Photo by Amanda DeFrancis

"My cooking is a reflection of my life, very clean and straightforward."

To call Shawn Xa confident is an understatement. Tell him what you are looking for in a meal (or not, if you're vegan or gluten-free), and he'll come up with a flavor profile on the spot. Situated across the street from CHOC, XA would go overlooked, if not for the recommendation from our resident restaurant reviewer. Edwin not only told us what to order, but that Shawn would make for a solid interview.

Xa roasts his pork loin and roast beef daily. He knows the quality and taste of the cuisine is top notch, and the medical staff reaffirm this, phoning in orders on a regular basis.

How do you keep the chicken so moist and flavorful?
Our chicken is marinated in olive oil, fresh thyme, Italian parsley and fresh garlic. It's seared on high heat to form a crust, then roasted on low heat with spices.

Favorite meal growing up:
Steamed live crab and shrimp with hot chili lime sauce, poached chicken, steamed spinach, steamed sweet rice with dried shrimp, banh tet, etc. I can't list it all. It's just too much. I love to eat.

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http://go2triangle.com/

Another restaurant is now open at The Triangle, that M.C. Escher-ish mall at the end of the 55 that most of us avoided when it was called Triangle Square. The latest is H2O Sushi & Izakaya and it reportedly occupies some 5,000 square feet of space at the street level part of the plaza.

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I think we can all agree that the best thing at Panda Express is the Orange Chicken. Oh how those morsels of sugary-crunchy poultry pieces shine under the lights. I think Jennifer 8. Lee, the writer behind the brilliant Fortune Cookie Chronicles, hit it right on the nose when she surmised the reason why it and its East Coast variant General Tso's chicken are so popular: It is fried, it is sweet and it is chicken -- all things that Americans love.

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LP Hastings

From our epic slideshow of DTF!

The Fullerton City Council lifted a ban on the evening operations of food trucks everywhere within its boundaries earlier this month...except the downtown bar and restaurant scene. The reasoning? "There is substantial evidence to show that the operation of food trucks in the Downtown area--when bars are being heavily patronized--leads to greater law enforcement problems," a summary of a Community Development Department report reads.

The only problem is, no real detailed evidence from Fullerton police was given to truly validate the claim that allowing food trucks in the downtown mix would lead to more vandalism and booze brawls! Annual statistics detailing a downward trend on calls out to incidents? Nah, just take the FPD's word for it!

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That's what we call dinner.

Julie Lim classed up an unassuming strip mall by SNA a few years ago, converting a liquor store into a wine mart and tasting bar. Equipped with dispensers that run on re-loadable cards, patrons can sample pours from a variety of bottles. But it wasn't only the wine that brought people in. Julie sells craft beer by the bottle, cheese plates and macarons. She also invites popular luxe loncheras, holding special events on a regular basis. It's her constant marketing and approachable storefront that earn her fans.

Naturally we got excited when she announced a second location was in the works. A total makeover and remodel project begins this month. Her goal for this fall is to serve locals in north OC, including Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills, even the 909.

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Cooking Channel

We definitely caught people's attention initially by making ridiculous drinks.

What do you get when you take two gorgeous, talented, funny, free spirited and stylish gals and add in a few cocktails? OK...get your minds out the gutter people. The right answer (of course) is that you get Tripping Out with Alie & Georgia where two besties (Alie Ward and Georgia Hardstark) go on spectacular adventures and kick up booze filled beverages in ways that you could never imagine!

Premiering on the Cooking Channel Friday June 21st at 7:30pm (PST), Alie and Georgia travel to destinations like Las Vegas, Miami, and San Francisco to take in local libations and activities and then, come back to good ol' Los Angeles to show why they are the hostesses with the mostest by planning fantastic parties for their friends based off of their travels. We know, it sounds like a real "can't miss" so the real question is...why would you want to?

OC Weekly (Ali Lerman): Being that you're both writers, I can totally relate that you got into creating cocktails because deadlines and drinking kind of go hand in hand. How you'd end up getting on Cooking Channel because of it though?

Alie Ward: I was a journalist at LA Weekly and the LA Times and was covering cocktails, events, and nightlife. I was reading and experiencing the craft cocktail scene a lot and at that point, it was just starting to get a little bit out of control. Georgia and I had this fictitious drink that we would joke about that didn't exist called, "The McNuggetini." We'd want to have it after work because our hours were so late and we would want a dinner and drink all in one.

Georgia Hardstark: Yeah so, we made up this McNuggetini and it was totally an inside joke between us that we thought was so funny. We had a friend who made videos for Funny Or Die and he agreed to make a "how to" video for us. So we filmed it in my grandma's kitchen in Los Angeles and the video totally went viral. We didn't expect it at all. After we made a couple of videos, Cooking Channel contacted us and were like, "Can you guys do this for real and not as a joke?" We were like, yes we can! So from there, we just started making videos and cocktails for them!

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A new Cajun/Creole restaurant has opened in Santa Ana near the Costa Mesa border--an area that developers would like for you to refer as South Coast Metro.

Ritter's Steam Kettle Cooking is the brainchild of a chef actually named Ritter, who honed his craft at Oyster Bar in The Palace Station in Vegas. This location at 1421 West MacArthur Boulevard Unit G, Santa Ana, is actually one of two in OC. The other is at The Strand in Huntington Beach, which has yet to open.

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Edwin Goei

Last week, we reported that Pita Grill in Irvine was suddenly and unceremoniously closed. After the post published, Amer Taha, its owner, got in touch with us and told us of his struggle with his landlord, The Irvine Company.

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Amanda Defrancis

Greetings ladies and germs, let's take a quick look at this week in food...

First, Edwin reviewed Eleven46 Kitchen and then he told us that Britta's Cafe in Irvine is closing. :( He also shared Pho Thanh Lich's new location in Garden Grove.

Gustavo went to Lindo Michoacan #2 for his Hole in the Wall review. He gave us Geeta Bansal's first report from Mesamerica 2013 in Mexico City, and he told everyone to watch out for two middle aged women purporting to be Weekly food critics.

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