Waiiha, a Sushi and Japanese Dining restaurant, has completed their outdoor seating area and has gotten their furniture and lighting inside. The custom counter has been outfitted with sushi refrigeration units and the kitchen looks pretty complete. They have recently posted their proposed hours. They are open for lunch Monday thru Saturday from 11am to 1:30pm. Dinner, however, is only Tuesday thru Saturday from 5pm to 9pm. Waiiha is being opened by the same owners of Jizake Sushi down in Laguna Niguel.

The Iron Press, a restaurant focusing on local beer & waffles, still has a lot of construction going on. Crews have been working into the mid-evenings most nights trying to get the place ready. As of today, I caught of glimpse of a long stretch of beer taps and the glass rinsers are in at the bar. Other than that, the windows are pretty much still papered up and I couldn’t see much.

The Iron Press is the brainchild of Leonard “Lenny” Chan and Jeremy “Jerry” Saenz. I had a discussion recently with Lenny regarding The Iron Press. More about “Jerry” later in the article.

FID: What made you guys come up with the idea of bringing beer and waffles together?

LENNY: In all honesty, I was looking at doing waffles and beer here in Southern California over 5 years ago. Since then, I had the opportunity to open up California Shabu Shabu in Costa Mesa and figured that was a no brainer. I started seeing a trend up in Nor Cal, Portland, and Seattle brewing up, but couldn’t pass up on the shabu deal. Since California Shabu Shabu started doing better, I got the wheels going again on the beer and waffles joint, but soon after that Bruxie opened up which spun me into severe depression (ok, so I was just bummed out for a bit). After that, I figured I better hurry up and get things going ASAP!  In short – I love beer and I love waffles, so why not, yeah?

FID: I see you’re getting custom bar stools done for the bar, anything else going to be custom?

LENNY: A lot of things going in are custom! Jerry, Jaime (a good friend and our general contractor), and I have been bouncing around ideas back and forth for months now. Everything from chairs, to tables, to lamps, to counters. You name it, we have tried to put in our own spin on everything.

FID: For the customer experience, will the customers be able to see the waffles being made as they are ordered?

LENNY: Yessireebobadoo! We wanted to have the experience be as interactive as possible, so you’ll be seeing someone smashing out those waffles right in the front.

BTW, I want to steal the word “Yessireebobadoo” from Lenny! [smile]

As you read, this isn’t Lenny Chan’s first foray into the restaurant world. In 2009, Lenny opened California Shabu Shabu in Costa Mesa and their newest location in Santa Monica opened in November 2011. Based on the design cues of California Shabu Shabu, the interior of The Iron Press is sure to impress. So on the heels of the Santa Monica location moving towards their opening date, they started plans and construction for The Iron Press.

As for Jerry, the “food gene” doesn’t fall far from the tree. Jerry’s family runs and owns Lucky Habanero Salsa. Linda Saenz, “The Salsa Lady” and her family have been selling this award winning salsa since 2005. Made in small batches to ensure quality and freshness, you can find their salsa in specialty markets like Whole Foods, Promelli’s, Mothers Market, Hows, Hi-Time Wine Cellars, Irvine Ranch Market, The Meat House and BevMo. In 2011 and 2012 they have won several categories at the Annual Scovie Awards. This year, their Mango Firecracker Salsa took 1st place in the Fruit Salsa category!

So I have a surprise for you.

Lenny is also working on an Oyster Bar. I found out from a birdie that it will occupy the area formerly known as “The Rotating Kitchen” located in The OC Mart Mix. In that space, they used to have a rotating kitchen come in to prepare meals, sorta like a pop-up restaurant. (Note: I never saw any events in that space) and there is a large concrete topped counter. It is in this space, that Lenny plans to open an Oyster Bar with another partner. So we now have three new restaurants on-site at the South Coast Collection. An oyster bar certainly would do well. According to a Google search, there are only three restaurants listed with Oyster Bars. Note I said “with”. The three locations are Seafood restaurants with an Oyster Bar inside. I’m sure a more detailed search will yield others, but I think Lenny has something here. Can you stand the wait?

So that’s it for this update. More details to come in the coming weeks!

The Iron Press
3321  Hyland Avenue, Suite E
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Waiiha
3321 Hyland Avenue, Suite D
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Not-Yet-Named Oyster Bar
3313 Hyland Avenue (The OC Mart Mix)
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

So I made my Italian Sausage stuffing for the Rolled Turkey Breast for Thanksgiving. I ended up having about cup worth of leftovers and wanted something for breakfast the next morning. So I took the stuffing and with a fork broke it down into smaller pieces. I preheated my oven to 425. I then scrambled about 3 eggs along with a dash of half and half that was left over from Thanksgiving Day as well. Season with salt and pepper and place the stuffing into the egg mixture and then about 2 tablespoons of your favorite shredded cheese.

Over medium high heat (not high), place your egg mixture into the pan, pull the pan off the heat and lower the heat to medium. You should see the outer edges start to firm up. return to heat for about another minute or two. You’re looking for more firmness around the edges. The middle of the pan will definitely be runny still.

Turn the heat off and transfer your skillet to the oven for about 5-8 minutes. The eggs will continue to cook. After about 5-8 minutes pull the skillet out of the oven. Let rest for less than a minute and it will deflate. Place on a plate and serve!

I had the honor of meeting Dorie Greenspan a few years back (2002-ish) when I was working for Sur La Table, I was hosting a cooking class and she was the guest instructor.

The moment I met Dorie I was star-struck. Admittedly, I had only opened one of Dorie’s cookbooks just days before her arrival (I was still new to the world of culinary then), but after that I was a fan! She was touring the U.S. promoting her, then, new cookbook Paris Sweets. She is the author of several cookbooks including: Baking with Julia, Baking: From my House to Yours and her latest book, Around My French Table.

I was looking through the App store on my iPad and decided to look up cooking apps. I came across an app called “Baking with Dorie” an app actually released this past September, but for some reason I am just running into it this week. It recently was updated to version 1.1.

Baking With Dorie is THE way a cooking app should be on any “iDevice”

When you open the app, it’s just beautiful to look at. Vibrant photos, good use of white space (a personal favorite), informative and concise. The main page is a menu that let’s you choose from five categories: Baking, Breakfast Sweets, Cookies, Cakes, Pies & Tarts. There is a “sixth” category called Favorites, but that’s for you, the user, to mark your favorite recipes and they will be in one place. The beauty of this app is that it isn’t just a “read and do” app, this app is interactive and you can bake along with Dorie.

Each recipe comes up with a clear photo of what you will be baking. It also tells you how many you’ll be making in the recipe as well as the ability to create a shopping list to bring with you to the market. On the recipe screen you will find an INTRO button, here you will find information on what you are baking with little facts of history, personal notes from Dorie along with baking, storing and serving suggestions.

Once you click on START you are brought to a “timeline” or what they call CulinView that gives you a birds-eye view of what will be needed to complete your recipe. It breaks down the ingredients as well as where in the timeline they will be incorporated into the mixing process. In addition to the ingredients Dorie specifies exactly which cooking tools you will need for each step.

Clicking on Step by Step brings you to my favorite part of this app. Each recipe comes with a set of videos showing you “step by step” how to make your favorite baked good.

Dorie is as I remember her and seeing her on screen brings back good memories. Dorie talks directly to the screen as if you are in the kitchen with her.

Clicking on Spinview gives you an alternate view of the Step by Step, offering the ability to skip ahead or go back at a glance, where Step by Step goes in the order of the recipe. It has an interface similar to Coverflow, but in a vertical orientation.

Easy to navigate to get to the step you want to review again.

When you get to the “baking” portion of your recipe, they have even incorporated a built in timer for the cooking time they suggest. You can override the minutes as well. Why would you want to do this? Maybe you live in a higher altitude requiring a different cooking time or you want to set it for just a smudge earlier than suggested in case you are the distracted type like I am!

In addition, there is the ability to create a SHOPPING LIST of the items for your recipe. Dorie takes it a step further and also gives you list in the shopping list for the equipment you will need to complete the recipe – but you probably have most of them in your kitchen already! You can then email the list to yourself or your “shopper” and you’re ready to go!

So, yes, you can have Dorie Greenspan come into your kitchen and bake some of her favorite recipes with you. It’s was nice to have her in the kitchen with me.

The app is a hefty at 1.7GB in size, but well worth the space on your iPad or iPad 2.

The app was developed by CulinApp based in Houston. CulinApp is the creation of Robert Huntley, Geoffrey Drummond and Chris Howard. I’m sure you have seen Geoffrey Drummunds work from A La Carte Communications with such shows as America’s Test Kitchen, Joanne Weirs’s Cooking Class, Daisy Cooks and more!

Baking with Dorie is only the first in a line of CulinApps to be released. Oddly, I have had the privilege of also having had met and worked with their upcoming chefs: Giuliano Hazan and Joanne Weir. I can’t wait!

Visit www.culinapp.com and you can sign up to be notified when these two apps are available.

Baking with Dorie
CulinApp
iOS 4.2 or higher, iPad/iPad 2

Available in the Apple App Store  for $7.99!

You can visit Dorie on the web at www.doriegreenspan.com and you can also follow her on Twitter @doriegreenspan 

Playground
220 E. Fourth Street (4th and Spurgeon)
Santa Ana, CA 92701
714-560-4444
Open Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30am to close
www.playgrounddtsa.com
twitter: @playgrounddtsa
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Playground/154783351261279

[Show as slideshow]

Well after a couple of building permit glitches, they have finally opened! Classes started on Monday, November 7 and they will be offering classes almost every day of the week.

I stopped by the school tonight and it was their third night as a school. 16 students were gathered around work tables learning Essential Knife Skills. During my visit, students were learning how to brunoise or how to dice vegetables into tiny dice. I watched Resident Chef, Stacy Horn, instruct a student on how to properly cut bell peppers. She informs the student that it’s easier to cut with the skin side down, then shows her how to “rock” her knife along the board for better control. The student takes over and starts to cut and after a few rocking movements of her chef’s knife she has a look of surprise on her face as she understands her new found skill. The class then moves onto how to cut leeks and the students get a lesson on how to cut and cleaning techniques to get rid of the pesky dirt that is always present in leeks.

The South Coast Plaza location is hosting a full set of classes with classes filling up quickly. Most of their classes are hands on, with classes in the evenings and 4 classes over the weekends. You can visit their class schedule at:

http://www.surlatable.com/browse/storeCalendar.jsp?storeId=079
or click on the pic below:

I was watching the class as another customer was walking by and noticed the class. She said that she was looking forward to the new school but didn’t know if she was going to have time to take a class. I said the have classes on the weekends and after work during the week. She saw that it was a knife skills class and I said she should take a class. She saw Chris who works at the store and immediately signed up for a couple of classes! How awesome is that!

Take a look at their schedule and learn something new or refresh some existing skills!

Sur La Table
333 Bear Street
1st Floor across from the Apple Store
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714-241-0118

Food Network host and best-selling author Robin Miller has just released her newest cookbook, Robin Takes 5. Following on the success of her first cookbook, Quick Fix Meals, Robin takes it to the next level with her newest offering.

Robin Takes 5 has 500 recipes, each with 5 ingredients or less, 500 calories or less, for 5 nights a week at 5:00pm! What’s more perfect?

What I like about Robin’s newest book is that it is geared towards working professionals like myself that get home at the end of a long day and want to cook something good and nutritious but don’t want to lug all the All-Clad out to cook an elaborate meal. Robin comes to the rescue and offers quick recipes with cooking times less than 30 minutes for most. The book is broken down into 8 chapters. Each recipe gives great information, but what I like is that it details exactly the serving size, prep time, cooking time and more importantly, a breakdown of nutrients for each dish!

Her knowledge as a nutritionist is what sets this book apart from the others. Robin has some great recipes in the book. In addition to the 500 receipts, she includes some great photographs with clear concise instructions for each recipe. She takes it another step forward and even highlights recipes that have sodium levels of less than 250mg or less to highlight dishes for those of up that are sodium conscious. She draws her inspiration for recipes from all across different cuisines. She has carefully tested each recipe and provided the nutrition values for each dish.

Almond-Crusted Sea Bass with Yogurt-Mint Sauce

Serves 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 12 to 15 minutes

I adore sea bass because it’s light and takes on the flavor of whatever ingredients you partner with it. In this case, it’s nutty almonds, which add great flavor and texture. The creamy mint sauce is also fresh and light. You may substitute light sour cream for the yogurt, if desired.

4 sea bass fillets (about 5 oz each)
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Season both sides of the sea bass fillets with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Transfer the fish to the prepared baking sheet and place the almonds on top of each fillet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the fish is fork-tender.

Meanwhile, combine the yogurt, mustard, and mint and mix well. Serve the sea bass with the yogurt mixture spooned over the top.

Robin Take 5
500 Recipes, 5 Ingredients or less, 500 Calories or less, 5 Nights a Week at 5:00pm
Published by Andrews McMeel Publishing
$29.99 paperback/$9.99 Digital
Available now

You can purchase the book from Amazon with a  great price from the FoodieInDisguise Amazon Store by clicking the image below:

The book is available in DIGITAL Format for your Kindle or via the Kindle app on your iPad for $9.99

Y0u can visit Robin’s website at www.robintakes5.com or follow her on Twitter at @robinvmiller

Years later, I met fellow foodie Ben Winnick thru his food blog. We would develop an online friendship and later meet. I come to find out via his Facebook page that he had a name that was oddly familiar to me. It was Zach! Zach and I re-connected and find out that he has started a “foodie” adventure of his own.

Zach is the co-owner and founder of SoNo Trading Company – a company specializing in mustard. Now known as the Official Mustard of Southern California, they have moved from the Hillcrest Farmers’ Market to the shelves of Whole Foods and other specialty stores in San Diego and Los Angeles.

But Zach wanted to grow. He found Kickstarter. There, we put out a video and asked folks like you and I to make an investment in SoNo and help them make it to the next step. He was asking for $4,000 in “seed” money to have the ability to purchase mustard seed and to start marketing to stores to sell his mustards. It was an awesome success. He asked for $4,000 and got over $15,000! A true Kickstarter success story. They used the money to concentrate on two flavors of mustards, Hong Kong Habanero and Champagne Garlic. As a pledger of the project we received one or two bottles of this magic mustard.

His dream has come true and his mustards have hit the store shelves.

SoNo’s Champagne Mustard brings a two great tastes together, champagne and garlic. Made with organic ingredients and no preservatives whatsoever – only the best. Their other popular mustard is the Hong Kong Habanero a perfect blend of “hot” and tanginess.

Zach also has the support of the local restaurant business in San Diego and has his mustards highlighted in several dishes.

Take the time to visit SoNo Trading and check it out. Order a bottle and tell them FoodieInDisguise sent you. I will have another post soon with a recipe of my own using their mustards – look out for it!

SoNo Trading Company
www.sonotrading.com

Come to the Cupcake Camp OC, tomorrow, August 1 at 3:00pm at the Atrium Hotel near John Wayne Airport!

Entrance fee is $10 at the door and all the proceeds from the entrance fee to the sale of cupcakes goes towards the cause.

You can get more information on their website at cupcakecampoc.wordpress.com

What?!

Why is the Mayor of Los Angeles following me? I logged onto Twitter and started reading his Tweets. He attended the LA Food Fest yesterday and talked about all the good food, but it was on the 20th that I saw a tweet from the Mayor about a Good Food Initiative that his office launched.

The Los Angeles Food Policy Task Force convened in November 2009 to identify a Good Food policy agenda and the steps to get there. The Task Force has worked to develop a Good Food for All Agenda with specific action steps and recommendations for how to advance the Agenda. The Agenda seeks to increase access to Good Food for everyone, improve public health, create quality jobs and small food enterprise opportunities, increase equity in our communities, and improve environmental sustainability throughout the region.

The Good Food Agenda is a 93 page report developed by the Mayor’s office. I didn’t read thru the entire report, but from what I have read it is a very ambitious goal to bring the City of Angels to the forefront of being a model city in regards to creating a new regional food system. They have identified six key areas in the initiative:

1. Promote A Good Food Economy
2. Build A Market for Good Food
3. Eliminate Hunger in Los Angeles
4. Ensure Equal Access to Good Food in Underserved Communities
5. Grow Good Food in Our Neighborhoods
6. Inspire and Mobilize Good Food Champions

It sounds very exciting. You can download a copy of the Mayor’s Good Food Agenda here. You can also visit their website at http://goodfoodla.org/

Even if you aren’t a resident of the City of Los Angeles, it’s a very well researched document and anyone in ANY city will walk away with something.

The new location is decorated with retro-flare and will even offer curbside to-go service! Visit Magnolia Bakery and tell us what it’s like. I probably won’t be able to make it up to LA until this weekend. I could never turn down  at Red Velvet Cheesecake cupcake!

Photo credit: ZagatBuzz via the Magnolia Bakery

Magnolia Bakery
8389 Third Street
West Hollywood, CA 90036
323-951-0636

GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) will be hosting their annual Hancock Park Summer event with another Top Chef Invasion. This year, sponsors Bravo TV and ROKK Vodka bring three Top Chef Masters to the gorgeous home of Tim Corrigan in Hancock Park as they battle it out on July 25, 2010.

Our Top Chef Masters competing at the event are:

Susan Feniger, Executive Chef/Owner of The Border Grill & Street here in Los Angeles

Elizabeth Faulkner, Chef/Partner of Citizen Cake and Orson in San Francisco

Mark Peel, Executive Chef/Owner of The Tar Pit and The Point also here in Los Angeles.

Chairing the event will be Chef Paul McCollough of Paul’s Kitchen who was also a contestant on Food Network’s The Next Food Network Star and Edison Briones. They have a great lineup of Tasting Stations that will be serving dishes and drinks from:

• Barefoot Wines
• Bastide
• Cream by Crystal
• Dominick’s/Little Dom’s
• Edison Fields
• The Farm of Beverly Hills and LA Live
• The Foundry on Melrose
• Paul’s Kitchen
• POM Wonderful
• Zico Pure Coconut Water

Of course, event sponsor ROKK will probably be serving Vodka.

Judging this year’s event are Darryl Stephens and Jensen Atwood from Noah’s Arc and Gretchen Rossi from The Real Housewives of Orange County.

The event takes place this Sunday, July 25 from 4pm to 7pm and will be held at the home of Tim Corrigan. Ticket’s for the event are available from GLAAD. VIP Ticket’s are $150 which also allows a vote in the judging round while general admission tickets are $100. More information on the event can be found at www.glaad.org/2010/hancock

Help support GLAAD and enjoy a summer afternoon with good food and wine.

Stephen Weber and his girlfriend Brittany decided to try their taste buds with Deep Fried Butter and Chocolate Covered Bacon. I think I’ll have to make it to the fair to do a roundup of food and cover the pie and baking contests. Here is a short video of their first bites of butter and bacon:

Heartattack Foods at the OC Fair from Stephen on Vimeo.

I need to get down there soon. I know Brittany didn’t care for the deep fried butter, but there was something about it that Oprah and Gayle liked about it, at least at the Texas State Fair!

Now, I think I mentioned something about contests. Another foodie, friend and co-worker Joanna Fee submitted her own recipe of Scones to be judged in the one of the Baking Contests at the fair. I was going to enter my Red Velvet Cupcakes this year, but I got busy with some recipe testing and photo shoots. I can’t wait to see how she did!

More on the fair next weekend as I get myself all cleansed out for a day of deep fried foods and sugary sweet things. thanks Stephen and Brittany for sharing your experience with us!

Stop by this Saturday at the Tender Greens (8759 Santa Monica Blvd) in West Hollywood as over 70 bloggers and bakers will be selling over 2,000 baked goods.

That’s right. Starbucks will be giving away a free Pastry with the purchase of any handcrafted beverage on Tuesday, March 23.

Why? Because they want to. But in many ways it’s more than just FREE. Starbucks’ pastry as now free of artificial trans fats, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors and no artificial dyes.

So download the coupon now and enjoy a little somethin-somethin with your coffee tomorrow!

Click here for your free pastry at Starbucks on March 23.

A CDC report in 2008 listed Huntington, WV as the most unhealthiest city in America. In the report, it stated that nearly 50% of the the adults in Huntington are overweight. Huntington leads in a half-dozen other illness measures, too, including heart disease and diabetes. While the report has been out for 2 years, it is amazing that most of the town of Huntington isn’t even aware of the report.

It was this report that brought Jamie to America. He wants to come to the town of Huntington and show them there is a better way. Get rid of the processed foods, the junk food and make better eating choices with fresh, raw ingredients. He visited the home with 3 kids, all in their teens, all overweight. A very caring mother whose husband drives tractor trailers for 2-3 weeks a month, stood in shock as she saw the amount of junk food and processed, frozen food she server her children weekly. Jamie went thru the daunting task of cooking all that food and then displaying it on the dining room table. A good portion of that food was fried foods. A weeping mother looked at the table and said the didn’t want to kill her children. Jamie said she no longer had to worry. Jamie started that family with a fresh pasta meal and left recipes and shopping lists for a weeks worth of meals. Jamie promised to come back in a week to check up on her.

Meanwhile, Jamie is at an elementary school cafeteria where 450 meals are served for breakfast and lunch. Jamie’s first role is to assess what is being made and how. We find a kitchen run by 5 dutiful women – all school cafeteria cooks who are very set in their ways, especially one named Alice. They all don’t know why Jamie is there and what it is he is going to do. After watching children eating pizza for lunch, he witnesses frozen chicken nugget being prepared and mashed potatoes. He asks when they need to start peeling pototatoes and they all laugh at Jamie. The make the mashed potatoes from something called Potato Pearls. These pearls are “nuggets” of potatoes that are mixed with water and must be mixed rigorously and placed into the warming tray before it gets hard in the bowl. Jamie said it was like pouring concrete. After lunch service he sits with the ladies and reviews all the processed food that is in the freezer. He asks the ladies if any of them had a problem with all the preservatives and unknown chemicals in the food. Alice was first to point out to Jamie that the first ingredients in the boxes was real food. Jamie was trying to say that it was also all the other ingredients that had him worried. None of the ladies had a problem. Jamie did. Jamie was also appalled at the amount of food waste that was happening. It was interesting to note that the only fresh item made on the tray that day was bread and most of it ended up in the trash. It was also interesting to note that almost every child opted for chocolate or strawberry milk, not regular 2% milk. Jamie was just heartbroken to see all food go to waste.

The next day Jamie brought in fresh vegetables, fruit and chicken to serve. Now, he was serving it opposite pizza that was being served that day. The students were asked if they wanted chicken or pizza. Jamie had roasted chicken, brown rice, salad and fruit. Now…if you’re a kid used to eating pizza and chicken nuggets, are you going to choose the chicken? Very few chose the chicken and of those that did, most of it ended up in the trash. So sad.

Then controversy exploded when some quotes that Jamie made were put out of context and put on the front page of the local paper. The school principal and the cafeteria staff confronted Jamie about the article and Jamie said that his statements were put out of context. It was NEVER his intention to belittle the town of Huntington or to say that  the town was dumb and stupid. He went on record with one of the local station to state that the article was misquoted and that he was there to help the town not to belittle or insult the town.

This was a sneek peek into this new and controversial show. Here is some English guy walking into their town basically telling them that they are killing themselves and the he is there not to put them down, but to show them a different way and to show them they can overcome the hurdles. They can overcome the fact that this generation of kids is going to live shorter than their parent. They can overcome the high percentage of diabetes and heart disease.

Can he do it? Is this just some reality tv show that is looking for ratings? Is having Ryan Seacrest’s name attached to this project part of the reason people aren’t taking it seriously?

I for one think that Jamie’s intentions are true. It think heis methods are a bit unorthodox, but maybe that’s what we need to wake up. Maybe he really wants to rattle our cages so that we wake up and understand that we are hurting ourselves.

I for one will be turning in next week for the 2 hour season premiere as he continues his battle in the town of Huntington, WV.

P.S. I thought it was interesting that there was a commercial for McDonalds during the show!

I can say that I have eaten at two of the ten and wholeheartedly agree that they should be there. Orange Coast Magazine’s Restaurant of the year is Park Avenue Restaurant in Stanton.

The remaining nine restaurants on the list are Sage, Fleming’s. Lucca Cafe, Watermarc, Sol Cocina, Marche Moderne, Charlie Palmer, Zimzala and Pizzeria Ortica.

A bit about Park Avenue Restaurant:

OpenTable says:

From the front door to the fireplace, Park Avenue promises unforgettable dining. Serving creative renditions of classic American food. Perfect for a business lunch or a casual dinner with friends. There is a two-bottle maximum for personal wines.

A few menu items that I may have to try when I visit are:

Either the Whole Wheat Flatbread with Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions and Fresh Mozzarella or the Lobster and Roasted Corn Fritters with Red Pepper Mayonnaise.

Uh oh…I saw Mussels with Garlic, Lemon and White Wine that may trump the other two!

For dinner, I’m a sucker for Seared Scallops for sure, but they have some dishes like 5 Spiced Baked Salmon, Medallions of Filet Mignon, Pan Seared Jidori Chicken and Texas Antelope Medallions served with Pear Risotto in a Red Wine Demi.

Dessert selections include a Warm Butter Cake with Caramel and Whipped Cream, but it is the daily flavor of the Warm Bread Pudding that has my interest. But if you eyes don’t gravitate to those two options, I’m sure the Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting will be placed in front of you…

So come on out from 11am to 6pm and help support your local food and the Tustin Schools.

Orange County Restaurant Week – February 28 to March 6

Newport Beach Restaurant Week – January 22 to January 28

Los Angeles Restaurant Week(s) – January 24 to January 29; January 31 to February 5

San Diego Restaurant Week – January 17 to January 22

Take advantage of special lunch &  dinner menus and pricing during each event. The San Diego event has a contest this year to win a year’s worth of free dining (eat out every weekend). Los Angeles is offering a chance to win several $100 gift cards good at participating restaurants up there.

This is a free event and will be held at 5:00pm at the Sur La Table in SCP. Bob will also be signing copies of Knives Cooks Love – written by Sarah Jay and Sur La Table. Copies of the book will be on sale prior to the book signing.

Earlier in the day, Bob will be hosting a hands-on Master Knife Skills class at the Newport Beach Sur La Table. Reserve your spot for a rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn knife skills from the foremost kitchen knife-maker. Bob Kramer is the only former chef in the United States to have been certified as a Master Bladesmith by the American Bladesmith Society. He belongs to an elite society of master culinary knifemakers and is the only one who specializes in kitchen cutlery. Cooks Illustrated once wrote “The Kramer knife outperformed every knife we’ve ever rated.” Put simply — Mr. Kramer is king of the kitchen knife. The class is hands-on and costs $100.00.

Connoisseurs wait years for one of Bob Kramer’s originals, but Sur La Table has partnered with him to create an exquisite line of artisan knives only available at Sur La Table. Don’t miss your chance to join the master himself as he shares his methods of using cutlery through demonstrating cuts, sharpening techniques and explaining why the new Shun Bob Kramer line will make kitchen prep a joy.

Kids under 12 can take home one free pumpkin while supplies last after enjoying a day full of spooky (but not scary!) activities.

Along with pumpkin picking and decorating as well as master pumpkin carving demonstrations, the Pumpkin Harvest includes a petting zoo and Halloween-themed activities in the Spooky Hangar. At 3 p.m., kids can participate in a costume parade as they go trick-or-treating inside the Park with treats provided by local restaurants and organizations. The festival includes carnival games, live music, and even an old-fashioned cake walk.

Event Schedule (train rides, games and crafts available all day)
1:00 pm: Swingshift Band
1:30 pm: Harvest Walk
2:00 pm: Swingshift Band
2:30 pm: Harvest Walk
3:00 pm: Costume Parade and Swingshift Band
4:00 pm: Harvest Walk
5:00 pm: Event Concludes

The event takes place largely in the farm area of the Great Park, behind Hangar 244. It’s a fitting location for the event, which is part festival and part food drive – fun with a purpose. Guests are encouraged to bring non-perishable food items to the event for donation to the Orange County Food Bank and Second Harvest Food Bank. Both organizations will be on hand to accept the items.

“The Great Park Pumpkin Harvest is a fun family event that helps celebrate the fall season and helps fight hunger,” said Larry Agran, Chair, Orange County Great Park Board Corporation.

There will be plenty of food vendors with carnival-style refreshments for sale and tricks and treats and fun for everyone! Admission is free, and parking is just $8. For updated information about Great Park events, go to www.ocgp.org or call (949) 724-7420.