Marin Blöm and chef/partner Noah Blöm have made a huge impact at The OC Mix in Costa Mesa. Arc is Orange County’s leading wood-fired cooking practitioner, and Shuck Oyster Bar has fun with the casual seafood format. Their most ambitious creative outlet (so far) is Restaurant Marin a high-end diner that opened in March and serves three meals daily.

A tastefully luxe space involves a covered patio, blue cushioned booths and blue plastic tables that resemble arctic ice. An open kitchen sports sea blue tiles and frames an oven that burns orange wood. A nearby grill that feasts on almond wood. Accordion music fills the air.

I found it frustrating to scroll their Menu of Small Stuff, Sweet Stuff, Healthy Stuff, and Savory Stuff, since I was dining solo and so many dishes sounded good. I tried two dishes and was particularly impressed with the lobster roll presentation, but left enamored with desert.

Donut Holes ($9) typically consists of seven holes, though I settled for five. The dough’s raised for one day, coated with sugar and baked in wood oven in aebleskiver pan with clarified butter. The results are airy, but with noticeable crusts, served with whipped cream accented with orange zest and sweet-tart quad berry jam: strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry. Restaurant Marin’s donut hole mold may be rooted in aebleskiver, but I guarantee you won’t find a dessert nearly so dynamic in Solvang’s Danish enclave.