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….

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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.

That’s right folks.  The legendary Kogi BBQ, which has made quite the name for itself in Los Angeles for having amazing Korean BBQ with a bit of a Mexican flair (Korean short rib taco anyone??), and also for utilizing their Twitter account @kogibbq to tell folks where they are at the last minute, is here in Orange County!!!  A special thanks to Jodi from LA Metblogs for pointing this out to us. Their newest truck, affectionately named Naranja (“Orange” in Spanish for you multi-lingually challenged), is making it’s way around our fair side of the curtain.

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

September 19th & 20th from 10 am until 5 pm head on over to the Huntingon Beach Central Park for the 1st Annual Polynesian Islander Festival!

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…

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A couple of years ago I posted a popular entry about Yogurtland in Fullerton. Since that post, the chain of fro-yo shops has expanded from two locations to fifty! Their newest location, accompanied by their new headquarters, is in Anaheim. Hooray! Fro-yo for all (except Dave because he’s a party-pooper and doesn’t like it)!

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…

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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.

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