Well they lasted three years. I’m sorry to see them go. Prior to SweetSpot, it was occupied by another cupcake store, Lorraine’s. I wonder if another cupcake place will take its place!

They call themselves the “Ultimate Kabobery“. Fresh ingredients, choice meats and the finest of spices. Each order is cooked to order and you’ll never see kabobs sitting under a heat lamp at Luna Grill. Their restaurants in San Diego have a very clean aesthetic with lots of clean, white area, with splashes of red as the main accent color. Very pleasing to the eye.

The menu features fresh salads, wraps and of course, the kabobs. You’ll find the everyday Med fare like Hummus and Eggplant, but they mix things up and offer items like the Gyros Quesadilla (basically a regular Gyro, just sandwiched between two rounds of pita. On the kabob side, you’ll find favorites like Chicken, Lamb and Sirloin, but you also get a choice of “Flat Cut” chicken which is thinly cut pieces of hormone free chicken tenders on the blade or try a Cornish hen.

Luna Grill currently has 6 locations in the San Diego area and you should see the Lake Forest location open in the next 30-60 days. Based on the construction inside, they haven’t even gotten the walls up yet.

So more on Luna Grill as we get closer to open date.

Have you eaten at Luna Grill in San Diego? How was it?

Luna Grill
23625 El Toro Road
Lake Forest, CA 92630
www.lunagrill.com

Two new shops are getting ready to open soon: N’ice Cream and The Cheese Shop.

Coming down from Los Angeles will be N’ice Cream’s fifth location. Featuring freshly-made organic gelato and sorbet. Every morning, the iced confectioner prepares their gelato and sorbets for sale that day. Nothing they sell in their stores is ever more than 12 hours old at any point in time during the day.

You can have your “n’ice cream” plain or in a milkshake or smoothie. They also have a wide variety of home-made toppings.

Plans at this time is for a March opening date in The OC Mart Mix. In the meantime you can visit one of their other locations in Santa Monica or Venice. More info on N’ice Cream can be found on their website at: www.ilovenicecream.com or on Twitter at @NiceCreamUSA

N’ice Cream is founded by Laura Nielsen and Christian Toxboe, both from Denmark. They moved to Los Angeles in 2008 and opened their first location in the Abbot Kinney neighborhood of Venice.

Now, in November I reported that a new Cheese Shop was moving into The OC Mart Mix.

Well lots of new progress. A new partition wall is now complete and new refrigeration units as well as the main selling counter are now in place.

The Cheese Shop is scheduled to open their doors on Saturday, January 28.

They will be offering a unique selection of cheeses and charcuterie. In addition they will have grab-and-go sandwiches as well as home goods.

“We are excited to be in the oc mart MiX with its collection of eco-conscience vendors and exclusive design stores.” – Dawn Mednick

The Cheese Shop will be operated by Dawn Mednick and Sherrie Jordan. The shop is a sister store to The Cellar (wine and cheese shop)  in San Clemente which opened in 2008.

The Cheese Shop
3313 Hyland Avenue, Suite C
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
949-284-0558
www.cellarcheeseshop.com
@OCCheeseShop

According to Rainer Fruit, the Junami apple is harvested in the Fall like other apples, but made available in January for flavor and marketability. The Junami has the ability to build flavor while in storage.

The Junami is best described as having a special crisp, fruity character and is a real thirst quencher with its invigorating flavor. It is especially popular with young adults, or those who love delicious, juicy apples. The flavor is slightly perfumed, with a nice balance of a fresh, tangy taste and crispy bite. It’s beautifully round with eye-catching red color.

The Junami, while not new to the world, is fairly new to the U.S. The fruit originates in Switzerland. General grown in Northwestern Europe under the most strictest guidelines. Eastern Washington has similar conditions and that’s how Rainer Fruit came to be the exclusive grower and shipper of the Junami apple here in the U.S.

So how do you get one of these apples? Well, here in the California it seems to only be available in Northern California – in most Safeway stores. Unfortunately, it hasn’t made its way down to Safeway’s sister stores, Vons.

Perhaps in the next few weeks we will see the Junami here in the Southland.

Rainier Fruit Company
Selah, Washington
Facebook: facebook.com/RainierFruit
www.rainierfruit.com

I was driving down El Toro Road when I noticed the indoor and outdoor lighting was on. After making a quick turn into The Orchard at El Toro and Rockfield, the door was open, but they were hosting a private party. I snapped a few pictures, they are dark.

I grabbed a copy of their menu and I’ll try and make it there tomorrow. From the looks of their menu a few items caught my eye!

Something Cured
Seasonal selection of local artisanal cured meats with house-cured olives, brick oven flatbread and spicy apple chutney

Oskar Blues™ Beer Can Roasted Cornish Game Hen
Served with roasted heirloom potatoes and root vegetables

Frilled Duroc Pork Porterhouse
Cut thick, and served with sweet potatoes and apple pecan chutney

They have a nice selection of locally crafted Brü’s from Cismontane, Taps, Hangar 24 and others.  Add to that a nice list of wines (Crü’s) from local wineries. The prices are reasonable and carry a $10 corkage fee.

The goal of Brü is a Farm-to-Table concept with the menu changing ever so often based on availability of fresh ingredients. They have a manageable sized menu and the price ranged from $7.00 to $15.00 for Starters and Soups, while Sandwiches, Flatbreads, Pastas and entrees range from $11.00 to $22.00.

A review will follow in the next few days. Meanwhile don’t forget to stop by!

Brü Grill & Market
23730 El Toro Road
Lake Forest, CA 92630
949-305-5757
Website: www.brugrill.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BruGrill

Last year I reviewed the Corner Fish Grill in July 2010 and even then I wasn’t sure if they were going to last this long. Users on Yelp and Urbanspoon weren’t kind and I have gone back a few months later after my initial review only to report nothing new.

The restaurant was the first tenant in a brand new shopping center that tried to compete with other Fish grills in the area like Boneheads, California Fish Grill and others.

Corner Fish Grill
26051 La Paz Road
Mission Viejo, CA 92691

SoCo?? The South Coast Collection, located at Hyland between the 405 and Sunflower Avenue. They are home to home decorating boutiques, furniture stores, designers and home to The OC Mart Mix housing the Portola Coffee Lab, We Olive and Wine Bar, and the Savory Spice Stop.

[Updated] I went to take some picture of the space and turns out there are TWO restaurants opening here at SoCo.

I’ve been looking at some of the empty spaces here at the South Coast Collection and notice a Beverage License application on one of the suites facing the intersection of Hyland and Sunflower. The name on the application is The Iron Press.

Earlier this week, the South Coast Collection website said this space was slated for a Sushi place (yes, that too, read below). It turns out, however, that this will be a Beer and Waffle place serving both savory and sweet waffles along with sandwiches and a nice selection of locally crafted beers. In fact, their website declares them a Beer place first, then a waffle destination!

The name of the new place is The Iron Press. They are slated for a Mid-December opening. Signage has gone up on the outside of their suite, but haven’t been able to take a peek inside as the windows are covered with butcher paper.

Upon looking at the space tonight, I notice that there is indeed a Sushi place going in, but next door to The Iron Press. The new Sushi and Japanese Dining place is called Waiiha. I don’t have anything more on them, but was able to shoot a nice pic of the inside in the moonlight. Inside we see the beginnings of the sushi bar and there is some equipment in the kitchen, but nothing more at this point.

More news on these two new additions to the South Coast Collection as they become available!

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

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

As previously announced, private investment funds managed by Wayzata Investment Partners LLC (“Wayzata”) are the majority stockholders of Perkins & Marie Callender‘s Holding LLC, which is now the parent company of the Perkins & Marie Callender‘s group of companies.  

Jay Trungale, who served as chief executive officer of the Company and as a member of the board of directors from 2005-2011, will continue to serve as chief executive officer of the Company and chairman of the new board of managers.

Marie Callender’s operates mostly in California and the West with 52 company and 37 franchised restaurant locations.

This is exciting! I don’t have any details on opening dates or even the name of this new shop, but hopefully they will be open before the holidays!

The “Cheese Shop” joins other culinarians in the OC Mart Mix like Portola Coffee Lab, We Olive and Wine Bar and the Savory Spice Stop.

In addition, don’t forget the OC Mart Mix’s weekly Saturday Farmers’ Market and various Food Truck gatherings.

When more details come, I’m sure to get it out to you! Stay tunes!

The “Cheese Shop” in the OC Mart Mix
3313 Hyland Avenue Suite C
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

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

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The winner of today’s 2nd set of tickets to the OC Foodie Fest goes to Mike C of Valencia! Mike is taking his wife and making the trek down from the Santa Clarita Valley tomorrow!

Mike said:

Very happy to see i have finally won something on the internet.

We live in the Santa Clarita Valley (Valencia)  and have pretty much chased the Kogi truck around our valley on its visits out here. Its bad when we arrive and we can tell by the number of people in line how long the wait will be. So perhaps its time to start backing off.

I use to work for Disney Imagineering (retired) and made way to many visits to Disney parks world wide. I will be going to Blizzcon in Oct but have never been to comic-con so go figure.

I like the Great food Truck Race and hope Nom-Nom doesn’t run away with the whole thing as Grill em Up makes a charge soon.

Again, congrats Mike (the guy on the right…) and we’ll see you tomorrow at the OC Foodie Fest!

I’m feeling generous today and have 2 more tickets for tomorrow’s OC Foodie Fest at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Luvina Martinez won ticket’s earlier this week, why don’t you join her?

If you want these two tickets, sign up for an email feed of Foodie In Disguise in the box to the right. A random person will be selected from any new submission today.

Contest ends at 9pm tonight.

Ticket’s will be emailed to you in PDF format. You will need to print the tickets out and bring them with you to the OC Foodie Fest!

Good Luck!

For those not familiar, Schwan’s Home Service has been delivering restaurant quality foods to homes since 1952. Starting in Minnesota with one truck, the Schwan’s business has grown to over 6,000 Schwan’s Customer Service Managers delivering to homes all across the U.S.

I first met Chef Jet when I was a chef’s assistant at The New School of Cooking in Culver City. It was there that I get to see his charisma and culinary mastery at work as he taught scores of students Asian Cuisine and mastering the Wok. Chef Jet is the Executive Chef of the Wazuzu Restaurant in the Encore Resort in Las Vegas and has been named the Best Asian Restaurant. You can read more about Chef Jet on his website at www.chefjet.com.

So in addition to Ed Cotton’s win tonight on Bravo’s Top Chef for his Gnocchi dish, check out Chef Jet’s Asian dishes!

www.schwans.com/chefjet

www.schwans.com/topchef

Congratulations to Luvina Martinez of Orange who won 2 tickets to this Saturday’s OC Foodie Fest in Anaheim.

She will join many of you in sampling some of the best Gourmet Food Truck cuisine that Southern California has to offer!!

50 trucks will be gathered at the Honda Center in Anaheim to give you the best sampling and variety of food out there. In addition to the food, a nice selection of local bands will be performing.

Luckily, our little heat wave will be gone by Saturday as daytime highs for Saturday will top at 72 degrees with lots of sunshine in Anaheim.

Our winner, Luvina Martinez is married and has 2 children.  She is a local girl born and raised here in Orange.  She works in the medical field and enjoys reading, exercising and baking. She enjoys trying new things and  looks forward to trying out the variety of foods on Saturday as well as hearing the bands.

Do you want to join Luvina this Saturday? Tickets are almost sold out so buy your tickets now! Visit www.ocfoodiefest.com and click on the BUY TICKETS link now to get your tickets!

We’ll see you on Saturday and if you see me, stop me and say hello!

The Great Food Truck Race

First of all, let’s talk about Food Network’s newest show, The Great Food Truck Race hosted by Tyler Florence. 7 gourmet food trucks from across the U.S. come together to compete against each other in a race for the best food truck. Four teams are from Southern California: Nom Nom Truck (Bahn Mi Sandwiches), Crepes Bonaparte (Crepes), Nana Queens (Wings and Banana Pudding) and Grill ‘Em All (Burgers).

Let’s catch everyone up. The other teams are The Austin Grill Press (Paninis), Rajin’ Cajun (Cajun) and Spencer on the Go (French). All 7 trucks meet in Los Angeles and meet Tyler. There, Tyler tells them they will be competing with each other and that each week, the truck that makes the most money wins. The truck that brings in the least, goes home. Simple and to the point. Each week, the truck starts out with no inventory and they will be given a designated amount of money for each challenge and they will need to find their supplies in whatever city they end up in. In addition, Tyler has a few “truck stops” along the way. Truck stops are mini-challenges meant to further the competition between the truckers.

Since 4 of the teams are from Southern California, it wasn’t fair to the other trucks that the SoCal trucks knew all the purveyors in the area so off to San Diego they go. There they have 36 hours to purchase, cook and sell. The first show we find that Nana Queens didn’t bring in enough money to stay in the competition. The winner? The Nom Nom Truck with their awesome Bahn Mi sandwiches! Congrats!

This week, we are in Santa Fe, New Mexico and the remaining trucks come together once again. This week they only have $300 for food and that’s not alot of money. On the drive to Santa Fe, the teams are on the phone trying to make partnerships and find out where to buy food, hoping to get some kind of advantage. So they are off and Tyler has a Truck Stop challenge. On the 2nd day of selling, Tyler calls each truck and tells them that they have to integrate Chiles into the menu and have a special. All the trucks scramble to make a special except one. The Nom Nom truck has been doing so well in sales, that they have decided not to participate in the challenge – big risk. The team that has the best Chile dish gets immunity in this week’s elimination.

So how did it turn out? The three remaining Southern California truck came out on top this week. Nom Nom, won this week bringing in almost 2x more income than the 2nd place winner. Congrats to Nom Nom, Crepes Bonaparte and Grill ‘Em All.

Next week they travel to Ft. Worth Texas. Good luck all!

OC Foodie Fest is Just Around The Corner

Next Saturday is an awesome event that you can’t miss! 50 Gourmet Food Trucks from all over will be in ONE PLACE this Saturday, August 28 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. It’s the OC Foodie Fest! This is YOUR chance to sample food from one of the widest varieties in one place. Come and support the trucks and have some great food while at the same time, raise money for some local charities like ChildShare, Pretend City’s Children Museum and Cart for a Cause.

But you know what?? You can win a pair of tickets to the OC Foodie Fest, but hurry, the contest ends on Monday, August 23 at 11:59pm. On Tuesday morning, the winner of the 2 tickets will be announced! So visit this link and enter the contest!

If you don’t win, know that your admission fee goes to help some great charities! We’ll see you next Saturday!

Tickets Prices:
General Admission (Pre-Sale)
Adult – $12.00
Child Under 12 – $6.00
Child 3 & Under – Free

Family 4 Pack (Pre-Sale)
2 Adult + 2 Child (Under 12)
General Admission Tickets
Price: $30.00

VIP Admission (Pre-Sale)
Adult – $50.00
Child Under 12 – $8.00
Child 3 & Under – Free

At The Door (Available if the event has not sold out)
General Admission – $15
VIP Admission – $60

The OC Foodie Fest is coming in a few days and this is your chance to win 2 tickets to the event! That’s right, here is your chance to win (2) tickets to this AWESOME event.

The OC Foodie Fest brings together 50 Gourmet Food Trucks in one place! Did I say 50?? Yes! 50 Gourmet Food Trucks all in one place so you can eat to your heart’s desire. A sampling of trucks are as follows:

• Barcelona on the Go
• Calbi bBQ
• Cool Haus
• Dim Sum Truck
• Fishlips Sushi
• Flying Pig Truck
• Frysmith
• Get Shaved
• Komodo
• LudoTruck
• NaNa Queens (As seen on The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network)
• Taco Dawg
• The Slice Truck
• Tropical Shave Ice
• White Rabbit Truck (Filipino Fusion Food!)

What an awesome sampling of the trucks that will be at the Honda Center on Saturday, August 28 from 11:30am to 7:00pm.

So how do you win tickets to the OC Foodie Fest 2010??

Answer a two part question in the comments area. A random selection will be drawn out of the answers on Tuesday, August 24 to win the (2) tickets.

In order to qualify, you have to answer both parts of the question. You have until 11:59pm on Monday, August 23 to enter!

QUESTION:

How do you support local farmers and sustainability practices in your lifestyle and what truck do you most look forward to eating at the OC Foodie Fest?

Now the title of this entry is Cupcake Chaos. I say that with love and with some frustration. Today’s event is about getting to taste some great cupcakes, but it was also a fundraiser to bring awareness to human trafficking. Based on the amount of people that showed up, I think they will raise a good chunk of money.

I went to today’s Cupcake Camp OC being held at the Atrium Hotel and it was a little chaotic. First off, there wasn’t enough hotel parking to support the attendees. The hotel’s parking lot is a series of one way “alleys” that made it difficult to navigate. I got there just past 3:00pm and every slot was filled. So I parked in the parking lot behind the hotel that was clearly marked, NO HOTEL parking, but what was I to do? Many folks were parking there and walking to the hotel, so I joined in.

Once I got to the front the hotel, there was a line stretching out the door. The line was long and registration to get into the event was on the 2nd floor. Several volunteers were trying to make progress by pre-registering folks towards my part of the line. Just as I was “next” I was asked to move forward in the line which was further up the stairs. Meanwhile some folks towards the back of the line decided it was ok to split the line into two and go in ahead of us that have been waiting longer. Volunteers were all over the place, but I think they were just overwhelmed. For registration, they were asking for everyone’s email address and they had to write it down. The entrance fee of $10 which was good towards three cupcakes inside. Ok, not too bad considering. When I finally paid and got my three tickets I was placed into another line only to find that they were waiting to pay and register as well. Meanwhile I looked over at empty computer stations and cashiers that weren’t really doing anything. Volunteers were walking around with wads of cash in their hands as they doled out tickets and gathered email addresses.

Once I got into the main hall, it was just madness. Cupcake vendors were lined up against the walls while everyone else was trying to make their way in and get at the cupcakes. Some places where full of inventory while others like, Frostings Cupcakes, were completely out of cupcakes.  It was very crowded, so I have to say that this was a success for the organizers. I think the venue has to be way bigger next year!

I stayed for about 30 minutes but I was getting claustrophobic and left. The lines were too dense and packed in I didn’t walk away with one cupcake, even the three “free” ones I was supposed to get with my entrance fee. I was happy to donate the money.The show was only about 45 minute in, but they had three hours of events lined up. I hope they have enough cupcakes to last that long.

Please visit the cupcakecampoc website and donate money to their cause of awareness of human trafficking if you weren’t able to make it to today’s event.

I’m sorry that I walked away frustrated, but I don’t do well in large crowds and it got the best of me. Many folks there were happy to be eating their little wonders of frosting and cake and having an awesome time. This wasn’t the place and time to say hello to the bakers and introduce myself.

Congrats to all the contest participants and hope that the winner of the cupcake eating contest feels ok tomorrow!

This is an excerpt from their press release earlier today:

Researchers presented data from several studies that all point to the benefits of drinking coffee. One study of Dutch coffee-drinkers found a 50 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes in adults who consume seven or more cups per day, said Frank B. Hu, MD, PhD, professor of nutrition, epidemiology and medicine in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. He noted that the study was adjusted for lifestyle factors that are more prevalent in that group, such as smoking, consuming red meat and higher body mass index.

YiFang Chu, PhD, who leads the global coffee health and wellness research group at Kraft Foods Global Inc., pointed to an April 2010 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that found coffee may modulate inflammation, oxidative stress and body fat, all of which can contribute to disease if left unchecked.

Besides heart disease and diabetes, research also has linked coffee with a decreased risk in Alzheimer’s disease, particularly in people who drink coffee in midlife, said Joan Lindsay, PhD, an epidemiologist consultant who has worked with Health Canada and the University of Ottawa. A Finnish study that followed up 21 years later with midlife coffee-drinkers found a 65 percent reduction in Alzheimer’s disease, she said.

They all agree that additional studies need to be made before any kind of recommendations can be made overall. The factor of caffeine cannot be the only component since other caffeinated drinks don’t offer the same benefits. Furthermore, decaf coffee appears to offer the benefits as well.

###

About IFT
The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is a nonprofit scientific society. Our individual members are professionals engaged in food science, food technology, and related professions in industry, academia, and government. IFT’s mission is to advance the science of food, and our long-range vision is to ensure a safe and abundant food supply, contributing to healthier people everywhere.

For more than 70 years, the IFT has been unlocking the potential of the food science community by creating a dynamic global forum where members from more than 100 countries can share, learn, and grow. We champion the use of sound science across the food value chain through the exchange of knowledge, by providing education, and by furthering the advancement of the profession. IFT has offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit ift.org.

There will be a social media component to the magazine where readers will be able to interact and share ideas and recipes.

Initial reports is that the app will be available for free in the App Store and that future content will be richer and have a price tag attached.

This new venture is expected to go live sometime later this year.

This digital food blogger can’t wait!

Iron Chef Cat Cora and celebrated Lifestyle TV Host Lloyd Boston will share their secrets for making your next dinner party a huge success. Cat Cora will also be highlighting her newest book, Cat Cora’s Classics with a Twist. Here you will learn Cat’s secrets for taking classic dishes and give them a faster, fresher and lighter twist. Cat has also authored Cat Cora’s Kitchen and Cooking from the Hip: Fast, Easy, Phenomenal Meals.

Lloyd Boston will join Cat to dish out great advice on everything from what to wear to talk-of-the-town table-setting ideas for any occasion – they will give you the tools to ensure your next dinner party is a smashing success!

So join Cat and Lloyd on Monday, June 21 at 6:30pm for a couple of hours of fun recipes and style tips.

Macy’s Signature Kitchen
South Coast Plaza West (formerly the Crystal Court)
1st Floor
3333 Bear Street
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

To RSVP for this event, please call 877.884.3751