Orange County Food Blog

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Courtesy of BeTheCause.org

Volunteer cheerfully serving his own vegan creation

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October saw the last (for now) in a series of inspiring experiments in altruism and mostly meatless dining. Operating under the motto "Living is Giving," Seva Cafe hosted a meaningful dining experience each Sunday from January through October after hours at Zephyr Cafe in downtown Long Beach.

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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!

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• Get your lurch on at the first EVER Newport Beach Zombie Pub Crawl. What better way is there to Celebrate Halloween than with a little blood, brains, and a LOT of beer?
• Taco Bell management literally dumps on a homeless man they nearly kill.
• Dave would think twice about tossing out that mutilated jack-o-lantern after Halloween. It's still good! (Sans the wax.)
• When hunger strikes, counter attack with some amazingly delicious and bizarrely cheap vegetarian snacks from Trader Joe's.
• And... $1 chicken (with the works)? ...OK!!

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​All the highlights this week came from Edwin, who was on fire! Among other things, he:

1. Made a hilarious dig at the French, at the end of his post about the ludicrous-albeit-tasty-sounding "Le Taco Tuesday" at French 75. (Edwin--you sure you're not English?)

​We joined sexy-if-slightly-jowly Jon Stewart in lamenting the folding of Condé Nast's Gourmet magazine after 69 years.

Edwin and I, by complete coincidence, both blogged about SJC's Ramos House Café. Note to John Q Humphreys: You need more food in your fridge!

Mall restaurants aren't everyone's first choice when dining out, but South Coast Plaza is surely an exception? Not the fast-food joints and run-of-the-mill chains, of course, but the higher-end spaces. Name one other shopping center in the US that's home to a trifecta of the caliber of Hamamori, Charlie Palmer and Marché Moderne?

On Friday and Saturday I took part in a two-day event that gathered a group of local (OC and LA) food bloggers and led us around the crème de la crème of SCP's eateries. From Hamamori to Pizzeria Ortica, we didn't stop tasting, talking and taking notes.

Here's the itinerary, with the high spots picked out:

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Sushi and steak at Hamamori. Thinly sliced wagyu beef, which you cook yourself on a hot plate over rock salt and then dip in sauces (apple sesame, soy steak and rock salt with chili pepper). I'm not a meat lover but, tender and full of flavor, this had me converted. Can't believe we fell for James Hamamori's leg-pulling (he offered to provide a fellow blogger with some "left-handed chopsticks!!")

In the last seven days, we blogged about:

​The kogi truck. C'mon, you know you missed our posts on it. This one was from Matt, whose sources noticed "people... coming out of the bushes" to stand in line for the BBQ grub. Creepy.

A new restaurant, Seasons 52, which is coming to South Coast Plaza next year. This Mississippi chain's USP is the fact that all its menu items come in at under 475 calories. Sadly, judging by one reader's comment, it's all down to the mini portion sizes. Dammit!!!!

​In the last seven days, we at SaFII:

Talked goat. Specifically, five places to get great goat, should a craving strike. It's economical, you know.

Laughed in the face of the Register's 'best restaurants'. Seriously, Subway?

​In the last seven days...

Edwin brought us up to date with new openings at The Camp (long story short: NOTHING IS HAPPENING!)

Gustavo concluded that the aioli at Crow Bar is the dog's bollocks, even if it is just "glorified mayo." (And it is).

I broke the exciting news that OC Restaurant Week is being extended, it's been such a hit.

We all wept into our Kashi GoLean as we reminisced about sugar-laced cereals from the past. Those were the days!

​What we at SaFII have been up to in the last seven days:

There was plenty o' blogging about frozen treats, including my shout-out to Santa Ana's Yogurt Bar and Edwin's roundup of five great gelato/froyo joints (great choices, Edwin - I'm a fan of Joe's and, dare I confess, Yogurtland, although I maintain that all froyo tastes the bloody same).

Edwin also unearthed a website by a genius (or someone with too much time on their hands--it's hard to tell which). FancyFastFood.com takes yes, you guessed it, fast food and makes it yes, you guessed it, fancy. Dao Mi Noh Chow Mein, anyone?

Gustavo, meanwhile, was almost thwarted in his attempt to get his Hatch chiles roasted (and, no, that's not a euphemism for something dirty). Newport Beach, of all places, came to the rescue...
 

In the last seven days, Stick a Fork In It bleated about:

​Knitted falafel! The phrase "too much time on their hands" springs to mind, although I do have to admit, these grub-themed plushies are quite cute.


Beer! Poor Spencer drank his way through the OC Beer Festival at the weekend. All for research purposes, of course.

Horchata! Gustavo provided much-needed information (to me, at least) on the intricacies of the refreshing beverage. El Fortín's is the best, got it???!!!

The most delish-sound appetizer ever! (The Caribbean Rumaki at Jason's Downtown). Although, on second thoughts, wouldn't it work better as a desert?

​In the last seven days, we:

Seethed and fumed about a new "Mexican" eatery in Brea.

Ingested gazillions of calories. First by eating our way around Disneyland, stuffing in gumbo, Dole Whip, turkey legs and more, and second by chomping through two green curries. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.

Made some interesting discoveries. A seafood grill is about to open in Santa Ana, a second Dosa Place is coming to Tustin, and a Japanese shabu-shabu/yakiniku joint from the owner of The Alley should be launching in Costa Mesa by December. And then there's the exciting prospect of a second True Food Kitchen location in Orange County. Things to look forward to, indeed!

​In the last seven days, we at SAFII blogged about:

Expired KitKats. The horror! Note to Albert: You should've probably bought the whole lot and flogged them on eBay. They must surely be collectors' items?

Lavish birthday bashes. Sadly, not our own.

A just-opened sushi bar in Newport Beach.

Awful background music restaurants insist on playing.

Driving to Las Vegas with Alton Brown. In the Wienermobile. Hypothetically, that is.

​Over the last seven days, we:

Brought you tales of exploding trash cans outside a Taco Bell in Tracy, California.

Broke news about openings: Belacan Grill (a Malaysian coming soon to Tustin), the Counter (another outpost of the gourmet burger joint coming soon to Newport Beach) and Daily Express (a mystery restaurant coming soon to the South Coast Plaza area). FYI, Edwin, I do know something about it: It's the name of a crappy British tabloid. Hopefully unrelated to the restaurant!

Continued blogging about Julia Child and the kogi truck (separately, that is).

​For $13.95 you get three kebobs (angus beef, chicken and harissa tuna), rice and two sides...

We went last Monday to Zov's Bistro, Bakery & Café in Tustin to check it out. It's a generous fill--not tons, but certainly enough (we took a box of leftovers home, only to wolf them down the minute we got in the door).

The kebobs were nicely spiced, and three of our four sides hit the spot: grilled eggplant with feta and rosemary (juicy!), m'jaddarah--that's lentils, rice and caramelized onions (stodgy but good!) and cabbage salad (zingy!). The only slight letdown was the less-than-moist mash. But that was soon remedied by a bottle of highly drinkable, ice-cold Kalikia, a beer from Armenia.

Verdict? Not bad, if you're after something a little different. Shame that by the time we went to leave (just past 9 p.m., the official closing time), the cakes we'd been eyeing up earlier had already been removed from the counter. Our waistlines will thank us, though.

Kebob Night starts at 5 p.m. every Monday at all three Zov's locations.

​In SAFII:

We blogged not once but twice about Pascal (the man who needs only one name as far as we're concerned).

Walter Rowin of The Slidebar waxed philosophical about what kind of rice dish he represents.

Gustavo talked porn stars and sausages (yes, it's exactly what you're thinking).

Vickie gave us a slideshow of "insanewiches" (if you're ever going to torture me, put the green eggs 'n clam in front of me and I'll talk).

And I learned that hell hath no fury like a Kris Allen fan scorned.

​Seriously, if you're going to advertise a deal outside, don't assume we've forgotten about it once we get inside. We are not goldfish!

This happened on Sunday afternoon. Tempted to try newbie Brasserie Pascal at Fashion Island, we noticed the dealbreaker on a board in front of the entrance: filet mignon, halibut or coq au vin for $10.

But once we were seated, we were given just the regular menu. No word of the bargains. Perhaps we'd made a mistake? Maybe they were only offered during the week, or earlier in the day at weekends? We asked the waiter, who, by the way, was charming, unlike one of the waitresses, who dropped my soup spoon on the table with a loud clank and didn't break a smile the entire time we were there. He replied that the dishes were indeed available (they run from 11.30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily).

 

Normally, I'd silently fume for a good 15 minutes, but he averted any chance of this in an instant, by suggesting we order the slightly smaller but far cheaper filet mignon from the $10 trio rather than the steak au poivre we were mulling over.
  
As for the bargain dishes, they weren't bad at all. Not spectacular, but more than worth the $10 price tag. The meat in the coq au vin literally fell off the bone, and the accompanying tagliatelle soaked up the bacony sauce. The juicy steak was medium, as requested (most places overcook it), and sat on a bed of rich-but-not-sickly mash. Both dishes came with perky carrots, green beans and squash.

Verdict? Pascal certainly isn't the only restaurant guilty of not declaring everything upfront, and, judging by our waiter's behavior, isn't trying to rip anyone off. But it still ticks me off a little: There's no shame in wanting to order the cheap stuff, but do we have to beg for it?

These past five days, we blogged about organic food, over-salty food and fragrance-free food.

We also broke news of Azhak Hussam, who has invented a chocolate-flavored "Ramadan Fasting Tablet" that apparently can help dieters too.

And, in the world of frozen dessert, I raged about the love-it-or-hate-it Baskin-Robbins ad (click below to watch it in its full glory), while Edwin mused about froyo varieties he'd like to see.
 
 

 As the mercury soared, SAFII got all hot and bothered. In the last five days, we:

Whinged about the lengthy menu at Mustard's.

Ranted about how New York magazine grub blogger Hadley Tomicki seemingly ripped off Fullerton food critic Eddie Lin.

Seethed and fumed about Padma Lakshmi, who has apparently been given the green light for her own NBC sitcom. The horror!

Begged the Coolhaus ice cream van to head our way. This has Edwin's obsession with the kogi truck written all over it.

Talking of which, said fellow blogger cried with joy (OK, not quite, although I wasn't there so I can't say for sure) when he reported that "Kogi's O.C. permit problems are history"...

Although we would've been forgiven for shedding a tear or two over the demise of Gidget, the Taco Bell chihuahua, as mentioned by our colleague Matt.

 

So, this week:

Edwin revealed that two new local eateries--Sol Cocina (NOT Cucina!) in Newport Beach and Andrei's in Irvine--were finally opening. And that was just a day after Brasserie Pascal threw open its doors at Fashion Island. Vive la France!

We also broke news of a new, cheaper three-course menu at the St Regis's Stonehill Tavern. Looks like we might be able to enjoy the lush location more than once a year, after all.

And Gustavo thankfully found a Taco Bell Crime of the Week! that related to a customer (a 911 dispatcher, no less), accidentally shooting herself while at a TB drive-thru. I say "thankfully" because it gave him the opportunity to post that famous YouTube vid of the gun safety instructor shooting himself in the foot. I love the way he carries on his talk regardless...

In the last five days, SAFII covered:

OC's top five salsas!

The Wienermobile!

Free ice cream and free coffee!

Plus some openings: an Argentine-Mexican in Santa Ana and a karaoke lounge called Plush (be afraid, be very afraid) in Irvine.

In the last five days in Stick a Fork In It:

We worked out that, to the best of our knowledge, no OC restaurants closed in June. That's a first!

Edwin chowed down on chicken bowls and rated Flame Broiler's above Yoshinoya's.

Chef Steve Samson of Pizzeria Ortica worried us all with his "I would like to baste Bobby Flay with Mario Batali's drippings" comment.

And we reported that Shabu Shabu in Costa Mesa is finally open. Great news for the owners, but a shame for us, as we'll no longer get to read their hilarious blog, detailing the ups and downs of launching said restaurant.

In the last five days:

Edwin grilled Florent Marneau of Marché Moderne, who revealed what is possibly the poshest last meal request ever.

We made it to Zimzala, in HB's Shorebreak Hotel. Great food, slow service. But it warranted a spot on our top 5 special-occasion restaurants nonetheless.

And, finally, finally, Boardwalk Fresh Burgers & Fries opened in Costa Mesa, having p'd off at least one potential customer by sending out coupons and then not bothering to open on time.

In the last five days, SAFII covered:

Disappointment at the kogi truck (three hours in line--and still no food!!). Yes, Edwin's friends are now falling foul of his unhealthy obsession.

Imminent openings--Memphis, Sur La Table, Beach Pit--and imminent closings--White Horse.

Another reason to hate Paul McCartney... If you're a fanatical meat lover, that is.

And, talking of meat, we also tuned into Kobe mania. No, not that Kobe. Kobe beef. From America.

Starbucks and Subway inexplicably made it to the top of Zagat's latest fast food and chain list.

There was news of another OC Restaurant Week in September. Can't wait!

More stuff to look forward to: Stars of Santa Barbara--complete with top DJ!--at South Coast Plaza, and SOL Cucina in Newport Beach.

And we chowed down on everything from boring but healthy sandwiches at Corner Bakery Café to stunningly good (and not-so-healthy) donuts (sorry, beignets) at Scott's Seafood.

I channeled my inner cheapskate and grabbed surprisingly good dollar grub at Daphne's.

Edwin became Sherlock Holmes for a week, unearthing a new pâtisserie/café and a BBQ joint. Proof that it's not all doom and gloom: new places are opening each week.

And Matt brought us the good news that lard--bacon butter, for god's sake--might be back on menus before long. We live in hope, we really do.

Gustavo, meanwhile, enjoyed the chicken tikka masala at Ye Oldye Shyppee, but when it came to the bread, he was having naan of it. Or, rather, he wasn't: they served pita instead.

This week in SAFII:

There was plenty of good news, in terms of appointments (Craig Strong as Executive Chef of Studio, at the Montage Laguna Beach), openings (a froyo shop--natch--a gelato shop attached to a Thai restaurant (of course!!) and a sparkly Vietnamese) and resurrections (Carl's Jr's Portobello Mushroom Six Dollar Burger, no less).

Meanwhile, Gustavo got all hot and bothered about the New York Times's article on Sriracha sauce, pointing out that the paper's coverage of Vietnamese food trends is a tad behind the times, to say the least. Seven years, no less.

You tell 'em, Gustavo!!