Last Saturday we went to Eat Chow in Costa Mesa.  It actually shares a space with The Closet not far from Triangle Square.

This is what I went for.  Fried Green Tomatoes.  I had never had them and have wanted them since seeing the movie in the early 90’s.

I’d read rave reviews about these and really, they did not disappoint.  I saw plate after plate leaving the kitchen.  I’ll be honest, I don’t have a basis of comparison but I will definitely be back for more.  Cornmeal crusted, warm and topped with a chili herb aioli.  I’m hungry all over again.

See what my favortie was after the break….

We also had the Housemade Turkey Chili Cheese Fries.  Actually, now that I type that out I don’t recall having any cheese on our fries.  Do you see any? 

Hmmm, either way they were delicious (although cheese only makes things better).  I love those thin crispy fries.

French Dip with prime rib, a toasted brioche bun, horseradish cream and some verrrry tasty au jus. 

I have to say I really loved their Caesar salad.  Very garlicky and I love garlic.

Next up the Macaroni and Cheese.  I have to admit I am on the fence about this one.  It was a five cheese mac and cheese and the flavor was all there.  For me though, it just wasn’t thick enough.  It was more like pasta in a sauce.  Tasty but not exactly super creamy.  This and the need of spell check on the menu (and website) are the only negatives and really… that won’t stop me from going back.

Oh the BLTA with honey mustard and blue cheese mayo.  Rave reviews from my sister!

Oh but I’ve saved the best for last.  The Reuben with the house made corn beed (just kidding, I know its supposed to be beef!), swiss cheese, thousand island and the reD cabbage kraut was amazing.  Seriously.  I want it now.

Have you been?

Laguna Culinary Arts

One of my favorite things to do on the last Saturday of every month is go to a wine tasting at Laguna Culinary Arts in Laguna Beach. For $5.00 LCA offers one-ounce pours of eight different wines.

I love going because I always find the atmosphere so relaxing (warm mustard-yellow walls, airy and rustic), the wine good (an excellent way to try new and/or different wines), the cheese wonderful (a huge selection from all over the world) and the staff very knowledgeable (they always describe the wines and cheeses).

The "white" cheese plate

LCA always has a “white” and “red” cheese plate to compliment the wines they are featuring in the tasting. The cost is $12 for two-three people and $18 for a plate that serves three-four people. Wines by the glass and bottle are also for sale.

I’m not an oenophile, by any stretch of the imagination I just enjoy wine. Full Disclosure: I pick my wine based on what the label looks like. I know, I know that’s probably blasphemous, but whatever.

So  mark your calendars now for Saturday, November 28, from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m., which is when the next tasting will take place. Laguna Culinary Arts is located at 845 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 and their phone is 949.494.4006.

If you go or have been, let me know what you think. I hope you like it as much as we do.

It looks like they hit up 2 locations each night.  They have the week ahead planned on their website, but it is strongly suggested you follow them on twitter as the locations can change or as I’m reading, sometimes the addresses aren’t quite right.

I don’t know about you, but I am SUPER DUPER excited about this!!!!!  It looks like they’ll be at “Prim Jewelers – 1736 E. Meats Ave, Orange”  from 10:30-Midnight this Wednesday, you’d better believe I’ll be there!

Thank you Kogi!!!

Tonight is the start of the 31st Annual Taste of Greece Festival at St. Pauls Greek Orthodox Church in Irvine.

There will be food, food and more food along with cooking demonstrations, carnival rides, games, music, boutiques, greek dancing lessons and a raffle. You could win 7 days in Athens or you could munch on a gyro and enjoy the entertainment.

Admission in $3, children under 10 for free
Located on 4949 Alton Parkway, Irvine
Friday: 5-10 pm
Saturday: 12-10 pm
Sunday: 12-9 pm

PA’ME NA’ FA’ME!

Actually, I’m waaay late with this, as the actual Oktoberfest began on Sept. 6, and will run through November 1.  But, there’s still plenty of time to get your beer on.

Head on down to Old World in Huntington Beach for some traditional Oktoberfest fun, including Beer Pong.  Wait, did I say traditional?

Forget traditional, go with whatever works, says I.  No worries, there are plenty of old skool Oktoberfest shenanigans, including the Chicken Dance.  Who can resist the Chicken Dance?  Or even if somehow you can possibly resist actually doing it, watching drunken people attempt the Chicken Dance is usually worth the price of admission, for which, by the way, there is a coupon on the site for five bucks off.  There is also a Kinderfest for the little ones held on Sundays, go to the site to print out a coupon for free admission to that.

So, go help out financially struggling Old World, a classic slice of Orange County schmaltz, and toss down a beer today!

Taste of Newport starts tonight! Its in its 21st year with over 75,000 people in attendance.

At the event you can sample from over 30 restaurants and 15 wineries! You can also watch cooking demonstrations and live entertainment. On stage will be performers such as Sugar Ray, Train and David Cook.

The price is $25 per person with children under 8 for free.

Hours:
Friday 6-11 pm
Saturday 4-11 pm
Sunday 12-8 pm

There will be cultural demonstrations, authentic music, hands-on arts and crafts, vendors, performances, story-telling, villages representing the Pacific Islands and of course, good food.

7111 Talbert Avenue,
Huntington Beach, CA.
92648

In celebration of my 30th birthday Orange County gave me the wonderful present of kicking off OC Restaurant week!

We decided on Summit House, a beautiful restaurant in the hills over-looking Fullerton.  The ambiance is warm and inviting.  It is fine dining without being stuffy.  Its picturesque. 

Their OC Restaurant week prix fixe is fantastic and the servings very large.  Take advantage of it!

There were 13 of us and we did a combination of the OC and regular menus.

This is the Seaside Sampler.. half-eaten.  On the far end you see the crab cakes, closest to us was the seared ahi with a blackening on it (or was it cajun).  We really loved the large prawns on this.  They had so much flavor, I wonder what they were poached in.

Is anyone concerned with the styrofoam cups on the table?  I thought it was awesome they had these for the kids.  We got the glass ones :)

Follow me after the jump to see all the dishes we enjoyed!  I wish I had gotten some pictures of the kids checking out the snail shells…

Snails!  Bugs!  The Escargots Bourguignonne was tasty.  They were drenched in butter and garlic.. how could they not be?  Also in the sauce were brandy and pernod, neither of which popped out into my head when I tasted it. 

The other wonderful part of this appetizer is freaking the kids out.  ”Look, your uncle is eating bugs!”  “Eeeeeewwwww!” 

This is the Summit House salad.  I just love that bibb lettuce and the sprinkled pancetta. 

This is their version of the wedge, prettily presented in small manageable wedges vs. the large daunting wedge you normally see…. half of which usually ends up on the table when I try to cut it.

Classic Caesar salad.  I enjoyed it but there is nothing incredibly distinctive about it.  Fantastic big slivers of parmesan on top and I never turn away a good caesar salad.

I took this shot over my shoulder during dinner.  Its a tragedy this is the only non-food shot I have.  You can’t even really see the fireplace.  Go there and take some pictures for me!

This is the braised lamb shank.  Just look at the size of that thing.  Its rich.  The servings there are large.

Ah, the John Dory.  Its a white fish (obviously) topped with macadamia nuts and panko bread crumbs and served with a lemon butter sauce.  This was my pick and I thought I had the best on the table.  I’ll want this fish again.  The crust was so thick and the entire dish so flavorful.  I was thrilled with my dish and possibly the happiest about my meal.

The prime rib served with creamed spinach and yorkshire pudding.  This was my first yorkshire pudding experience.  It was so much lighter than I expected.  It was perfect to sop up the juices. 

This is the tri-tip and I don’t know anything about it because it was a special and I wasn’t paying attention.

But in the corner you will see the Creamed Corn.  Hands down the family favorite.  I had several servings because when you eat fattening things on your birthday you don’t gain any weight.  Right?  The recipe is even featured on the website.. which is very similar to one I will be posting soon.

Another special, this is the sea bass on udon with a strawberry relish of sorts.

The Filet Mignon which is available for the OC prix fixe with a $5 upcharge.  Tell me you don’t want to stick a fork in those gruyere au gratin potatoes.

Traditional creme brulee, very creamy in that delicious mouth-coating way.

Three Chocolate Torte.  Need I say more?  No?  I really can’t help but describe this.  Rotating layers of mousse and gran marnier and rum laced cake and then topped with belgian chocolate.  I nearly licked the chocolate sauce off the plate.  It was perfect and not overly sweet at all.  The sauce I mean, the dessert itself was entirely rich and decadent.

The Summit English Trifle includes layers of rich creamy custard, rum soaked cake, chantilly cream and strawberries.

None of us finished the entire meal.  We had enough food leftover for a full meal the next day.  I still wish that I would’ve gathered up the scraps of desserts.  I do love picking at them for days… which is why I didn’t.

All in all, the food was traditional and good.  I suggest the John Dory.  The service was fantastic as we tend to be a bit loud and we had 3 kids and there were 13 of us.  The flow of dinner went without a hitch.  Its really about the romantic, moody, cozy ambiance.

Have you been?

It’s about time Anaheim got a taste of the delicious frozen Yogurtland treat. Yougurtland’s newest location can be found at 683 N Euclid St. Anaheim, CA 92801. Maybe I’ll see you there, cause you know, that’s where I will be spending all of my spare time.

Two more pictures after the jump…

Cupcakes are all the rage these days and cupcakeries are popping up all around Orange County. When I found out Frostings had opened this summer in Lake Forest I just waited for the right excuse to pick one up.

Did I say one?  I meant 7.  Oh come on, I didn’t eat all these by myself. I had some help.

I’m gonna put it all out there right now… I’m not going to draw this out… I really liked them.  My friends really liked them, B really liked them and my parents really liked them.  I tasted them all.  I liked them all.

Join me after the jump and I’ll tell ya all about it.

If you buy just one you’ll get this precious little bag.

This is the Mocha Joe and he’s snuggled up in his little holder.  He’s not goin’ anywhere.  Well, not until he meets Celeste.  He never stood a chance.

If you get half a dozen they place it in a box.  Our cast of characters include:  Red Velvet,  Birthday Cake, German Chocolate, Cookies and Cream, Simply Vanilla and Citrus Coconut.

Contrary to some of the reviews I have read since my tasting, the cake was fabulously moist and flavorful.  The frostings were all different but they were sweet, some sweeter than others.  I liked it for the cupcakes.  It would be a bit sweet in large doses but I don’t plan on eating 7 cupcakes at a time.  ~ahem~  On a normal basis, that is.

There is also a large ratio of frosting to cake.  I prefer more cake but the place is called Frostings, so the emphasis may be on….. the frosting.

Much like some other cupcake shops-who-must-not-be-named they run cupcakes on a schedule of sorts. Certain cupcakes on certain days along with the standards baked daily.   I keep hearing comments that it sort of mimics Sprinkles.  Well that can’t be.  They have a circle on top and Frostings has a flower on top! 

 I’ve never been inside Sprinkles but I’m not sure that matters.  Can there be too many cupcakeries?

The red velvet was phenomenal!  The cream cheese frosting was perfection.  We didn’t eat this one until the next day and it held over well.  I did wrap them individually in saran wrap the night before.

Next to it you see the Citrus Coconut.  I found this to be much more coconut than citrus.  I would’ve like a stronger flavor but my friend Tina had no complaints whatsoever.

German chocolate cupcake.  It makes my heart go pitter patter.

Will you look at the color of that cake?!  Its deep and dark and draws you in.  I will always remember it.  Particularly when I try to zip up the pants that must have shrunk in the wash.

The biggest surprise?  Despite my complete and total allegiance to all things chocolate… this was my favorite cupcake.  The Birthday Cake.  This cupcake makes having birthdays worth while.

What is your favorite cupcake?