The Resort at Pelican Hill delivers needed respite and exquisite cuisine 

Leaving the San Fernando Valley and heading south for the weekend is never a bad strategy, especially when the destination promises good food, better golf and a needed escape from the dreary ubiquity of mini-malls and smoggy skies. Some seventy miles south lies the perfect antidote: sunny Newport Beach and the Resort at Pelican Hill, with 36 holes of Tom Fazio-designed championship golf, sumptuous digs and a roster of edibles and libations that will make you fantasize about sticking around for the next six months. Super Lotto, anyone?

And that’s before a coming reboot of the entire operation — when the resort will become a St. Regis under Marriott management. Ownership by Donald Bren of the Irvine Co. will not change, but everything else will — from greens and bunkers to burgers and bathrooms. Actually, the Snake River Farms wagyu hamburger at the Coliseum Grill is one thing management needn’t tinker with. As is the case with most of the food at the resort, it is perfect as is. Balsamic smoked onions and aged white cheddar? Yes please, and an extra order of those truffle fries as well. When in Rome, right?

Actually, you might think you were in 16th-century Italy given Pelican Hill’s look and feel, as inspired by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. Arched porticos and barrel-vaulted ceilings are the rule, alongside corniced columns and fountain-centered-courtyards. And of course, just beyond such highbrow accoutrements is a field of emerald dreams, the aforementioned pair of Fazio gems that are as playable and picturesque as any golf in the region. And, oh yes, that big blue pond beyond.

The Coliseum Grill overlooks the circular saltwater pool and is Pelican Hill’s more casual eatery any time of day. Breakfast offerings include a farmer’s hash with spicy sausage and potatoes served with a swirl of Béarnaise sauce, and a bowl of “bruleed” steel-cut oatmeal with caramelized bananas and “torched” turbinado sugar. I don’t know about you, but untorched turbinado just won’t do! Start with a green detox cold-pressed juice of cucumber and celery and cancel your trip to rehab.

You can also do al fresco lunch and dinner at the Coliseum, where I was nearly floored bythe bucatini pasta with mushrooms and peas in a harissa-mascarpone sauce. Preparationwas al-dente flawless and farm-to-table fresh. The ahi tuna poke bowl was big enough fortwo and studded with edamame and cucumber in a spicy mayo and eel sauce.

The next day, we opted to lunch in a private cabana overlooking the pool and went calorically overboard by snacking on crisp chicken tenders, beer-battered fish tacos and the fall market salad of candied pecans, various fruits and veggies, to which we added prawns. Decadent yes, delicious ditto.

The Pelican Grill — inside the golf clubhouse — is the resort’s finer dining option for lunch and dinner, with caviar service and a grilled prime ribeye alongside lobster mac & cheese and wood-fired pizzas. The open kitchen scatters golden flickers of light from said oven to the Palladian columns and elegant high ceilings, and service is attentive without needless formality and kowtowing. Even the standard-issue wedge salad was up to par and then some: the bacon was actually crispy and the bleu cheese properly tart. The wine list isn’t for the faint of heart — a bottle of 2015 Bond Vecina will set you back some $1,500 clams.Gulp.

Golfers on the run canstop for rocket fuel at theCaffé II bakery, wheremuffins and bagels andburritos start the day,and a top-shelf wagyuhot dog or a toastedcaprese sandwich can begrabbed at the turn,along with cocktails anda nice selection of beers.

The resort will berenovated piecemealover the next year withno interruption inservice, so planaccordingly. Pelican Hillfills the bill.