Orange County Food Blog

​Glad to report that Break of Dawn in Laguna Hills, one of the best breakfast joints in Orange County, is still as great as ever. New dish to try (might've been on the menu before, but first time for me): cinnamon roll, presented on a hot skillet, topped with a mound of cream as large as a clenched fist, decorated with shaved almonds. Second-best cinnamon roll in Orange County, ranking just below the monsters at Seal Beach's Sweet Jill's.

I always enjoyed their homemade hot sauce, somewhere between Tapatio and that Asian salsa with the seeds you usually find next to Sriracha bottles. But today, after asking for the it, chef/owner Dee Nguyen casually dropped that he's been working on a habanero salsa, as well.

"Got some?" I asked. He nodded and went to grab a small dish. Inside was a dark-orange salsa, looking more like a barbecue rub than traditional habanero salsa, which is usually a yellowish orange and has the consistency of relish. The genius of Nguyen was at play: this was his take on habanero salsa, and it worked. He retained its trademark hell and citrus aftertaste, but ratcheted down a couple of notches (of course, take the description of its heat with the caveat that I'm Mexi). If Nguyen sold the salsa in bottles, I'd buy it.

But make sure to ask for Nguyen's habanero salsa, if interested. Ask for hot sauce, he'll give you the wonderful usual!

Break of Dawn, 24351 Ave. de la Carlota, Ste. N-6, Laguna Hills, (949) 587-9418; www.breakofdawnrestaurant.com.

Flickr user LoveBones

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This week in food:

• Dave spills the date that convenience store, 7/11, will start carrying private label wine... classy.
  
• Vickie shows how creative you can get with a little rice and a LOT of time in The Art of the Bento Box.
• We discover that Bodhi Tree Cafe's currently stellar rating on Yelp.com may hold some validity, but ordering from the menu can still be a less than fail-safe process.
• No wine bottle opener? NO PROBLEM!
• Edwin uncovers the highly anticipated opening of Utah-based Mexican Restaurant chain in Lake Forest... yeay?
  
• Also, this week's Taco Bell Crime of the Week reveals that, in this economy, even robbers are desperate for a job!

Dallas Observer

​Robert Wilonsky at our sister publication, the Dallas Observer, broke the news today that 7-Eleven will be selling private-label wine in their stores starting next week.

That's right, folks. No longer will you have to suffer the slings and arrows of shops run by true oenophiles, like Hi-Time or the Wine Exchange. Instead, you can hop over to your local 7-Eleven and pick up a bottle of Yosemite Road brand table wine for just $3.99.

(In Québec, wine purchased from a convenience store, or dépanneur, is ironically called "cuvée dépanneur." Now we've got "Château Sept-Onze.")

Funny, one wonders if any other chains of stores in the area sell house brand wine for cheap prices, say $2 a bottle.

While there are way more 7-Elevens than Trader Joe's, it's likely that 7-Eleven's wine sales will collapse with a big plonk... but this would make an intriguing Dueling Dishes post, wouldn't it?

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​The flier says it all. Want more info? Click HERE. But there's really no other detail you need to know. The fine print made me chuckle though. Offer not valid at IKEA Direct? Duh!

And I'm not sure what's funnier: That's there's a town called Hicksville, or that there's an IKEA there.

Special thanks to Queer In My Soup for the meatball tip-off!

Dave Lieberman

​A great fish taco is a thing of beauty: fried fish (yes, it must be fried!) topped with raw, shredded cabbage, crema (thin Mexican sour cream), chunky salsa and a squeeze of lime on corn tortillas. The first time I had them ("Fish tacos? Seriously?") was when I was working in the San Gabriel Valley, home to the wonderful chain called El Taco Nazo. I was hooked instantly, both by the tacos and to the amazing fried yellow chiles kept covered on a foil-wrapped platter.

Back then, all the stores, which are mostly located in the SGV and the Gateway Cities of southern LA County, were called El Taco Nazo; differences of opinion and some infighting resulted in part of the family splitting off and converting some of the stores to the name Señor Baja. The recipes have diverged in the intervening years, enough so that it's time to settle the matter of which taco reigns supreme by ordering a fish taco, a shrimp taco, and chiles güeritos from each place.

 

After looking over the dessert menu at Cafe Tu Tu Tango, the choice seemed pretty clear for the Dessert of the Week: Crazy Bananas. With a description that included sliced bananas, vanilla bean ice cream, walnuts, sopapillas (think tortilla chip meets churro), whipped cream, and a caramel sauce infused with Drambuie and Scotch, this dessert stands out. But of course, what was forgotten when it reached the table? The sauce! Truly a letdown.

Although Crazy Bananas held its own without the sauce, this dessert had potential to reach perfection if it wasn't missing that one vital ingredient. The sopapillas keep this treat from falling into a standard, banana split-esque dessert category. It gives it an international edge and adds a crunch along with the walnuts.

Located at the Block in Orange, Cafe Tu Tu Tango deserves a second visit. Although it's probably just appealing because they bring a "mini campfire" to the table, it will be time to order the s'mores, even if it does cost nearly $10. When the novelty wears off, you are still left with a classic.

As you know, OC is now serviced by a dedicated Kogi truck nicknamed Naranja. But tonight, Kogi will land at Diamond Jamboree (10:30 p.m.-midnight). This sounds like either a very very good idea or a very very bad idea. I vote bad, because parking at the Asian minimall is hell as it is. Add a few hundred people standing in line for a taco truck? That's more hysteria than if aliens decide to make first contact at a sci-fi convention.

Suffice it to say, I will not be there. It's past my bedtime.

Bentō is a Japanese word meaning "boxed lunch," or a single portion meal in a to-go container, one that's generally separated into different compartments. Bentos usually hold everything from rice and fish to meat, veggies and fruit, and they're so common in Japan that you can even find them in convenience stores.

The bento, however, has been since turned into an art-form, with tons of fans all over the world pouring energy into carefully arranging their lunch boxes into familiar characters, cute animals or even entire scenes. These artist/chefs get creative, using food to paint elaborate pictures.

Gemma Cox

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Those who have tried will probably understand how difficult it can be to mobilize a group of omnivores for a night out of vegetarian or vegan-friendly chow. Places like Bodhi Tree Café in Huntington Beach make the task of organizing a meat-free excursion slightly less daunting by offering an array of hearty 100-percent vegan dishes complete with soy-based proteins made especially to mimic the taste, texture, and look of real deal. But despite Bodhi Tree's currently stellar rating on Yelp.com, ordering from the menu can still be a less than fail-safe process.