glass. The location on Peppertree Lane and South Coast Highway puts it in the midst of all the bustle of this often crowded arty beach town, but there's a parking structure behind it making access slightly easier than it is elsewhere here.

The dinner menu is dominated by the Grazing Plates section of the list. These are smaller plates designed to be shared. Smaller is relative, while it might be argued that the Warm Blue Cheese Pear Tarts ($6) are indeed tiny, the house flatbread, a sort of surfboard shaped pizza topped with Cipollini onion, Kalamata olives, roasted pepper, garlic and Fontina cheese is, to my eye, sizeable. (By ELIZABETH EVANS, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER)