Afishionado

Redirect

2011-02-18T06:32:00.000-08:00

The continuation of this blog can be found at: Four Letter Life, where you can also read about our camping/traveling, attempts at fitness, and life lessons.

Pioneer Woman's Asian Noodle Salad

2011-02-06T08:05:00.000-08:00

Having just finished Michael Pollan's book, In Defense of Food, I was in the mood for something with an abundance of vegetables, which is why I turned to The Pioneer Woman's Asian Noodle Salad.

After chopping the mountain of vegetables called for in this recipe and lopping off part of my fingernail in the process, I don't think I would have cared if this salad tasted horrible after the length of time I spent to prepare it. Luckily, it is a very beautiful salad of fresh ingredients with a light dressing that is very aromatic in addition to being very tasty. This recipe makes a huge amount of salad, so you may want to invite friends over if you choose to make it. I don't think that the quantity or size of the vegetables matched the long and skinny linguine noodles very well, especially when trying to pick up portions with my fork, so next time I may try this recipe with penne, farfalle, fusilli, or rigatoni pasta. A shorter pasta shape may make for easier vegetable stabbing.

I made this salad back in September 2008, so I will need to make it again soon.

118 Degrees

2011-02-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

Although I subscribe to an alternative diet, I don't consider it particularly restricting. I don't tend to have problems eating out and at this point, friends and family easily and graciously accommodate my pescetarian diet. Having tried vegan cuisine, the same friend who took me to Native Foods asked us to join her for dinner at 118 Degrees, a raw food restaurant.

118 Degrees derives its name from the maximum temperature a food can withstand while still being considered raw. Beyond 118 degrees Fahrenheit, raw foodists consider the food to be cooked, which they believe strips food of its natural nutrients and can be harmful to our bodies. This conjured up images of carrot sticks, apples, salads, and sashimi.

Located in The Camp shopping center in Costa Mesa, 118 Degrees is appropriate amongst vegan cafes and restaurants, animal friendly salons and clothing stores, and a scuba diving school. While perusing the menu, my friend warned us that this isn't the place to get stuffed with food.

Trying raw cuisine for the first time, Devin and I decided to share the Trio of Enchiladas which came accompanied with a salad topped with marinated tomatoes. To make the wrap of the enchiladas, vegetable puree is dehydrated in a thin layer reminiscent of fruit leather such as Fruit Roll Ups. The first enchilada encompassed marinated tomatoes and sweet corn and was very sweet and refreshing. Second enchilada was spicy and was made up of thinly sliced zucchini. The third enchilada with its portobella mushrooms and avocadoes had a deep earthy flavor. I really liked the woodsy flavor of the portabella mushrooms, but I think my favorite was the tomato and corn enchilada. Drizzled atop the enchiladas were guacamole and sour cream made from pine nuts.

My friend, having tried several dishes off the menu, decided to get something new and had the Macadamia Coconut Curry Wrap. Similar to the enchiladas, the thin wrap was made from dehydrated vegetable puree. This wrap encased a vegetable and yellow curry mixture and was topped with a slightly spicy sauce.

For dessert, we shared the Chocolate Strawberry Fondue. The vanilla dip was made from pine nuts and I don't remember what was in the chocolate sauce (maybe carobs? we ate at this restaurant back in August 2008). The vanilla pine nut had a very woody flavor and was thicker than the chocolate.

2981 Bristol Suite B5

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

714-754-0718

Yard House

2011-02-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

Although Yard House may be most known for its seemingly endless row of beer taps and tall beer glasses, Devin and I often go there just for the food. I enjoy ordering their sushi cakes, while Devin likes their burgers, especially the fries that accompany each burger. This is from a visit to the restaurant in July 2008.

I frequently order the Spicy Tuna Roll from the appetizer menu when visiting Yard House. Instead of a cut roll, the Spicy Tuna Roll from Yard House comes as a sushi cake, piling seared rare ahi, avocado, edamame, cucumber, wasabi soy sauce, carrots, sprouts, and red cabbage in layers. I used to get the California Roll (made in the same layer cake fashion) but I definitely prefer this spicy tuna rather than the cooked crab of the California Roll. The sirachi not only adds heat, but I love the spices this chili sauce lends to a dish. The one thing this Spicy Tuna Roll leaves wanting is rice.

Although Devin ordered his Avocado and Swiss burger medium, it came as medium well with the edges slightly over-charred. The burger came with avocado, lettuce, tomato, red onion, melted swiss cheese, and roasted garlic aioli sauce on a potato bun with a pickle on the side. The very skinny fries are tenderly cooked and appear to have a very light batter coating which leaves Devin to describe them as "juicy" and thus Yard House is one of Devin's favorite places to order french fries.

1875 Newport Blvd.

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

949-642-0090

Heroes

2008-09-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I was having my birthday party in the Anaheim area and since I don't know that area very well, I asked my friend for dinner recommendations in the Anaheim or Fullerton areas. Being a long-time resident of Orange County, he suggested Heroes, so I sent a caravan of my friends to Heroes for my birthday dinner, having never tried the restaurant. Now that is trust.

Heroes is tucked into downtown Fullerton in a district called SOCO (South of Commonwealth Avenue). This area is full of red-bricked shops and restaurants that are within walking distance, something only found in Southern California's downtown areas.

While waiting for my entire party to arrive before being seated, I knew I was in for a treat just watching the patrons through the window. The sizes are gigantic, even the drinks are enormous!

Walking to our table at the rear of the restaurant's dining room, we walked past a long bar with a seemingly endless line of beers on tap. I would say there are two routes to go at Heroes: Order a couple pints of different beers to try what they have on tap or find something you already like and order it in their large size. For the occasion of my turning a year older, I took my friend's recommendation and ordered a large Newcastle Framboise, a mix of Newcastle beer with raspberry-flavored beer.

I ordered the Tuna Melt with curly fries . Thankfully the sandwich arrived already cut in half because I could only finish one of the halves before calling it quits. The curly fries were freshly fried, but unfortunately I must not have been paying attention because one of my friends ordered onion rings as his side, which were excellent. The Tuna Melt had a large portion of tuna salad, but an even larger portion of fresh veggies, which included lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles and was finally topped with cheddar cheese. Fortunately, the tuna salad was well seasoned and did not have a lot of filler vegetables, so the tuna salad shone through all the vegetables. This is a good place to split an entree with friends because of the enormous portion sizes.

Devin ordered a Patty Melt which was short compared to everyone else's entrees because of the absence of vegetables. Unlike the hamburgers, the Patty Melt did not have vegetables, used melted Swiss cheese, and had grilled sourdough slices as the bun. He also ordered curly fries and was barely able to made a dent in them.

At the end of the meal, I was presented with a delicious, hot peach cobbler that was topped with vanilla ice cream. Similar to our other dishes, the peach cobbler was large enough to pass through our party twice and I was still left with a portion that I couldn't finish. I never really met a cobbler I truly enjoyed until this one; the hot peaches melted in my mouth and were cooled by the vanilla ice cream. The crumb topping didn't get soggy and added a nice crunch. I especially appreciated this peach cobbler because the peaches weren't encased in a thick, sickly sweet syrup, but instead the natural juice released from the peaches during their time in the oven seemed to be the only sauce.

Heroes is a very relaxed atmosphere with large food and drink portions. They have a large selection of beers on tap and there are television screens tuned to sports throughout the restaurant so you can watch your favorite team. The service is very casual, with a different face appearing each time something is brought to the table. Although the atmosphere is appropriate for a large and noisy group, we received our bill as a single number circled on a piece of paper rather than itemized, leading to a lot of confusion at the end of the meal.

Heroes Bar & Grill
125 W Santa Fe Ave.
Fullerton, CA 92832
714-738-4356

Pioneer Woman Homemade Ranch Dressing

2008-09-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

In the mood for salad and having all the ingredients on hand, but dissatisfied with store bought ranch dressing, Devin asked me to find out how restaurants make their ranch salad dressing.

I use a variety of salad dressings depending on my current mood, so maybe that is why I don't particularly pay attention to how a restaurant's ranch salad dressing tastes. In any case, store bought ranch dressing works for me, but in the interest in satisfying Devin's craving for restaurant-style ranch dressing, I turned to the Pioneer Woman's Homemade Ranch Dressing. Made of a base of mayonnaise, sour cream, and buttermilk (I had regular milk), with a few standard fresh herbs, this dressing can be easily suited to your personal tastes. On my first attempt, the raw garlic was a little too strong, so I don't add as much on my subsequent trials of this ranch dressing. In any case, Devin deems this homemade ranch dressing as pretty close to the restaurant version and it is deliciously creamy and flavorful with the fresh herbs, so it's a keeper. It can be made thick as a dip or thin as a dressing, depending on the amount of milk (or buttermilk) used.

In any case, I highly recommend the Pioneer Woman's website for amazing photos and witty posts.

Gentle Ben's

2008-08-29T15:03:00.000-07:00

Located just down the block from the University of Arizona is a charming little area of shops and restaurants where one can comfortably take a stroll as the sun goes down.

Gentle Ben's is a brewery with lower level and second story dining areas. The dimly lit brewery had tealights at every table, creating a very intimate environment perfect for catching up with old friends and family (but makes for poor photo quality).

I tried the Tuscon Blonde which was a light beer of pale golden color with little head. It was a very tame beer with a light fruitiness, but otherwise did not have much else to it.

Whoa, this spinach and artichoke dip was awesome. Now, I haven't had that many encounters with spinach and artichoke dip, probably because the few times I have had it have only been mediocre, but I'm going to start ordering it more often based on my experience at Gentle Ben's. The appetizer was colossal, the large portion of spinach and artichoke dip was served in a warm, soft sourdough bread bowl and the crust was able to retain its tender crispiness. This is the first spinach and artichoke dip I have seen that included black olives, which were sprinkled on top. This incredibly creamy spinach and artichoke dip topped with tomatoes, black olives, and chives was made with parmesan cheese, cream cheese, Tuscon Blonde Ale, and onions and had chunks of spinach, artichoke. It was fantastic with the warm tortilla chips and the chunks of soft sourdough bread. Not only is the presentation bursting of dip, tortillas, and bread, but it was full of flavor.

I had the Grilled Veggie Quesadilla made with jack and cheddar cheeses. The vegetables in this quesadilla included mushrooms, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, zucchini, and onions and the quesadilla was topped with black olives, tomatoes, and green onions. The flour tortilla was grilled to a nice crisp and the chipotle salsa provided nice heat and flavor, but the quesadilla wasn't particularly spectacular. I longed for a thin, chewy flour tortilla handmade with lard, but there certainly was not one to be found on my plate. I was expecting a lot more from this dish, both in size and especially in flavor, than was actually presented to me, so I was disappointed with my entree.

Stepping outside of the restaurant after dinner, we were surprised to be greeted by the elusive Old Pueblo Trolley that runs down University and Fourth streets.

865 E. University Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85719
520-624-4177

Millie's Pancake Haus

2008-08-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

While on vacation, I don't feel compelled to wake up early, especially when I know that brunch is a fine excuse for sleeping in late.

Millie's Pancake Haus appropriately shares retail space among quilt shops and antique stores and even the restaurant's exterior lets you know that stepping inside will help you forget that you're in the middle of the desert.

Entering Millie's Pancake Haus is like stepping into grandma's house out in the country, with its lace curtains and wooden chairs. The two dining rooms are furnished in wood, with some high-back booths in the other dining room. The walls are filled with all kinds of antiques and the place mats double as menus, which really lends to the relaxing brunch atmosphere.

Now, I realize that the restaurant's name boasts their pancakes, but unfortunately, I have to be in a particular mood for a sweet breakfast and this was brunch, closer to lunchtime, anyways. My hostess mentioned that Millie's omelets are well made and since I do have a fondness for omelets, I chose the Mushroom, Onion, Spinach, and Swiss omelet. The daintily-folded omelet came with a choice of bread (I chose wheat toast) and home fried potatoes. While this omelet was full of tenderly cooked mushrooms, onions, and spinach, it also made me realize that I prefer omelets made with cheddar cheese. I think that cheddar cheese pairs better with the rich egg and the swiss cheese in this omelet didn't present itself very strongly. I probably wouldn't have noticed there was any cheese in the omelet except for the title. The vegetables were fresh and the eggs were tenderly cooked to a fluffy consistency. The home fries were on the mealy and dry side and the toast was forgettable. I loved the plates that completed the countryside theme.

Millie's Pancake Haus
6530 E. Tanque Verde Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85715
(520) 298-4250

Jeff's Pub

2008-08-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

I apologize for my two-week hiatus from updating this blog, but in moving from Tustin to Fullerton, I haven't had internet access! I will try to make up for being absent these past two weeks by heavily posting to Afishionado.

Growing up my entire life on the West Coast, I have been fortunate to have easy access to fresh seafood whenever I want it. Traveling to Arizona this summer for a short vacation, I wasn't expecting to feast on seafood, much less delicious seafood comparable to that which I find on the coast. When my Tucson host suggested fish and chips for dinner, I certainly wasn't expecting a place like Jeff's Pub.

Jeff's Pub is a sports bar with a limited number of domestic beers on tap, sports betting, a juke box, pool tables, arcade games, and of course television screens everywhere. Upon entering the establishment, there is a dimly lit bar straight ahead, a dining room to the right, and games to the left.

There is also an outdoor dining patio with misters and umbrellas to alleviate the hot desert heat. Jeff's Pub is a place to sit down and relax with a cold brew and come good food.

For being in a land-locked state, I was surprised to find that the fish at Jeff's Pub was quite flavorful and moist, but not mushy. I tried the grilled fish first and it came with french fries, coleslaw, garlic toast, tarter sauce, cocktail sauce, and a lemon wedge. The coleslaw, while well-marinated, had a bit too much vinegar and was quite sour. Each table had ketchup and malt vinegar, so they were well prepared for the abundance of diners looking for the Friday fish fry special. While the fish was quite excellent and flaked easily, the french fries were under par, some were limp and soggy and they were not sufficiently salted.

I came into Jeff's Pub knowing I would be ordering traditional fish and chips (fried), and that's why I started my dinner healthfully, with the grilled fish. I next ordered the beer-battered fish and it was delicious. I am glad I started with the grilled fish because if I had the beer-battered fish as my first plate, I probably wouldn't have bothered with the grilled fish. The beer-batter was delicate and did not obscure the flavor of the cod. The fish remained tender even through the deep-fry and was not greasy. The crispy exterior of the light batter with the flaky and very flavorful fish made an excellent combination without making the meal feel heavy.

Many of my preconceived notions were put to the test by visiting Jeff's Pub. First was my belief that good seafood can only be found when you are twenty minutes from the coast and second was trusting a bar to only satisfy a craving for beer. This was a good start to my vacation and weekend!

Jeff's Pub
112 South Camino Seco
Tucson, AZ 85710
(520) 751-2047

Haagen-Dazs Extra Righ Light Caramel Cone

2008-08-06T14:13:00.000-07:00

Faced with my strong desire for the sweet taste of ice cream and conscious of my health, I chose Haagen-Dazs Extra Rich Light Caramel Cone Ice Cream recently. By chance, my friend chose Haagen-Dazs Caramel Cone Ice Cream, providing me the opportunity to try the two versions side-by-side.

Unlike the Phoood review of Haagen-Dazs Extra Rich Light Caramel Cone Ice Cream, I found drastic taste and textural differences between the two versions of Haagen-Dazs Caramel Cone Ice cream.

The Haagen-Dazs Extra Rich Light Caramel Cone Ice Cream looked appetizing enough, until compared with the regular version of the same ice cream flavor. In the Extra Rich Light Caramel Cone Ice Cream, the chocolate pieces appeared rampant amidst the caramel ice cream, but upon my first spoonful, the chocolate was just flecked throughout the ice cream. Additionally, the "cone" of this lightened version of ice cream tasted soggy. It was not pleasant to chew on the soggy pieces of ice cream cone. The caramel ice cream didn't taste like it had been churned properly but instead tasted and felt like it was icy.

Made with: skim milk, corn syrup, sugar, chocolaty coated cone pieces, cream, caramel sauce, egg yolks, natural flavor, butter, salt, pectin, baking soda.

Conversely, the Haagen-Dazs Caramel Cone Ice Cream was drastically better than the Haagen-Dazs Extra Rich Light Caramel Cone Ice Cream, visually, texturally, and tastefully. The chocolate in this version of ice cream was in chunks, neither too small like the flecks in the lightened ice cream nor too large to bite with ease. Unlike the lightened ice cream, the "cone" of the regular version was crispy, as if I were chewing pieces of a freshly baked waffle cone. Finally, the caramel ice cream was more dense and creamy than the lightened version, which was thin, as if watered down, and melted quickly in the summer heat.

Made with: cream, skim milk, chocolaty coating with cone pieces, sugar, caramel sauce, sweetened condensed skim milk, corn syrup, egg yolks, butter, natural flavor, salt, pectin, vanilla extract, baking soda.

If you have a craving for ice cream, don't skimp and fall for the tricks of the lightened versions which leave you craving more. You'll be highly satisfied with the real stuff.

Don Jose

2008-08-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

Don Jose is tucked into a heavily-landscaped corner, making this restaurant very easy to miss. Because trees and bushes slightly obscure it from view while driving on Newport Boulevard, I honestly had no idea what kind of Mexican food to expect; whether Don Jose would serve authentic Mexican food on par with Taco Rosa or serve American-Mexican food in the styles of Acapulco, El Torito, and the like.

Arriving on a Saturday night, I was acutely aware of the nearly empty parking lot surrounding Don Jose, which made me worry that the restaurant was closed (even though it was only about 7 PM). The exterior style of the building made me imagine red and green decor, sombreros, and loud mariachi music playing. Upon entering, I was instead reminded of Coco's gone Mexican, with the large floral upholstered booths and crystal lamps hanging over each table.

Upon being seated, we were immediately served fresh, warm tortilla chips with a chunky salsa. I really love chips and salsa, as simple as they come, and I was delighted with the lightly salted and thin tortilla chips we were presented. The mild salsa was full of chopped vegetables and quite thick, just the way I like it!

This was my Rosie O'Rita Margarita made with tequila, sweet and sour, Triple Sec, and cranberry juice to give it that nice pink glow. This margarita on the rocks was served in a pint glass and was quite sweet.

My Seafood Enchiladas came with refried beans and Spanish rice. Large, tender chunks of grilled fish and shrimp were rolled in corn tortillas and smothered in a flavorful tomatillo sauce. The mild tomatillo sauce allowed the flavor of the fish and shrimp to be the stars of this dish. There were more fish than shrimp in the enchiladas and I was very pleased with this light dish of moist seafood. Some parts of the corn tortilla were stale and dried out, which was easily remedied by spreading on the tomatillo sauce. The rice and beans were pretty standard fare.

Devin requested his Chunky Chicken Chimichanga without red sauce or roasted green chilis on top. The crispy, deep-fried burrito contained chicken, refried beans, jack cheese, cheddar cheese, and a red chili sauce and came accompanied with sour cream.

While the exterior of the restaurant had me expecting one thing and then the interior gave me some doubts, I was pleasantly surprised by the flavorful and properly cooked dishes that we ordered.

Don Jose
14882 Holt Ave.
Tustin, CA 92780
714-832-3280

Exquisite Pizza Sauce

2008-07-26T21:18:00.000-07:00

Since discovering this recipe on AllRecipes, I have made this pizza sauce almost every single week and our consumption of commercially-made pizza has gone down significantly. On my first few attempts at making Exquisite Pizza Sauce, I deliberately omitted several ingredients: onion powder because I do not care for the taste of powdered onion (but have added finely chopped onion when I have it on hand) and anchovy paste because Devin will only eat seafood if it has been fried or if it is tuna from a can, and even then is seafood a last resort for him.

At this point, I think Devin will realize what I have been doing with that suspicious tube of anchovy paste in the fridge these past couple of weeks, SURPRISE! Yes, it is true that I finally started to add the requisite anchovy paste to this sauce, as directed on the recipe. When I omitted the anchovy paste, my tongue would start watering immediately upon tasting the sauce on its own because it was so sour. It's true that after allowing the sauce to rest and then baking it, the sourness toned down, but it was still off. I took the plunge in investing in a tube of anchovy paste when I happened upon it at the grocery store. I wasn't going to seek it out if I knew Devin would be strongly against it, yet there it was beckoning to me. Admittedly, anchovy paste from a tube sounds pretty gross (meat in solid form should not be mushed into a paste before it enters your mouth), it is an unappetizing shade of dark grey with tiny lumps of black, and it smells like it should, which is not to say it smells particularly pleasant. But it does wonders for the exquisite pizza sauce, mellowing out the sour tones and giving it richness. And come on, the recipe only needs 1 teaspoon, that hardly qualifies as ingesting fish. The 1 teaspoon of anchovy paste does wonders!

So what do I do with this Exquisite Pizza Sauce? Make pizza, of course! I know I fail as a true cook by using refrigerated pizza dough, but give me a break, I come home after 8 hours of work and have an hour to make and eat dinner before I am due in class. Making the pizza sauce the night before not only saves time when I actually assemble the pizza, but it allows the herbs and spices to fully flavor the tomato paste. With the pizza sauce prepared the night before and using refrigerated pizza dough, assembly and baking only takes a total of about 20 minutes. It is quicker, cheaper, and more delicious than ordering pizza for delivery. Additionally, adhering to the measurements as indicated on the Exquisite Pizza Sauce recipe provides the two of us with enough sauce for two pizzas using the refrigerated pizza dough. Quick, easy pizza two times a week? Yes, please!

Sometimes when we have string cheese in the refrigerator, I assemble the pizzas as cheese stuffed, pushing out the edges of the refrigerated pizza dough and inserting the sliced string cheese.

After flattening the edges of the pizza dough and placing the quartered string cheese along the edge, I simply roll the edges of the dough over the cheese and seal the cheese in by pressing the crust into the body of the pizza dough.

Devin doesn't like pizza that is heavy on the pizza sauce (this particular pizza looks a bit over-sauced), so one batch of Exquisite Pizza Sauce usually makes two pizzas with some sauce left over (good for dipping the crusts).

For the past couple of months, I have really been enjoying green bell peppers on my pizza. Even though Devin is an omnivore, we rarely have meat in the apartment (other than lunch meat), so when I make pizza, he often has a simple cheese pizza (maybe this is the reason he likes to go out to eat so often...).

A drizzle of olive oil along the crust and a bit over the cheese, twelve minutes in the oven, and it's done! This picture makes me crave pizza right now. Good thing I have some Exquisite Pizza Sauce in the freezer right now!

Spires

2008-07-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

Out running errands on a Sunday morning, we realized it was quickly approaching lunchtime, but hadn't preplanned where to eat.

This is how we ended up at Spires. We frequently pass by Spires on our way to the grocery store or the bank, but I never really gave thought to trying it out until Devin reminded me of its existence. That's the kind of place it is; it's quite and unassuming, you're not expected to dress up to dine here, but one comes here to relax and enjoy a comforting meal at a reasonable price. I was eager to try a new place, but unfortunately didn't have a suitable camera with me, only the camera on my cell phone. So here's a restaurant review, kind of, just please excuse the quality of the pictures.

You can see that the house Thousand Island dressing was quite lumpy in addition to being very thick. The lumps in the dressing were chopped pickles and onions, providing much of the flavor in the otherwise plain, iceberg lettuce salad. I really enjoyed this tangy, house-made Thousand Island dressing.

It's at places like this that I most rely on my pescetarian diet, because there were little, if any (other than a plain salad) vegetarian options here. The Tuna Melt sandwich came with a choice of french fries, coleslaw, fried zucchini, or onion rings. I was excited to to see fried zucchini on the menu as an option to the standard sides, and so could not resist getting them. Swiss cheese came on the tuna melt and while Swiss is not my favorite kind of cheese, it worked very well to add a subtle nutty flavor to the tuna salad. The tuna salad was adequately seasoned with enough mayonnaise to provide a creamy texture while still retaining the crispiness of the grilled bread. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this Tuna Melt, since I was initially hesitant about the Swiss cheese.

Fried zucchini are an occasional treat for me, usually reserved for county fairs. The fried zucchini at Spires did not at all resemble the huge mutant zucchini often found at county fairs to be soggy messes of grease. At Spires, the fried zucchini retained their original shape and were quartered lengthwise. Appropriately, ranch dressing accompanied the fried zucchini. Biting into the fried zucchini, the centers of the vegetable were able to retain their crunch, not because they were undercooked, but because they were cut to a manageable size and the deep-fry oil was at the correct temperature. Because the breadcrumb coating was thin, the flavor of the zucchini was able to shine through and surprisingly, here was only a light reminiscent of grease left on my fingers from picking up the fried zucchini sticks.

Devin had a cheeseburger ordered medium and his choice of side was french fries. He enjoyed his cheeseburger and fries on the same level as those found at Denny's, Coco's, and Norm's, but didn't find them to be anything outstandingly special.

Spires
13451 Newport Ave.
Tustin, CA 92780
714-544-0631

Merriam-Webster: Pescetarian

2008-07-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

"I'm a vegetarian. Oh, but I still eat fish."

This is the explanation I usually give people when dining in a situation where the food will be provided for me.

Thanks to a new addition to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, I may soon be able to shorten my statement to simply "I'm a pescetarian" and people will know that I adhere to a vegetarian diet but also eat seafood, rather than having to explain this type of vegetarianism.

It's always interesting to find out the new words being added to the dictionary because it's a potential sign that these words are becoming standard in our vocabulary, if not also in our culture.

I am Afishionado and I'm a pescetarian.

Bertha's

2008-07-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

A visit to San Diego to see family and friends always includes a stop at one of our many favorite Mexican food joints. For me, eating a burrito in my hometown of San Diego evokes many fond memories of growing up, since these small Mexican shops seem to be more prominent than chain restaurants down South.

There is a plethora of Mexican food in San Diego and we have specific places to go to when we feel like something in particular, whether it be potato flautas, spicy shrimp burritos, fish tacos, greasy quesadillas, huge bean and cheese burritos, or the elusive California Burrito.

As if East county weren't rural San Diego enough, Bertha's is located on a side road in Santee and you would miss it except for this sign. Luckily, Devin used to live in an apartment complex right across to the street from Bertha's and this Mexican shop used to be one of his frequent haunts.

Before even stepping into Bertha's small dining area, it's good to note the liquor store right next door because they sell Mexican Coca-Cola.

You can tell this is Mexican Coca-Cola because it's made with real sugar instead of sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. So while we waited for our order to be cooked up at Bertha's, we walked over to the liquor store next door to pick up some Mexican Coca-Cola because what could be better to wash down our burritos?

Bertha's vegetarian burrito is called a Supreme Burrito and includes all the basic components of a vegetarian burrito: beans, rice, lettuce, cheese, sour cream, and tomatoes. Guacamole is included in the Supreme Burrito, unlike some Mexican restaurants which charge extra for it. The Supreme Burrito is a standard vegetarian burrito made with a fresh, chewy flour tortilla, but it was missing something that I can't put my finger on. What I love about the food from these little hole-in-the-wall Mexican shops are the tortillas made with lard. These tortillas are thin and delicate, allowing the flavor of the filling to shine through unlike those hard disks pumped with preservatives found at the grocery stores, yet resilient enough to withstand a heavy dousing of the house hot sauce. I loved peeling off the extra tortilla folds from my burrito and dipping them into the hot sauce.

These little tubs of hot sauce added a lot of flavor to my Supreme Burrito. Although you can see the seeds from the chili peppers used to make this hot sauce on site, it wasn't as spicy as I would have liked. Three tubs of this hot sauce provided enough salt and sourness to make my Supreme Burrito decent, but I was still left longing for a vegetarian burrito from Cotija's.

A California Burrito, simply put, is a basic carne asada burrito (assembled with carne asada, sour cream, and cheese), with french fries added. Outside of San Diego, not only is it difficult to find Mexican shops that sell this version of the California Burrito (it seems to be a very loose term outside of San Diego), but I have heard of incidences where the cooks will refuse to create this concoction and instead, one is forced to order a carne asada burrito with fries on the side and then assemble the California Burrito oneself. Although I no longer eat California Burritos, I remember the simple addition of fried potatoes to heighten the already semi-euphoric experience of ingesting a carne asada burrito. A superb California Burrito will have the french fries spread across the width of the burrito so that every bite contains fried potato. Another requisite to the perfect California Burrito is juicy carne asada so that the french fries absorb the beef juice. Some of you may be horrified by this and maybe that's the reason why California Burritos are in fact a hidden treasure only found in San Diego. I can't say for sure that the California Burritos from Bertha's are the perfect specimen, but Devin sure enjoys them, whether for their outstanding medley of flavors or out of pure nostalgia.

Bertha's Authentic Mexican Food
8667 Fanita Dr.
Santee, CA 92071
619-562-0143

Native Foods

2008-06-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

Right down the street from the luxurious South Coast Plaza mall (the third-largest mall in the United States) is "SoBeCa District" which includes The Lab (aka the Anti-Mall) and The Camp. Although I have shopped at The Lab on occasion, I visited The Camp for the first time upon invitation from my vegan friend to try Native Foods.

In addition to having a fire ring, which I thought was appropriate for a place called "The Camp", the plaza includes a bicycle shop, an outdoor/camping supply store, a scuba school, a vegan and sweatshop free clothing store, vegan/vegetarian and organic restaurants, and other natural resource shops.

I think it's also very appropriate that there is a dog on site, since The Camp also has a shop which sells cosmetics and beauty products which are not tested on animals. As you can see, the dog's presence comes with your training at the scuba school. I wonder if the dog has its own scuba gear...

Native Foods offers organic and vegan foods, providing those who adhere to a vegan diet a variety of options without having to worry about whether the dishes follow their vegan guidelines or asking the chef to make substitutions. They have seating both indoors and outdoors on the patio.

Upon entering the restaurant, we picked up a menu from the stack just inside the doors and asked the man at the register if we could look over the menu at one of the tables and also order from the tables. He insisted that we look at the menu and also order at the counter. Luckily, my friend already had in mind what we should order, so we didn't have to stand too long perusing the menu. We were handed a number and proceeded to a table.

The dining area of Native Foods resembles a yurt and has a large propeller-like fan in the center. I ate at Native Foods on the afternoon of a relatively hot day and unfortunately noticed that the fan moves too slowly and its arms are too thin to generate a cooling breeze.

Although there was no breeze, what I found pretty cool was the plastic deer head mounted on the wall since a vegan restaurant wouldn't put a real deer on its walls (one goes to Cabela's for the real thing). The animal friendly theme runs throughout all of the restaurant's decorations and is even present on the menu. Some menu items include: Chinese "save the" Chicken Salad, "Save the Chicken" Wings, and BLTease (made with veggie bacon).

We had The Mama Mia, a cheese-less pizza topped with portobello mushrooms, tomato sauce, pesto, basil, roasted garlic, sausage chunks made out of seitan, and caramelized onions. This had a lot of flavors going on and the ingredients tasted very fresh. The seitan sausage chunks were chewy but retained a lot of oil, so the only flavor I could discern of the seitan sausage was that of oil. I was hesitant to bite into the whole roasted garlic cloves because I thought the spicy garlic flavor would be too powerful, but I discovered that roasting the garlic cloves significantly reduces the sharp taste of raw garlic and even adds a hint of sweetness to the garlic. Except for the addition of the seitan sausage, this pizza tasted similar to any other pizza loaded with vegetables. I didn't even notice this pizza doesn't have cheese until I got home and looked at the photos! I'm not a big fan of meat substitutes because they tend to fail horribly in texture and flavor, so I probably would have liked this pizza more if it didn't have the seitan sausage, especially since the sausage substitute didn't add much flavor.

The Peanut Butter Parfait was silky smooth and had the texture of pudding. As a sucker for anything peanut butter, I found the parfait to be very delicious, especially with the addition of carob chips and chunks of Boogie Bar layered on the top and bottom of the parfait. Boogie Bars are also sold separately and are made from wheat flour, almonds, oats, coconut, carob chips, and vanilla. The desserts are all prepackaged in individual servings.

Although it looked moist, this Elephant Chocolate Cake ended up being on the dry side. Luckily, the cinnamon peanut butter icing on the side was very thin in contrast to standard cake frosting and tasted almost like chai. Given the option, I would definitely choose the Peanut Butter Parfait over this chocolate cake, anytime.

Sam's Native Cheesecake unfortunately did not have very much cheese flavor and was quite bland. The texture was a bit stiff instead of creamy and was very reminiscent of tofu. Much of the flavor came from the accompanying berry sauce, which was fresh and sweet instead of tart. The graham cracker crust had a nice toasted flavor, but again, I would much rather have the Peanut Butter Parfait.

Native Foods
The Camp
2937 Bristol St.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
714-751-2151

Fried Rice Restaurant Style and Honey Walnut Shrimp

2008-06-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

My mother doesn't cook, but my grandmother definitely cooks, a lot, and all day long; you have to when you're feeding a family of eight. My Oma cooks Indonesian food because that's where she grew up, although we are Chinese. Unfortunately, I have not had the pleasure of learning how to cook from her, so I kind of have to wing it on my own when I want to eat dishes reminiscent of my childhood.

This is definitely not my Oma's nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice) which is sweet from the kecap manis and has chicken, pork, and sometimes shrimp. Deviating from the familiar fried rice that I grew up eating, I used the Fried Rice Restaurant Style recipe that I found on AllRecipes and altered that recipe even further by using brown rice and cooking it in vegetable broth. Although the recipe takes about half an hour from start to finish, I cook the rice the night before and then refrigerate it overnight to prevent the rice from getting soggy. From making this dish several times, I learned that using freshly cooked rice to make fried rice leads to clumpy and unevenly seasoned fried rice because of the moisture content of the fresh cooked rice. I love making fried rice because the dish is incredibly forgiving; you can put anything into it and it will usually turn out pretty good. In the version above, I tossed in whatever frozen vegetables happened to be in the freezer at the time, a crushed garlic clove, and an egg or two. Also, precise measurements aren't terribly necessary, as adding soy sauce and sesame oil is best to personal taste. Sesame oil is very potent in flavor, so I only add a very light drizzle at the end to provide flavor rather than using it to actually stir-fry the rice.

Okay, so my Oma never made Walnut Shrimp because it's a Chinese dish commonly found in Western-influenced and Hong Kong restaurants. In any case, I thoroughly enjoy Walnut Shrimp, which was not so good for my health when I worked at a Chinese restaurant during high school. So as I planned our weekly menu, I figured, "What would go better with the Fried Rice Restaurant Style than Honey Walnut Shrimp from AllRecipes?" I am not sure that the Walnut Shrimp I enjoyed while working through high school were battered and fried, but I decided to follow the recipe on my first attempt to make Honey Walnut Shrimp. The batter in the recipe was extremely thick and I think I went a little dunk-happy, so the fried crust was almost as thick as some of the smaller shrimp. The next time I make this recipe, I might just lightly dust the shrimp in mochiko flour or forgo the batter entirely to enjoy the full flavor of the shrimp and to make this very rich dish somewhat more healthy. Additionally, I don't particularly enjoy Walnut Shrimp that is too sweet, so I will cut in half the amount of honey that the recipe calls for. The creamy, mayonnaise-based sauce seems strange paired with shrimp, but I can never resist ordering it whenever I see it on a menu.

Gulf Coast Grill

2008-06-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

As a native San Diegan, it has become a tradition for me to attend the Earth Day festival held every April at Balboa Park (an indication of how backlogged are my posts). Since I moved to Orange County four years ago to attend UCI, the Earth Day festivities have extended to the night before the fair, allowing me the opportunity to catch up with my friends in San Diego. This year, we stayed with friends who live in North Park and they suggested we try a restaurant they had heard positive reviews about.

Gulf Coast Grill offers fare that has "Louisiana roots, California style" and offers happy hour nightly from 4:30pm to 6:30pm. We decided to heavily partake in Gulf Coast Grill's happy hour because of the half-price appetizers and drinks and because our friends only live a block away from the restaurant.

A forgettable sliced roll and mini cornbread muffins were immediately set on our table when we were seated. I was eager to try the cornbread muffins, but they ended up being flavorless and kerneless.

With many of their regular appetizers half-priced for happy hour, I figured it was okay to order everything I wanted to try rather than limit ourselves. The warm Cornmeal Crusted Brie was served with toasted baguette slices and a lightly dressed mixed green salad. The salty brie was soft enough to spread on the baguette slices and was complimented by the sweetness of the candied pecans. Brie is one of my favorite cheeses and I really enjoyed the medley of flavors and textures, the sweetness paired with the saltiness, and crunch paired with the soft cheese.

The Sweet Corn Hushpuppies were freshly fried and served with a creamy house remoulade sauce. The balls of cornmeal were fried to a dark brown and biting into the crisp shell revealed a soft interior with a hint of spice. I especially enjoyed mopping up the slightly spicy and tangy remoulade sauce with the fluffy hushpuppies.

Also served with the house remoulade sauce were their Fried Oysters. The oysters were first coated in cornmeal and then deep fried. The cornmeal crust provided a hearty crunch that contrasted with the meltingly soft oysters within. I was surprised that the oysters retained their moisture and brine through the deep fry process, rather than dripping with grease from their hot oil bath.

Luckily for me, some of my dining companions had an aversion to seafood, so after a taste of the oysters went around the table, I was left with three and a half large fried oysters to myself. I was able to make a meal of the appetizers while my dining companions shared the rather large entrees.

Gulf Coast Grill
4130 Park Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92103
610-295-2244

Spinach Quiche and Roasted Brussels Sprouts

2008-06-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

When I found this recipe for Spinach Quiche on AllRecipes, I anticipated that it would taste very similar to spanakopita, one of my favorite Greek foods.

The quiche had the requisite ingredients of spinach and feta that are found in traditional spanakopita, but was missing the crisp phyllo dough of true spanakopita. Even with the 6 ounces of feta and 8 ounces of cheddar cheese this recipe requires, the bitterness of the spinach was very prominent. I love spinach, but it seemed the ratio of spinach to eggs was too high, even though I used a deep-dish pie crust. I would have preferred more egg flavor and texture, as the egg only seemed to present itself as a thin layer on the top of the quiche.

My family never ate brussels sprouts as I grew up, so when I saw them at the grocery store, I was enchanted by their cute appearance; they look like miniature heads of lettuce! I love lettuce! Additionally, the recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts that I found on AllRecipes had great reviews, so I scoffed at the tales I had heard of children and adults alike hating brussels sprouts. Lo and behold, they are actually quite bitter, even roasted, but the very roasted pieces that bordered on being completely burned were quite tasty. They tasted similar to slightly burned potato chips, the little gems that I search for on the occasion that we have a bag of potato chips.

Unfortunately, it will be awhile before I try my hand at making brussels sprouts again, especially when there are so many other vegetables that I already know I prefer. I don't think Devin would like me to try making another spinach quiche, but if I did, I would reduce the amount of spinach and increase the amount of egg so that it tastes like an actual quiche instead of spinach pie.

Pierre Herme

2008-05-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

As we neared the end of our stay in Paris, our diet had consisted wholly of baguettes, sandwiches, croissants, crepes (not pictured because it was pouring rain when we bought them), pita sandwiches, madaleines, and yogurt, but I was holding out to purchase chocolates and macarons from the best.

Pierre Herme is arguably the best pastry chef in the world and we finally made it to his patisserie an hour before they closed, on our last day in Paris. Talk about close call, but I was able to get everything I came for and more.

There are two Pierre Herme pastry shops in Paris, one in the center of the city which I have heard gets quite crowded, and the other a bit farther from the center and not as crowded. On our way to pick up gifts to bring back home, we stopped at the Pierre Herme on Rue Vaugirard which was brightly lit and cheerful with its orange and yellow counters.

I admit that I was afraid the salespeople would be pretentious about the fine products they sell and scoff at my faltering French language skills. On the contrary, the young gentleman who helped me was extremely pleasant (probably because of the large quantity of expensive goods I was purchasing) and very patient as I asked several questions and surveyed the delicacies on display. My experience at the pastry shop was so welcoming that as soon as I stepped outside, I decided I needed even more chocolates and macarons, since I wasn't sure the next time I would return to Paris. The young gentleman assisted me again when I immediately reentered the shop and this time gave me two free macarons, one for myself and one for Devin.

Pierre Herme pays strict attention not only to his edible treats, but to the presentation of his shops and the packaging, which were both elegant in their simplicity.

The chocolates melted very smoothly in my mouth. They are delicate and chocolate is the forefront flavor, unlike cheap chocolates which rely on sugar to deliver some remnant of flavor. When the chocolate first hit my tongue, there was a cool sensation, even though the chocolates were never refrigerated. A lot of the chocolates are raspberry or strawberry flavored, making them quite tart. They're very delicate and some of the best chocolates that I have eaten.

Macarons are very delicate cookies consisting of two meringue wafers sandwiching a ganache filling. Biting into the fragile meringue wafer of Pierre Herme's macarons gave way to intensely flavored cookies which were lightly sweetened by the ganache filling. Similar to the chocolates from Pierre Herme, the macarons relied on the fine ingredients to provide flavor instead of relying on massive doses of sugar.

These are what the macarons looked like after carrying them from Paris, back home to Tustin. The flavors include: chocolate, vanilla, pistachio, passion fruit, vanilla olive oil, salted caramel, ispahan (rose, lychee, and raspberry), and rose.

I was very excited to try the vanilla olive oil macaron and was surprised to find a salty olive in the middle of the macaron. The flavor was quite unexpected and I'm still not sure that olives belong in desserts.

This is Pierre Herme's signature creation, the ispahan. His ispahan macaron consists of rose flavored meringue cookies with lychee cream and raspberry jelly.

Rose flavor can sometimes be overwhelmingly floral, but the rose meringue cookies lightly hinted of rose flavor. The tartness of the raspberry jelly was cut by the sweet lychee cream. The combination of flavors complimented each other well and from the care that Pierre Herme puts into his creations, it is no wonder he is at the top of the pastry world.

Unfortunately, our trip to Paris ends bitterly because I was supposed to receive the security deposit back from the apartment owners almost two months ago and I am still waiting for it. Both she and Lodgis, the company I used to find the apartment, have been ignoring my requests for the security deposit to be returned. So it is with haste that I prepared this final post on our trip to Paris because I don't want to think about the way I have been cheated out of a very much needed sum of money.

Pierre Herme
185 Rue Vaugirard
75015 Paris, France

La Croissanterie

2008-05-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

After a rainy day visiting Versailles Palace, we were enchanted by the colorful array of sandwiches showcased at La Croissanterie.

La Croissanterie is a chain of cafes found primarily throughout France, with locations also in Portugal, Ireland, and Italy. They offer sandwiches, croissants, teas, coffee, pastries, and cakes, and provide a warmly-lit place to stop and rest after a busy day. There are indoor and outdoor dining areas and there is also a to-go window. Many of their menu items are made ahead of time, so service is very quick and efficient.

I had the Oceanique sandwich because I was lured by the poppy seed encrusted baguette. This marine-themed sandwich had thin slices of smoked salmon, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and dill weed. After sitting in the case, the baguette was gummy and a bit soggy, but the poppy seeds helped the sandwich maintain some crunch. The dill cut the saltiness of the salmon and the tangy mayonnaise helped blend the flavors together. The Oceanique had many flavors that complimented each other and was pretty good for a premade sandwich.

The Campagnard was made on ciabatta bread and had ham, tomatoes, eggs, lettuce, Swiss cheese, and mayonnaise. Devin really enjoyed the addition of eggs on this sandwich.

La Croissanterie
168 St. Germain
75006 Paris, France

Haagen Dazs Vanilla Honey Bee

2008-05-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

Although I am not finished with my series of Paris posts, I wanted to mention how good I felt about the last pint of Haagen Dazs ice cream that I ate, not only because it lasted five days (instead of the usual hour to an hour and a half), but because purchasing one of Haagen Dazs' "Honey Bee-dependent Flavors" helps fund honeybee research.

Honeybees help pollinate about 30% of the fruits and vegetables that we eat. Additionally, they help pollinate the foods that are fed to the animals which many people eventually eat. Unfortunately, honeybees are quickly vanishing in large numbers due to what scientists call Colony Collapse Disorder. The problem is particularly mystifying because the honeybees are simply vanishing; honeybee keepers afflicted by the disorder simply open their hives to find them absent of worker bees.

Haagen Dazs has a vested interest in maintaining the honeybee population because their products are made from all natural flavors, many derived from fruits pollinated by honeybees. In addition to their line of "Honey Bee-dependent Flavors", Haagen Dazs has donated $250,000 to both Pennsylvania State University and the University of California, Davis to fund honeybee research, particularly the Colony Collapse Disorder.

Purchasing select Haagen Dazs flavors won't just make you feel good about your contribution towards honeybee and sustainable pollination research, but you'll feel good about ingesting something quite delicious too. I picked up the Vanilla Honey Bee Haagen Dazs flavor and while I am used to the heavy swirls of ingredients found in many novelty ice creams, I was deceived into thinking the ice cream would taste mostly of vanilla with little honey flavor.

The Haagen Dazs Vanilla Honey Bee ice cream is white in color, but a single spoonful has intense honey flavor. The amount of honey is mellow enough to still taste the pure vanilla that Haagen Dazs uses. I am an economic shopper, but luckily Haagen Dazs was recently on sale at the grocery store. Unlike the other ice creams I usually purchase, I didn't have to use my spoon as an ice pick because the Haagen Dazs remained soft and creamy the five days that it lasted. Although the smooth texture was largely due to the fat content of the total six ingredients (cream, skim milk, honey, egg yolks, sugar, natural vanilla), this was a very worthy splurge financially, health wise, and especially environmentally.

Banette

2008-05-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

To get to the Metro from our apartment, we passed this boulangerie, so it quickly became our stop to grab some breakfast on the way to see the sights.

Banette is actually situated right in front of a Metro stop (Cardinal Lemoine), so it was often quite busy when we stopped in. We noticed that the busier a boulangerie, the better the goods.

The baguettes here are very long and narrow. I often had to break the baguette into three pieces to get it to a manageable size where I wasn't jousting people as I walked down the street. The baguettes have a delicate and thin crust that easily tears to reveal soft and fluffy innards. Compared to the baguettes from Eric Kayser though, this baguette was just air.

Alongside the baguettes, croissants are a staple found at boulangeries. When my eye caught an almond croissant at Banette, I made an executive decision to forgo the plain croissant I was going to get and instead try their croissant aux amandes. The first thing I noted about this croissant is its shape. Plain croissants have beautiful lines as they spiral inward, but this croissant was lumpy and had no defining lines. I might not have known it was a croissant except for the small sign in the pastry case. But do not be deceived by its exterior, as a treasure lies within! As I was handed my almond croissant, the second thing I noticed was the weight. This was a hefty croissant, heavy from the almond filling. The almond croissant was very moist and instead of the airy layers of dough found in plain croissants, this croissant was filled with a sweet almond paste whose nutty flavor went well with the buttery dough. It was a luscious treat that we tried to savor, but as all good eats, it was quickly devoured.

In the deli case, I saw a variety of meat sandwiches, so I asked the woman helping me whether she had any vegetarian sandwiches available. She offered to make me a sandwiche de crudites, to which I happily agreed. Before our trip, I was afraid that I would have trouble requesting vegetarian meals, but the woman helping me was very accommodating and I waited as she went in the back to make me a vegetarian sandwich. The sandwich that I later unwrapped had lettuce, tomatoes, and boiled eggs, which aren't necessarily vegetarian-friendly, but luckily I subscribe to a very liberal vegetarian diet and eat eggs in addition to dairy and fish. The creamy egg yolks acted as a condiment to flavor and moisten the sandwich. Although with its total of four ingredients this was a minimalist sandwich, it was made with flavorful vegetables and freshly baked bread, making for a great sandwich.

On a visit the next day, I again requested a vegetarian sandwich and was given a camembert sandwich. Like the crudite sandwich of the previous day, this sandwich had few ingredients, this time only slices of soft camembert and a baguette. The plain baguette was the perfect vehicle upon which to enjoy the creamy and slightly salty camembert.

It's good fortune that the first macaron to grace my tastebuds was one that I enjoyed as we walked through the Tuileries Garden towards the Louvre. The French macaron is not to be confused with the coconut macaroon that is very familiar in the United States, as this macaron consists of ganache encased between two meringue cookies. The fragile exterior of the meringue cookies gave way to a vibrant green interior that was moist and very sweet. Accompanied by the thin layer of pistachio ganache, this macaron was pretty tooth-achingly sweet. It had a nutty flavor that was only background to the heavy amount of sugar.

Banette
46 Rue Cardinal Lemoine
75005
Paris, France

Eric Kayser

2008-04-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

Listed as having "The Best Croissants" in Jeffrey Steingartens It Must've Been Something I ate and noted in David Lebovitz's "10 Insanely Delicious Things You Shouldn't Miss in Paris" for its pain aux cereales, visiting Eric Kayser had priority on our list of things to do while in Paris.

After a brief visit to Le Pantheon, we went in search of Kayser, which turned out to be located very close to the apartment we were renting. Although the store looks empty in the above photo, it was full as I waited patiently in line, allowing me the opportunity to gaze at the plethora of breads, pastries, and chocolates around me. The chocolate rooster looked tantalizing, but I was here for the bread.

Taking a cue from the woman ahead of me in line, I asked for "une baguette" and was handed a long, beautifully golden baguette. This being my first true French baguette, I was surprised that when I tore a piece off of the tip, the crust was thick instead of thin and crisp and the interior of the baguette was dense with a substantial chew. Although I ate this baguette plain, the firm dough could stand up to a heavy-handed slathering of butter or soft cheese, unlike the soft and fluffy baguettes used in banh-mi that collapse with each bite. The taste and the artistically cut lines in this baguette set a high standard as my first baguette during our stay in Paris.

I also ordered a pain aux cereales per David Lebovitz's recommendation that "this is perhaps the best bread in the world". This was a hefty and slightly dense loaf, studded with crunchy sesame and sunflower seeds. I thoroughly enjoyed the addition of the seeds because they seemed to pop in my mouth as I chewed and they added a toasted aroma and flavor. Just as the baguette above, this loaf was not delicate; with each piece I tore off, whether with my hands or my teeth, I could feel the dough pulling back against my need to ingest more bread.

Kayser's croissant was unlike any other croissant that I've eaten. Instead of the soggy, flat concoctions I have previously eaten, this croissant had height and a crackly shell. The inside was soft and incredibly buttery, solely from the layers and layers of butter folded into the dough. Compared to the many other croissants that I ate while in Paris and definitely among all the croissants I have ever eaten in my life, I would agree with Steingartens' appraisal as Kayser's croissants being one of the "Best Croissants."

Because we were staying at an apartment very close to Kayser, we stopped there on a second night to grab a another baguette and some madaleines. After another long day of walking through the city in the cold and rain, it was comforting to collapse in our rental apartment and munch on the hearty baguettes from Kayser.

The madeleines were soft and buttery with a slight lemon flavor. They were very delicate, with a crumb similar to pound cake. A great accompaniment to tea or, as I ate them, eaten plain as a light dessert.

Kayser
8 Rue Monge
75005
Paris, France

The Beginning - Day 1

2008-04-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

While in Paris, we bought a large bottle of water each day at various supermarkets to replenish us on our daily excursions. Of course, we never walked out of the supermarket without buying other goods. The Girl Who Ate Everything posted a picture of the yogurt she ate while studying abroad in Paris, so when I saw the same cute yogurt in the supermarket, I couldn't resist buying them.

The yogurt that I ate in Paris was deliciously creamy and thick, so we often walked out of the grocery store with yogurt in addition to our bottle of water. Except for the hazelnut-flavored yogurt on the bottom right, I usually bought plain yogurt.

A lot of the yogurts that I bought came in ceramic or glass jars instead of the plastic that I buy in the US. So when I had finished all my yogurts, I couldn't bear to throw out these cute little pots in which La Fermiere packages a line of their yogurts. I actually had a little run-in with the security at Charles de Gaulle airport because I was afraid of packing the fragile pots in my checked-in luggage, so I had them wrapped in newspaper in my carry-on backpack. Instead of sensing danger, I think the security detail was just curious about the four newspaper-wrapped bundles in my backpack and when I unveiled one, I'm sure he thought it was strange that I was flying halfway across the world with the little jars in which their common, everyday yaourt comes.

Herbs! That was my plan for these cute yogurt pots. For a while, I have heard about the success of the AeroGarden, touted as a "NASA-tested" kitchen appliance that allows you to grow herbs and produce year-round. Unfortunately, while it is supposed to be a space-saving alternative to having a garden, I still don't have any space for it in our tiny apartment. So I figured that the next best solution would be to grow a small amount of herbs in the little yogurt pots. Shopping at Target yesterday, I spotted these small (approximately 1.5 inches tall) ceramic pots which come with a package of seeds and a soil pellet. Since I don't need and don't have space to grow all the seeds that come in a regular-size packet of seeds, I thought these would be perfect.

Each Buzzy Seeds pot receives five seeds and when the plants grow to 3 inches tall, I need to transfer them to my ceramic yogurt pots. Clockwise from the rear left, I have started strawberries, tomatoes, chives, and basil. The Buzzy Seeds herb selection at Target was not very vast, so the tomatoes and strawberries were chosen as an after-thought. I believe the strawberries and tomatoes will have to be transferred to much larger pots than the yogurt pots can hold.

So this blog was started as a food blog and is now partially a gardening blog! I have not had much success in the past with growing plants, but these herbs will be very useful, so we'll see...

Chez Hannah

2008-04-12T14:04:00.000-07:00

This post initiates a series of Paris posts, where we spent a week for Spring Break. Before our trip, I did a lot of research into places to eat in Paris, including a list of the best croissants and baguettes from Jeff Steingarten's It Must've Been Something I Ate, The Girl Who Ate Everything's "A Very Incomplete Guide to Paris", and David Lebovitz's "10 Insanely Delicious Things You Shouldn't Miss in Paris". Unfortunately, since Devin and I were constantly running around to see the next thing, we did a terrible job of checking out the extensive list of places to eat that I had compiled. Overall though, of the things we had time to eat, they were expectedly delicious.

Robyn, The Girl Who Ate Everything, reviewed Chez Hannah during her Spring Break last year and this ended up being our first meal in Paris. Chez Hannah is located on a pedestrian-only street in Paris' Jewish District. While they have an interior dining room, they also have a to-go window to expedite the many customers flocking to satisfy their pita sandwich needs. The to-go window serves as the assembly line for both dine-in and to-go orders, so we were able to watch our order being made right in front of us.

I ordered the Vegetarian Falafel Special. A component unique to this falafel pita was the fried eggplant. Because eggplant are very absorbent, oil dripped down my chin when I bit into the slices, but the eggplant had been fried long enough to gain a sweet carmelization and the skin was slightly crisp while the interior was mashed-potato soft. It was a succulent addition to one of my favorite dishes. The pita pocket wasn't the thin-walled and fragile bread found in grocery stores, but was hearty and thick enough to withstand the generous helping of hummus, falafel, fried eggplant, cucumber salad, tzatziki sauce, red and green cabbage, and Harissa. The falafel had a crisp exterior and a steaming, fluffy interior that paired well with all the crunchy vegetables and the cool tzatziki.

Devin had the shwarma. While gyros is usually made with pork, shwarma is made with lamb, goat, or chicken. In this case, the shwarma was made with chicken and also had fried eggplant.

Chez Hannah
54 rue des Rosiers
75004
Paris, France

Meyer Lemon Gnocchi and Roasted Garlic-Parmigiano Broccoli

2008-04-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

With the Sur La Table gift card that my brother gave me for my birthday, I also received a year's subscription to Food & Wine magazine. I have had too few encounters with gnocchi, but after having the Gnocchi in Gorgonzola sauce from Villa Roma, I couldn't stop thinking of the pillowy, baby-skull soft (as the The Girl Who Ate Everything would say) gnocchi and it just so happened that the March 2008 issue of Food & Wine had Meyer Lemon Gnocchi on its cover.

The Meyer Lemon Gnocchi from the March 2008 issue of Food & Wine was a very labor-intensive recipe. I don't have a potato ricer, so I used a trick from Smitten Kitchen and used a cheese grater to get a fine mash of potatoes. I spent a long time in the kitchen and it was worth it. The sauce was very rich, as it calls for a stick of butter, so taking into consideration the labor and the calories, this is a recipe to be made and eaten in moderation.

This is Roasted Garlic-Parmigiano Broccoli from the November 2007 issue of Food & Wine. Wow, broccoli is probably my favorite vegetable and I didn't think it could be heightened any more than the countless number of ways I have already eaten it, but slathering it in garlic, Parmesan cheese, and butter and then roasting it is absolutely outstanding and pretty quick.

Unfortunately, as I was busy attending to the broccoli and gnocchi, I let the lemon sauce boil and you can see that it separated. Also, the gnocchi were not as tender as Villa Roma's, but I am definitely making progress from my first miserable attempt at making gnocchi. I'm telling you, I really fail at making doughs and I admit that I overworked the gnocchi dough. Gnocchi, one day I will conquer you...

Pizza Margherita

2008-03-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

I am behind in posts because I was in France last week, so the next posts will be from several weeks ago and France posts will follow afterwards.

Much to my dismay, Devin doesn't often enjoy Italian dishes because he doesn't like most tomato-based sauces. When I came upon this sauce-less Pizza Margherita recipe in my Betty Crocker Entertaining Basics cookbook, I knew it would be perfect for Devin.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I absolutely fail at doughs, so I cheated on this recipe and used a premade pizza dough bought from the grocery store. Although the recipe didn't call for any garlic, I crushed two garlic cloves and spread them over the pizza dough so the final product tasted like garlic bread pizza. On top of the dough and crushed garlic, I layered mozzarella cheese, sliced roma tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil, additional mozzarella cheese, and a drizzle of olive oil.

As much as I love, absolutely love, my carbs, I also enjoy a good thin-crust pizza. This was a fantastic pizza that was just as easy as frozen pizza and much faster than delivery.

And of course, being the dipper that I am, I always use this sushi plate to eat pizza because it has a perfect reservoir for holding olive oil and balsamic vinegar so that I can dip the crust.

Quiche

2008-03-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

Men do eat quiche! At least, I know for a fact that Devin eats quiche.

As I started to prepare this quiche, Devin informed me that he doesn't like quiche. This is because his only prior experience with quiche has been an airline meal.

Well, the quiche that I made for dinner turned out to be as much a success as the Five Layer Tortilla Pie, because I was able to reverse Devin's prior negative opinion of quiche. I used a quiche recipe which called for eggs and half and half. I used egg substitute to make the recipe heart healthy and added one cup of swiss cheese, half a red onion, sliced mushrooms, one red pepper, and two crushed cloves of garlic. To top the quiche, I used cheddar-flavored Veggie Shreds.

Devin loved the non-airline quiche so much that I decided to make another one for dinner a couple of nights later. Another reason for making a second quiche was because I used pre-made pie crust (acknowledging my failure at making dough), which came with two pre-made crusts.

I used the same basic quiche base, using egg substitute, half and half, one cup of baby swiss cheese, sliced mushrooms, one red pepper, half a red onion, two crushed cloves of garlic, and this time adding broccoli.

For both quiches, I first sauteed the vegetables in a little bit of olive oil so they wouldn't be raw in the quiches. I love making quiche because it is so easy, delicious, and you can just throw in whatever you have on hand, so give quiche a chance!

Hummus & Pita

2008-03-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

I love hummus. For Christmas, I had a Cuisinart Mini-Prep Processor on my Amazon wishlist, which Devin's father and step mother very kindly bought for me. There was only one thing in mind when I added this food processor to my wishlist: HUMMUS!

Hummus is so ridiculously easy to make and contains so few ingredients that I feel it is outrageous to pay close to $4 for the shallow containers sold at the grocery store. With my wonderfully powerful food processor, I can whip up a batch of Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus in no time! And I can add as many sun dried tomatoes as I want.

Using recipes from All Recipes, on the left is Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus and on the right is Hummus III. I usually halve recipes because I am only feeding myself and Devin, but in my eagerness to make hummus on this day, I enthusiastically opened two cans of garbanzo beans right away when I only needed one. Consequently, I just had to make two batches of delicious hummus. I haven't been able to get the consistency correct yet and may need to peel the skins off of the garbanzo beans next time to make a more smooth hummus.

What goes better with hummus than pita bread? Maybe falafel, but I actually prefer tzatziki sauce with my falafel. In any case, I made pita bread to accompany all the hummus I made. Unfortunately, I really fail at making breads, so my Peppy's Pita Bread from All Recipes did not puff up and had a texture closer to naan than pita bread. Although my yeast was not expired, I don't think I had the water at the correct temperature to active the yeast.

Trial and error. That's what this blog is all about.

The Counter

2008-02-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

Even though I don't eat meatburgers, I still go to burger joints in search of a replacement for the beloved Cheesecake Factory Veggie Burger that is now discontinued.

This pencil is the most essential tool at The Counter.

Seeing Elmomonster's tantalizing photos of the burgers created at The Counter, my friend immediately decided that we had to try it. After investigating the menu posted on their website and discovering they have sweet potato fries, I couldn't stop thinking about The Counter for days.

Seeing Elmomonster's photos of The Counter's interior, I expected the dining area to be much larger than it actually is and I was disappointed to discover that the roll-up garage door is just a prop, unlike the ones at UCI's Pippin dining hall which actually open and let in fresh air.

There is an actual counter at The Counter, which also serves as the bar. In addition to bottled beers, they also have some on tap.

The Counter's website claims there are 312,120+ burger combinations you can create with their menu because you choose everything, from the meat of the patty and type of bread for the bun, to the sauce that comes on the side. When you are seated, you're given the above menu and a pencil to check-mark your choices. It can be overwhelming.

Devin loves french fries, I craved the sweet potato fries, and Eric had nothing against getting the onion strings, so our compromise was the 3x3, an item not on found the menu, but suggested by our server. These were amazing, all freshly fried, crisp, and bursting with flavor, especially the onion strings and the sweet potato fries. The onion strings were delicate and somehow had an exceptionally pronounced onion flavor.

Accompanying our 3x3 were three dipping sauces: sweet BBQ sauce, chipotle sauce, and ranch. The BBQ and chipotle sauces were very thick, liberally covering each dipped item, but when I dipped a french fry into the ranch sauce and brought it up to my lips, the watery ranch sauce dripped onto my black tank top.

You're not seeing double. Well, I guess you are because I requested that my veggie burger be cut in half since in my research before visiting The Counter, I sometimes found the burger's height to be a problem. This is my 1/3 lb. veggie patty with Tillamook cheddar, Bermuda red onions, mixed baby greens, sprouts, and tomatoes on honey wheat bread and with roasted garlic aioli on the side.

I was really excited about this burger because I asked our server if I needed to check mark a patty size and was told that their veggie patties come in all their available sizes (1/3 lb., 2/3 lb., 1 lb.). This was an indication that The Counter makes, mixes, and forms their own veggie patties instead of using the standard Boca patty or Gardenburger that many restaurants unfortunately believe are adequate "substitutes" for vegetarians.

I was hoping that this patty would be my answer to the now discontinued veggie burger from Cheesecake Factory (which was a delicious signature mix instead of Boca or Gardenburger), but I'm sad to say that it was not. The main component of this veggie patty was brown rice, and while I prefer brown rice over white, the high ratio of brown rice to the black beans, corn, red onion, red pepper, and herbs was bland and mushy. They essentially could have listed this "patty" as a thick vegetarian spread. The toppings that I chose for this burger rescued the taste and texture, especially the sprouts.

Devin's 2/3 lb. beef hamburger with Tillamook cheddar, Bermuda red onions, grilled onions, lettuce blend, tomatoes, and avocado on a white hamburger bun with mayonnaise on the side.

Eric's 2/3 lb. beef with Tillamook cheddar, Bermuda red onions, grilled onions, and roasted red peppers on a white hamburger bun with peppercorn steak sauce on the side. Eric ended up using the BBQ sauce that came with our 3x3 appetizer and deemed this combination better than using the steak sauce.

Both Devin and Eric commented that their burgers were extremely greasy, especially the buns. We were all expecting monstrous burgers, but these burgers were only large in height, and not even an unmanageable height. Devin and I were expecting more from The Counter, Devin more so because he hadn't eaten a beef burger in over a year. I am in love with the 3x3, but other than that, it will be a while until we return.

The Counter
6416 Irvine Boulevard
Irvine, CA 92620
949-336-7272

Five Layer Tortilla Pie

2008-02-16T18:49:00.000-08:00

Devin is a selective eater, so when I make a dish, using ingredients he has previously expressed dislike for, and he ends up liking the dish, then I consider it a success. I then proceed to gloat and he consequently regrets telling me that he likes what I've cooked.

The All Recipes Seven Layer Tortilla Pie is one of my successes. I have gotten Devin to try, eat, and enjoy black beans. This recipe is quick, cheap, and if one doesn't go overboard on the cheese, it can be healthy. It is the perfect meal for college students (even though I no longer am one!) and it is delicious.

Essentially, prepare one bowl of mashed pinto beans (or refried beans to make the preparation even easier) and add salsa and crushed garlic, and then another bowl of black beans, fresh tomatoes, and salsa. Then, starting with a flour tortilla in a pie pan, layer the pinto bean mixture on top, add cheddar cheese, top with another tortilla, then substitute the pinto beans with the black bean mixture. Continue adding layers, alternating between the pinto beans and the black beans with cheddar atop each bean layer, until there are no beans left to add.

Unfortunately, I use tortillas larger than those the recipe calls for, so instead of a Seven Layer Tortilla Pie, I only have enough beans to spread over five layers.

This gets baked for 40 minutes at 400 degrees.

Although it's not called for in the recipe, I top each serving with an avocado slice and then plain, nonfat yogurt on mine and sour cream on Devin's. We've been having this recipe every week since I discovered it.

Cajun Kitchen Cafe

2008-02-09T18:41:00.001-08:00

Remembering that my brother's girlfriend deemed the Cajun Kitchen Cafe "the best breakfast in town" on her Facebook profile, I wanted to be sure to make a stop there while we were in Santa Barbara for the weekend.

Although the restaurant looks deserted, this photo was taken after we had finished brunch. When we first arrived to the Cajun Kitchen Cafe, there was a mass of people waiting outside on the sidewalk, steps, and sitting on the retaining wall. We walked inside to write our name on the waiting list and then stepped outside with the hope of having brunch within the hour.

Appropriately, there was a small bathtub of Knott's Berry Farm jelly waiting for us at the table.

At every table was a shaker of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning to transform any dish into Creole cuisine.

The reason I subscribe to a pescetarian diet is because of the heart disease that runs in my family and I think this is where I fail as a food blogger. I sometimes choose my health over taste and that is why I requested that my Cajun Veggie three egg omelet be made with only egg whites. This was a mistake on my part because even with the broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, mushrooms, and cheddar cheese, the omelet lacked the richness of egg yolks that make a succulent omelet. Additionally, the egg whites didn't incorporate the vegetables very well, so it was more of an egg whites scramble with vegetables than an omelet.

On the other hand, the hash browns that came with my omelet were fantastic. The golden brown exterior was crisp, while the interior potatoes were soft and creamy, almost like mashed potatoes.

This was the heavily buttered wheat toast that came with my omelet.

Devin had the St. Charles Breakfast Burrito which we were surprised to find out came with a small side salad of mixed greens. This burrito of sausage, cheddar cheese, eggs, and potatoes, all wrapped in a flour tortilla was on the small side. While Devin enjoyed it, he didn't think it was outstanding and especially not worth the forty-five minute wait.

The Cajun Kitchen Cafe
901 Chapala St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
805-965-1004

The Andersen's

2008-02-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

Bicycling through downtown Santa Barbara at night, Devin and I started to get hungry after browsing through several shops, visiting the beach, and sharing a conversation with a bum. Whizzing past the shops, I spotted a bakery and knew that if I didn't find dinner there, I could at least pick up a couple of after-dinner treats.

The Andersen's is a small Danish bakery and restaurant with seating both indoors and out. The outdoor seating was romantically lit by candles at each of the cafe tables. Once inside, I was given a sample of their fruit tart, with fresh strawberries, kiwi, and custard in a flaky crust. Unfortunately, I didn't think the fruit tart would survive the journey back to our hotel on our bicycles, so I chose (clockwise from left) a kringle, french waffle, almond macaroon, and chocolate oatmeal cookie. The chocolate oatmeal cookie was huge, about five inches in diameter, so you can imagine how big the kringle was.

I've never had a kringle and chose it because I was drawn to its size. It was crisp and flaky and had a light cinnamon flavor. It often broke when I picked it up, so I was a bit disappointed that so much of the kringle ended up as broken crumbled pieces.

I don't know how the french waffle endured both the handling of the young man who helped me at the bakery and the bicycle trip back to our hotel because as soon as I reached into the bag to draw out the french waffle, my thumb went straight through the pastry! The french waffle was incredibly delicate and filled with a sweet cream. I didn't realize it until halfway through eating it, but there was a thin line of raspberry jam atop the cream which gave it just a hint of raspberry flavor.

Devin's favorite was the almond macaroon because it was chewy. It had a chew reminiscent of taffy and had the aroma of almonds, but the almond flavor was overpowered by the dark chocolate.

The chocolate oatmeal cookie was large and crisp, but standard in flavor.

The next morning when we drove through downtown, I noticed that all the outdoor tables were filled with people having brunch. They have a wide variety of offerings from schnitzel and smorrebrod to curry and goulasch.

The Andersen's
1106 State St.
Santa Barbara, CA
805-962-5085

Rudy's Mexican Restaurant

2008-01-23T21:34:00.001-08:00

Two and a half hours after leaving Tustin, we arrived into Santa Barbara famished. So after checking into our hotel (one of the few vacancies on such short notice), we took a stroll to find some grub.

We returned to our hotel room with two gigantic burritos, a veggie and a carne asada. Although the picture doesn't show it, my veggie burrito was slightly larger than Devin's carne asada burrito.

Much to my delight, when I pulled the burritos out of the take-out bag, I discovered fresh tortilla chips! The bag was half-filled with these deliciously light and crisp tortilla chips and they were surprisingly unscathed from being buried by two enormous burritos. Since I had not known we were returning to our hotel with tortilla chips, I didn't package enough salsa from the salsa bar. Luckily, these tortilla chips were lightly salted, so they were flavorful on their own.

The top burrito is my veggie and was filled with ordinary meatless burrito fare: refried beans, rice, cheddar cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, lettuce, and sour cream. Although impressed by its sheer size, the fillings were bland, requiring a heavy dousing of salsa with each bite.

Unfortunately, Devin's carne asada burrito was also lacking in flavor because it was missing sour cream, his favorite accompaniment to Mexican food.

Rudy's Mexican Restaurant
3613 1/2 State St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
805-563-2232

Zon Baguettes

2008-01-22T23:19:00.001-08:00

I told you that I would go back to Zon Baguettes and try something new. This time, BOTH Devin and I tried new items, something that is rare to happen when we've already found winners. These are the kinds of sacrifices we make in the name of blogging.

We grabbed a quick lunch to eat as we made our way up to Santa Barbara for the weekend. I got the #16 Fried Tofu Vegetarian Sandwich which has the same ingredients as the #15 Viet Veggies, but with added tofu fried to a golden brown. As usual, I loved the crunch of the cucumbers and carrots paired with the crispy exterior and soft interior of the baguette. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy the tofu part of the sandwich. The soft interior of the tofu gave the sandwich a strange soggy texture, like I was eating a baguette stuffed with a baguette. I don't think the soft unseasoned tofu pairs well with the hard crunch of the vegetables.

Devin chose a #23 Baked Ham and Cheese Contemporary Sandwich, choosing Swiss cheese on this trip to Zon Baguettes. This sandwich is very similar to his usual fare of the #24 Turkey and Cheese. The tomatoes on this visit look much more fresh than the last time we visited Zon Baguettes.

Zon Baguettes
14081 Newport Ave.
Tustin, CA 92780
714-731-1366

"Collision between Web 2.0 and food"

2007-12-02T21:12:00.001-08:00

Catching up on Serious Eats posts, I found this post about Jim Benson's discovery of a dish called "Stir-fried wikipedia". I think this is evidence that Wikipedia is too much relied upon for information, but it certainly is funny and amazing the extent to which people figure "just Wiki it".

Lesson learned: When all else fails, don't rely on Wikipedia.

Zon Baguettes

2007-12-01T12:23:00.000-08:00

Devin and I rode our bicycles to Zon Baguettes last Saturday and I was able to pick up a take home menu. When I previously reviewed Zon Baguettes, I mentioned that for some reason they didn't have any take home menus where they have always had a stack before. I discovered that the reason the take home menus were missing on our last visit was because they were completely redoing the old menus that were simply typed on yellow paper. The new menu looks very professional, with its glossy paper and attractive photos of select menu items.

What's missing from the menu is their list of drinks, including Vietnamese iced coffee and their slushies with the optional addition of boba.

Thinking about this blog, I made sure to try their Honeydew slushie with boba. Boba are large black tapioca balls (compared to the small opaque balls of tapioca mostly found in puddings) that are chewy in texture. The boba balls were slightly warm and had a nice chew, but were a little on the mushy side. They eventually hardened because of the cold temperature of the slushie. The honeydew slush was refreshing on this fluke, intensely hot, autumn day.

Unfortunately, trying the Honeydew boba on this visit was the extent of my consideration for this blog because I ordered the #14 Viet Veggies again instead of ordering the other vegetarian sandwich, the Fried Tofu Vegetarian Sandwich. I will be sure to order something different the next time we visit Zon Baguettes, but at least the jalapenos in my banh mi were very spicy on this visit. You can see in the above photo that the baguette crust cracks very easily because it is thin and delicately crisp.

Here is a photo of Devin's Turkey and Swiss sandwich.

Our previous review of these same sandwiches can be found here.

Zon Baguettes
14081 Newport Ave.
Tustin, CA 92780
714-731-1366

GillWoods Cafe

2007-11-28T18:28:00.000-08:00

Having already visited most of San Francisco's tourist destinations on our many previous visits to the Bay Area, Devin and I took a trip to Napa.

On the way to find an eatery that was unique to Napa Valley, we passed by Filippi's Pizza Grotto. I hadn't known there were any locations outside of San Diego County.

Because I was weak from hunger (and tasting wines), we stopped into GillWoods Cafe when we spotted it in a small outdoor mall.

Although it was already mid-afternoon, I felt like having an omelet, which was great because at GillWoods Cafe, breakfast is served all day. I ordered the Veggie Omelet, which came with Home Fried Potatoes and Wheat Toast. The nice thing about GillWoods is that that they bought out salsa with the ketchup. The potatoes were well seasoned, but a little on the dry and mealy side. On the other hand, my omelet was very wet. The vegetable mixture of tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, red and green bell peppers, cheese, and onion was tucked into the egg instead of incorporated into the egg, so maybe it was the steam that left my omelet in a big, wet puddle. Regardless of the sogginess, the top part of the egg omelet was fluffy and the vegetables were able to stay slightly crisp.

Devin had a Club Sandwich on Wheat with french fries. The sandwich had chicken breast, mayonnaise, bacon, tomato, lettuce, and avocado. You can see that the sliced sandwich was very thick, mostly because of the chicken breast. Devin said this sandwich was on par for a club sandwich, but definitely not worth the $12.60 price tag.

Unfortunately, GillWoods Cafe closes at 3pm daily and we walked in at around 2:30pm unaware of their hours of operation. Our food took a while to arrive at our table and by then we started to notice that we were the only customers and that people were approaching the restaurant doors and walking away without entering. Halfway through our meal, the check was placed on our table, even though I had planned on trying their Carrot Cake, which they believe is "the best carrot cake anywhere". Instead of rushing our meal and making us feel inconvenient, I wish they had informed us when we walked into the restaurant that they would be closing soon so that we could have gone elsewhere.

GillWoods Cafe
1320 Napa Town Center
Napa, CA 94559
707-253-0409

Thanksgiving

2007-11-28T18:19:00.000-08:00

Devin and I drove up to the San Francisco area, like we have done for the past couple Thanksgiving holidays, to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Alameda. With both of us having classes on Wednesday, we left Tustin at 1:30am on Thursday morning, arriving into Alameda at 7:30am Thanksgiving morning. After a two-hour nap, I had to make Eggplant Bake as my contribution to the potluck Thanksgiving dinner. Luckily, at this Thanksgiving meal was my cousin's boyfriend, a vegetarian, so I knew ahead of time that with my Eggplant Bake contribution, there would be at least two vegetarian-friendly main dishes for me to assemble my meal instead of relying on vegetable side dishes.

The fare included: deep-fried turkey, pineapple-glazed ham, butternut squash lasagna, eggplant bake, spinach salad, garlic bread, herbed mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, leek and red potato au gratin, sweet potatoes, wild rice and mushroom stuffing, collard greens, cranberry and orange relish, buttery garlic green beans, sup merah (Indonesian "red soup"), tomalito, homemade coffee and Heath bar ice cream, pumpkin ice cream, young coconut ice cream, apple and pear crisp, cinnamon streusel cake, and fresh fruit.

Top Row from Left to Right: Wild Rice and Mushroom Stuffing, Pineapple-Glazed Ham, and Collard Greens. Devin said the ham as very tender and juicy. He seemed to enjoy it more than the turkey!

Bottom Row from Left to Right: Green Beans, Eggplant Bake, and Harvest Spinach Salad. That salad was amazing. I love red onions and the ones on the Harvest Spinach Salad were very delicately cut on a mandoline.

Zack's contribution was Butternut Squash Lasagna.

Right Row from Top of picture to Bottom: Wild Rice and Mushroom Stuffing, Pineapple-Glazed Ham, Collard Greens, Leek and Red Potato au Gratin, and Tomalito.

Left Row from Top of picture to Bottom: Green Beans, Eggplant Bake, Harvest Spinach Salad, Herbed Mashed Potatoes, and Deep-Fried Turkey.

Carving the Deep-Fried Turkey. At the corner of the turkey is the yellow-corn tomalito.

My cousin Clarice made Pear and Apple Crisp.

One of my cousins brought Cinnamon Streusel Cake (I also ate this for breakfast the next day). The ice cream scoop was used for the homemade coffee and Heath bar ice cream, young coconut ice cream, and pumpkin ice cream.

Fresh Fruit.

The day after Thanksgiving, Devin and I drove to Napa.

Our trip was very spontaneous, so we didn't know if any vineyards would be open for tours or tastings. Fortunately, we chanced upon Copia, the American Center for Wine Food and the Arts. Here we were given wine glasses and purchased a prepaid card to sample local and international wines. Devin and I sampled about five or six total, finding that we both preferred the red wines.

The United States of Wine. A wine bottle from every state in the country.

This device was found in Copia's very interactive museum called Forks in the Road. The instructions indicated to put your nose near the end of a tube and push the button underneath the tube. A scent emits from the tube and the objective is to guess the scent. Then you lift the panel to see whether your guess was correct. I didn't guess any of them correctly.

With a stomach full of wine, I wanted to eat whatever we could find first. The first restaurant we found was Filippi's Pizza Grotto. Unfortunately, ten of Filippi's eleven locations are in San Diego County, where I spent eighteen years of my life. I have already eaten at two different Filippi's, so Devin suggested going to a restaurant unique to Napa instead of somewhere I already know and enjoy, regardless of my increasingly draining energy level. All in the name of blogging...

As we continued to explore Napa on foot to find a meal, I noticed this beautiful mural. Wait a minute... !

Oh Bear, PEPPERONI pizza?! I would have stuck with the salmon.

Finding ourselves in a small outdoor shopping center, we decided to stop for a meal in GillWoods Cafe. My review of GillWoods Cafe is located here.

My Veggie Omelet with Home Fried Potatoes and wheat toast.

Devin's Club Sandwich on wheat with french fries.

On the way back to Alameda, we made a detour through San Francisco. View of Golden Gate Bridge from Marin Headlands.

So, after tasting wines, Devin and I ended our trip to Copia with a stop into the gift shop. The dachshund salt and pepper shakers were purchased as a Christmas present and not as a result of the wine's effects on my better judgment. This photo was taken when we had already arrived back home in Tustin.

Eggplant Bake

2007-11-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

This year's Thanksgiving attendees included myself, a pescetarian, and my cousin's boyfriend, a vegetarian. Since Thanksgiving dinner was a potluck, I had the task of finding a substantial vegetarian main course. I knew in advance that my cousin's boyfriend was making Butternut Squash Lasagna, so I wanted to stay away from pasta dishes that I thought may be too similar to his lasagna.

With the positive reviews from both vegetarians and omnivores on the All Recipes submission for Eggplant Bake, I had found my vegetarian Thanksgiving contribution! The trouble was that I had never made this dish, so I didn't know how it tasted and didn't know how much work would go into making this dish.

Thus I began my eggplant adventure.

I began by salting the eggplant slices for 30 minutes and then rinsed them to draw out moisture and bitterness. I only made half of the recipe since this was a trial that only Devin and I would be eating.

This recipe is quite easy, except I chose to make my own Italian breadcrumbs by using store bought sourdough bread and both fresh and dried herbs. I baked slices of the sourdough at 250 degrees for 30 minutes and then allowed the slices to cool. Since I don't have a food processor, I used a rolling pin to crush the slices into crumbs. During this process, I learned that I need to cut the bread slices thinner to prevent large pieces of bread that refuse to crumble and to use a blender to crush the bread when I made the recipe again the next day.

The fresh herbs included sage, rosemary, parsley, and marjoram. I also used dried basil, dried oregano, crushed garlic, and cracked pepper.

Combining the breadcrumbs with the herbs.

Beaten egg to adhere the breadcrumbs to the eggplant slices.

The large pieces of breadcrumb proved to be a problem because they had trouble sticking to the eggplant and also resulted in uneven browning when I pan-fried the eggplant.

Sliced tomatoes to layer on top of the eggplant.

I altered the recipe by sauteing the onions before layering them in the baking dish. This gave the onions a mild and sweet taste.

I used as little olive oil as possible to fry the breaded eggplant, but this resulted in some eggplant slices being too hard and tough even after baking.

Letting the fried eggplant drain excess oil onto paper towels.

Layered from the bottom was the breaded and fried eggplant, tomato slices, sauted onions, shredded parmesan cheese, crumbled feta, and strips of Muenster cheese. The dish was then baked for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

I thought the dish would be dry, but the tomatoes provided moisture and the cheeses really made the dish taste great. Devin's only other taste of eggplant has been eggplant parmesan and he really enjoyed this dish, so I decided to use this recipe for Thanksgiving. I did do one more trial run the next day, just to perfect my process.

Stigma of Restricted Diets

2007-11-26T21:03:00.000-08:00

When I found out that the Thanksgiving dinner I was invited to this year was a potluck dinner, I went on a search for an equivalent vegetarian substitute for turkey. On Yahoo! Answers, Love is... asked "What is your vegetarian thanksgiving menu? I need ideas!?", to which Mildred S replied:

"a twenty pound turkey
pork sausage sage stuffing
prime rib
double stuffed potatoes with bacon bits and cheese"

As a pescetarian, I have been told (jokingly) that I don't deserve to partake in the Thanksgiving celebrations, Thanksgiving being a meat-fest holiday. The first time I met Devin's mother was on Thanksgiving day three years ago and he had forgotten to tell her that I don't eat turkey, so she has never again forgotten my diet restrictions, as she felt obligated to concoct me something to eat while everyone was already digging into their meat-laden meal. It can sometimes feel like having a restricted diet is a burden to oneself and an inconvenience to others, as a post by Pleasley on the SparkPeople "Calling all Vegetarians (and Vegans)!" team forum shows:

"I just got home from a friends house, her and her husband invited us over for a BBQ. The only thing she had without meat in it was potato salad. The potato salad was good but I am glad I decided to eat before I went to her house. I told them that I wasn't hungry when they asked why I wasn't eating, I didn't know what to do. I have only been vegetarian for about a month. How do you handle a situation like that without offending the hostess? I offered to bring a dish with me and I was told that everything was covered, I almost took something anyway. I need to know haw to handle this without offending anyone and without always having to eat before I go."

To this post, I replied:

"I have been to a couple BBQs lately and am invited to a couple more. Whenever I find out that a gathering will have food, I always ask if I can bring something because I'm vegetarian. I end up feeling kind of bad because usually after I say "Should I bring something because I'm vegetarian?", the host/hostess will insist that they can cover vegetarian food for me. It makes me feel bad because I know I will probably be the only one eating it and then the host/hostess will then have to deal with the leftovers I don't finish! The hostess at the last BBQ I went to bought an entire package of Gardenburgers AND Tofudogs just for me!

My friends and family know for the most part that I've been vegetarian for several years, but they just don't think about it and I really can't blame them. Once, at a surprise birthday party thrown in my honor, the host almost forgot to provide vegetarian food because I was the only vegetarian present! I would rather remind the host/hostess upon the invitation that I'm vegetarian, that way I won't feel left out at the party and the host/hostess won't be embarrassed that they forgot."

The host at the surprise party I mentioned above was Devin and we have been eating together since circa 2004, so I understand when my pescetarianism just isn't on everyone's list of priorities! And as a lover of food, I won't stand to be left out while everyone is digging into their meat dishes, so I have no qualms of reminding a host/hostess upfront of my diet restrictions and therefore have had no problems. I find it's pretty reciprocal that a host/hostess wants to accommodate his/her guests as much as I want to find things to eat.

Unfortunately, some others with restricted diets have not had as easy a time as I have had. I'm sure it helps that I do eat some flesh (seafood) and am very relaxed about animal by-products (cheese, eggs, honey, butter, milk, etc.), but certain posts on the Serious Eats discussion forum show the dark side to restricted diets:

When srphayre asked "Is it impolite to tell your food preferences your hosts?", some comments included:
"The vegan thing I do not accommodate. I am always honest and say to the vegan folks, I am sorry but maybe my food is not for you" from JerzeeTomato.

"I personally don't accommodate [veganism] because I have... philosophical issues with the practice, and because [of] vegans who cannot stand to have the same cookware, knives or dishes used for their food that are used for meat, ...and there are no circumstances under which I'm willing to deal with that" by thepictsie.

For lemons, it's the "self-proclaimed vegetarians who dive into the meat, saying 'Well, yeah, I'm a vegetarian, but I eat duck. And I just love seafood, don't you?'" that leave her "speechless".

Irohner believes "it is horribly rude [to tell the host your food preferences] unless there is a medical condition (allergy, diabetes, etc.) or religious belief involved".

JerzeeTomato had more to add, writing "I will not serve tofu. I just do not. I also like KDBlue will not make vegan food. It is not because I don't know how, it is because I won't. If you have that many reservations with food you need to make your own food or go to a place where you are appreciated. It is great to live in a time of plenty and be able to have so many choices. We are truely blessed."

choc_puddin, a vegan, suggests "Why not try giving up meat for one meal? People eat too much meat anyways."

The "point is," chefman writes, "big food pussies should let their hosts know."

Fellow pescetarian KarynMC believes "If I invited someone with a food allergy or another food restriction, I would make a meal they could eat. That's what hospitality is, folks."

thepictsie provides the last post in the discussion, responding to choc_puddin's post with "I don't enjoy beans, and I don't function well without meat (yes, I have tried). Trying to tell omnivores not to eat meat is just as obnoxious as omnivores trying to tell you to eat it."

Some of the responses to the discussion topic "Is it impolite to tell your food preferences your hosts?" are very heated because restricted diets tend to carry a stigma, which is addressed in another Serious Eats discussion topic titled "Why the hostility toward restricted diets?"

On a website such as Serious Eats, people tend to be very serious about food, eating it, cooking it, and seeing other people enjoy or dislike it. Devin and I get into huge arguments when he makes a disgusted facial expression or comment about the food that I eat. I went into a silent fury once when I put a piece of pickled ginger in my mouth and my friend simultaneously commented "I don't see how anyone can eat that pink stuff. It's disgusting". Wow, well that's rude. I feel that these comments should be kept private, especially when you see that someone nearby does in fact enjoy the food in question.

I recognize that my passion for food is not necessarily something that everyone can or even should understand. We all have different reasons for appreciating the foods we love or rejecting those which are not compatible with our palates. These are things that should be respected, just as differences in other personal beliefs, and not imposed upon others. Many times I do feel like an inconvenience to the people I eat with, but I alleviate most tension by being truthful and specific about my diet restrictions and offering to contribute a dish.

Obviously, I cannot associate myself with organizations like PETA, because I do eat some flesh and most animal by-products. But I also refrain from fully supporting militant and fanatical organizations like PETA because I believe that their strategy for spreading the vegetarian cause is counterproductive. Like JerzeeTomato says, we have the power of choice, but unfortunately, neither PETA or JerzeeTomato seem to realize that the power of choice involves the choice to eat meat OR to not eat meat.

The Cheesecake Factory

2007-11-24T14:44:00.000-08:00

I am an emotional eater. In sadness, I relieve my sorrow in foods to comfort me and in happiness, my favorite way to celebrate is to indulge in treats that I usually restrict from my diet. So when I received my Calculus midterm back, we went to The Cheesecake Factory to temporarily console me.

The Cheesecake Factory used to have an amazing Veggie Burger that helped the restaurant to earn its place as my favorite eatery. As I have mentioned before, I go to restaurants to eat foods that I can't or won't normally cook myself, so I usually avoid the burger alternatives of Boca and Gardenburger that many restaurants offer, since I regularly eat them at home.

At The Cheesecake Factory, their Veggie Burger was made in-house using beets, blacks beans, brown rice, and other vegetables that I have now forgotten since the Veggie Burger was removed from the menu over a year ago.

I still stick with the Avocado Eggrolls, filled with creamy avocado, sun-dried tomatoes, cilantro, and red onion, and served with a sweet tamarind sauce, but I have yet to find something that satisfies me as equally as the Veggie Burger always did. I have even tried ordering it off-menu and writing to corporate, all to no avail.

Completely at a loss without my beloved Veggie Burger, I ordered Evelyn's Favorite Pasta, hoping that the delicious carbohydrates would put me at ease about my midterm grade. The enormous bowl of penne pasta, with broccoli, oven-dried tomatoes, artichoke, eggplant, kalamata olives, pine nuts, red peppers, parmesan cheese, garlic, and basil that was set in front of me immediately put a smile on my face. The pasta, lightly tossed in olive oil, was sweetened by the dried tomatoes, had a mild smoky flavor from the roasted eggplant, a slight crunch from the pine nuts, and was salty from the artichoke. I enjoyed the vegetables individually with the pasta, but together, I think there were just too many flavors and textures in one bite, so I still have not found an adequate substitute for the Veggie Burger.

Devin's usual order at The Cheesecake Factory is The Navajo, a fry bread sandwich filled with grilled chicken, avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and accompanied with french fries. Pretty much anything with avocado (except guacamole), Devin will order and like.

And of course, being The Cheesecake Factory, we took home our usual, a slice each of Vanilla Bean Cheesecake for Devin and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cheesecake for me.

It was a ton of food, not to mention that our entrees took a while to come to our table, so we finished the sourdough and wheat bread placed on our table upon being seated, was given more, and we each ordered a beer, so we each ended up taking half of our entrees home with us.

The Cheesecake Factory
71 Fortune Dr.
Irvine, CA 92618
949-788-9998

Food Networking

2007-11-23T20:19:00.001-08:00

Leafing through the June 2007 issue of Bon Appetit this weekend, I found an article entitled "Food Networking", providing FoodCandy, Extratasty, and BakeSpace as examples of social networking sites focused on food. Social networking, as defined by Bon Appetit, is "the online phenomenon in which people meet on a Web site to talk about subjects they love".

Although the names suggests it, the topics on FoodCandy are not exclusively about candy, but encompass a wide range of foods. You can create a profile to communicate with other members, recommend recipes and restaurants, syndicate your blog, and post videos and podcasts.

On Extratasty, you can find drink recipes and also provide feedback on drinks you have tried and made. You can create a profile and make friends with other users to see their favorite drinks. Recipes can be uploaded onto your iPod for easy access.

BakeSpace is a site to make friends, post recipes, find out about food-related events, and chat using the instant message program called "TeaRoom".

These social networking food sites are different from sites such as AllRecipes because you can create profiles to communicate and associate with other members. In addition, these food social networking sites are comprised of input directly from members such as recipes, videos, comments and recommendations, photos, and discussion forums instead of relying on articles written by staff members, as does AllRecipes.

Taco Rosa Coupon

2007-11-15T09:14:00.001-08:00

Be sure to pick up a copy of this week's New University, UCI's weekly newspaper. On page 27, there is a Buy-One-Get-One-Free entree coupon for Taco Rosa, which I have previously reviewed. The coupon is specifically to be used at the Newport Beach location, which is half the distance from UCI than the Tustin Marketplace, where I did my review. This is a great opportunity to try a restaurant which I highly recommend, but be sure to save room for dessert!

The coupon does not expire until November 30th, so hopefully it will be run again in the next few issues. Also, you must present a UCI student ID card or UCI business card in order for the coupon to be valid.

Rutabegorz

2007-11-12T07:08:00.000-08:00

Historic Old Town Tustin is a nice place to take a stroll because there many trees to provide shade and interspersed throughout the district are interesting historic homes and buildings to see, often of the large Victorian style.

Another reason to take a trip into Old Town Tustin is to have a meal at Rutabegorz, either outside on the patio or inside where a section for private parties is separated from the main dining room.

Stepping into Rutabegorz is like visiting Grandma's house, where photos, mugs, vases, watering cans, and other kitschy knick-knacks line the walls and the straight-backed wood booths are narrow. The restaurant is a very homey place reminiscent of the surrounding area.

In researching Rutabegorz before our visit, I learned that every month they offer a new appetizer sample for $1. For the month of November, they are offering Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade served with Tortillla Chips, which is a great way to appease your hunger while you thumb through their newsletter of a menu. Seriously, their menu kept going on and on, ranging from soups, salads, bagels, wraps, crepes, and smoothies, to House Favorites, including lasagna, enchiladas, ratatouille, fondue (dinner only), Chicken Cacciattore, and a Mu Shu Burrito. I was a little overwhelmed by my options as I munched on the sweet tapenade.

I ordered The "Italian" Vegetarian Sandwich which consisted of sourdough garlic bread slices stuffed with cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and swiss cheese, served with a side of Mediterranean dressing, pasta salad, a pickle slice, and a slice each of pineapple and carrot.

Now, I don't cook very often these days, but I can cook (kind of), so when I eat out, I like to get something that I can't/won't cook myself. I also know that I can only expect vegetables on a vegetarian sandwich. That being said, I was not impressed with this sandwich because it was just cold, sliced vegetables between dry bread slices. The thin spread of garlic butter that made up the garlic bread slices didn't provide much flavor or moisture, so I ended up dipping each bite into the Mediterranean dressing, which helped flavor the sandwich tremendously. I like my vegetables crunchy, but when they're sliced too large, like the cucumbers were in this sandwich, it just makes for a hard sandwich that falls apart because there was nothing to hold the vegetables together. A mayonnaise-based spread or bruschetta (continuing with the "Italian" theme) would have helped to hold the vegetables together and also provide flavor and moisture.

Similarly, I thought the side of cold pasta salad that comes with each sandwich was pretty plain. Tossed with cuts of green peppers, red onions, tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and herbs, the vegetables gave the pasta salad all of its flavor. Unfortunately, there was much more pasta than there were vegetables.

The pineapple slice was really great though. It was a thick slice of fresh, juicy pineapple that was perfectly balanced between sweet and sour.

Devin got Joe's BBQ Chicken Sandwich which was found on the specials page inserted in the menu. This sandwich had BBQ chicken, red onions, tomatoes, lettuce, avocado slices, and jack cheese on squaw bread. Like my sandwich, Devin's was accompanied with pasta salad, a pickle slice, and a slice of carrot and pineapple. Even though Devin was apprehensive about the squaw bread, he really enjoyed his sandwich with its creamy avocado and the tangy BBQ sauce on the chicken.

My sandwich was a miss, but I'm eager to give Rutabegorz another chance, probably sticking with their cooked dishes listed under their House Favorites or even their crepes. The Mu Shu Burrito sounds particularly intriguing and I've also heard their salads are both great and gigantic.

If you do give Rutabegorz in Tustin a try, behind the restaurant is a parking garage with free parking.

Rutabegorz
158 W. Main St.
Tustin, CA 92780
714-731-9807

Zon Baguettes

2007-11-11T18:40:00.000-08:00

I remember when there was just an empty lot where Zon Baguettes now stands. Strata Tustin Center, where Zon Baguettes is located, is so close to our apartment, that Devin and I chose to ride our bicycles. It was a green and healthy way to grab our equally healthy meal.

Zon Baguettes opened in July 2006 and it's a a convenient place for us to pick up a couple of sandwiches (banh mi) for under $10.

There are tables both indoors and outdoors and while we waited for our sandwiches, I noticed some customers picking up orders that they had phoned in. In addition to the banh mi, Zon Baguettes sells pho, fried rice, egg rolls, summer rolls (goi cuon), boba, pastries, salads, popsicles, and a stand filled with bags of chips, Yan Yan, and tins of pate.

While they had goi cuon already made and packaged, I ordered mine without pork, so I had to wait a little longer for them to make it especially for me. I was willing to wait because I'm glad they were able to accommodate my pescetarian needs so I could enjoy one of the foods that I love. One order of goi cuon came with two medium-sized summer rolls and a small tub of Hoisin and peanut sauce.

As you can see in this slice of the goi cuon, at Zon Baguettes, it is filled with shrimp, rice vermicelli, iceberg lettuce, and cilantro. Without the mint that I am used to tasting in goi cuon, this ended up being pretty bland goi cuon, and the shrimp didn't help. Although I counted four shrimp through the opaque wrapper, there only ended up being two full-sized shrimp that were cut in half to make four pieces. The shrimp were tough and flavorless, so I was pretty much eating wrapped up vermicelli noodles.

But, as you can see in the above photo, my #14 Viet Veggies banh mi was packed with an array of vegetables.

The #14 Viet Veggies banh mi contains jalepenos, cucumbers, carrots, vermicelli, cilantro, and a sweet and tangy mayonnaise that really brought the flavors together. The vegetables were crunchy and fresh and they certainly didn't skimp on the portions. My only very minor complaint is that the jalepenos didn't pack very much heat.

And the bread. You don't come to Zon Baguettes expecting Lee's Sandwiches. The bread at Zon Baguettes is always fresh, with a crispy exterior and a soft and fluffy interior that doesn't leave the inside of your mouth raw.

Devin had a Turkey and Swiss Cheese sandwich from Zon Baguettes, and while I thought it looked pretty mediocre (I obviously didn't try it), he really enjoyed it.

Even though Devin's Turkey and Swiss Cheese sandwich wasn't as packed as my Viet Veggies banh mi, I would say the ratio of bread to filling is still pretty good for a sandwich. He agrees that the bread at Zon Baguettes is great, so having a sandwich from here that is half bread, half filling is a win-win situation.

Our sandwiches took a little longer than usual to make because there were several orders ahead of ours and because of my special order of goi cuon. Our view while we waited was of the stand of chips, Yan Yan, Snow Pea Crisps, and tins of pate, so I couldn't resist picking up two bags of chips after oogling them as I hungrily awaited our order. These were a nice addition to round out our meal.

Whenever I have visited Zon Baguettes, there has always been a stack of menus to take home. It figures that the one time I actually have a use for the take-home menu, they don't have any. I will snag and post a menu the next chance I get.

Zon Baguettes
14081 Newport Ave.
Tustin, CA 92780
714-731-1366

The Whole Pita Greek Island Grille

2007-11-05T19:52:00.000-08:00

I am a sucker for Greek food. Whenever I see Mediterranean-inspired dishes at any restaurant, I tend to order it, be it Greek Salad, Hummus Appetizer, or Falafel, I just love it that much.

I've been looking for a nearby Greek restaurant to satiate my cravings for the wonderful and healthy Mediterranean fare and thanks to Yelp, I have found a Grecian gem.

Located across the bustling South Coast Plaza, The Whole Pita Greek Island Grille is tucked into a shopping center that is currently undergoing renovation. Peeking through the scaffolding and ladders, do not be deceived by the small storefront of The Whole Pita Greek Island Grille.

Upon entering the door, you will be transported to Greece by a mural of the sea painted on the wall, the 2004 Summer Olympic Games playing on the flat-screen TV (which were appropriately held in Athens), and the magical expansion of the room right before your eyes due to the large mirrors hung on the walls. When you first cross the threshold, keep walking towards the back of the restaurant where you order and pay at the counter, take a number, self-serve your drink, and take a table indoors or outside to wait very shortly for your taste of Greece.

We began our meal with an appetizer of Hummus and Melitzanosalata, served with slices of pita bread and Tzatziki sauce. Hummus is a puree of garbanzo beans, olive oil, sesame tahini, lemon juice, and garlic. The hummus was creamy and very light with a small drizzle of olive oil on top to make it even smoother and more flavorful. The garlic was very prominent in this hummus, making for a zesty dip that lingered in my mouth hours after eating it.

I had never tried melitzanosalata before this visit to The Whole Pita Greek Island Grille. Melitzanosalata is a puree of eggplant, olive oil, and lemon juice. At The Whole Pita Greek Island Grille, the eggplant is roasted and then pureed into melitzanosalata, so the dip had a mild smoky flavor to it.

And I do love tzatziki sauce, a sauce made by combining yogurt, garlic, cucumbers, and dill; I could be satisfied just having the cool and tart tzatziki with pita bread. Served with warm, fluffy pita bread dusted with cheese and herbs, this appetizer was not only a light and refreshing start to our meal, but the portions of the hummus and melitzanosalata were quite large. An additional pita bread was complimentary, but I was told that subsequent pita bread would cost extra ($0.92).

For my main course, I ordered a Golden Falafel Bundle with sides of Herb Rice and Salad to make it a combo meal. The Falafel Pita Bundle was enormous! The warm pita bread was stuffed with three falafel pucks about two inches in diameter each and topped with lettuce, tzatziki sauce, scallions, red onions, and tomatoes. Falafel are balls or patties of garbanzo beans and spices, similar to a meatball, but without the meat. These falafel were crisp on the outside and soft and peppery on the inside.

The salad with Greek vinaigrette consisted of romaine lettuce, red onions, pitted kalamato olives, feta cheese, and tomatoes, too many tomatoes for my taste. The vinaigrette was lightly combined with the salad to prevent drowning the delicate vegetables in the olive oil, lemon, and basil dressing.

I love flavored rice and this Herb Rice did not disappoint. The rice was a perfect al dente, retaining its individual grains while giving way softly with each herb-packed bite.

For his main course, Devin ordered the Classic Gyros Pita Bundle with sides of Island Fries and Salad. A Gyros at The Whole Pita Greek Island Grille is pita bread stuffed with thinly sliced rotisserie meat and topped with tzatziki sauce, lettuce, scallions, red onions, and tomatoes.

What made the fries, "Island Fries", was the seasoning of Parmesan cheese, herbs, and spices, but I found them to be a little too salty.

To get away from the chaos of Orange County, I would suggest taking a nice long meal at The Whole Pita Greek Island Grille, where you can leave everything behind and settle into fresh and authentic Greek food surrounded by Grecian decor, if only temporarily.

The Whole Pita Island Greek Grille
3940 S. Bristol Street
Suite 113
Santa Ana, CA 92704
714-708-3000

Sunday through Thursday 11am - 9pm
Friday through Saturday 11am - 9:30pm

Taco Rosa

2007-10-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

Taco Rosa is a favorite of fellow food blogger ChristianZ of Orange County Mexican Restaurants which has led him to do many reviews of both the Newport Beach and Tustin Marketplace locations.

Taco Rosa is located in the Irvine side of the Marketplace in the parking lot adjacent to the food court housing Pat & Oscar's, Corner Bakery, Pasta Bravo, and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. This location opened in March 2007, so it is fairly new.

The dining room is very elegantly furnished, so it is a nice place to take a date. The lamps are ornately decorated, each table has a fresh rose, and the very high-backed booths keep the noise level contained.

In the above photo, you can see their chocolate fountain on the left, which we will return to at the end of the post.

Everyday there are two different flavors of aguas frescas to choose from. Today's choices were horchata and mango. The mango aguas frescas I chose was very refreshing and delicately sweetened by the natural fruit sugars.

While you may go to a Mexican restaurant and expect complimentary chips and salsa, at Taco Rosa you receive an amuse bouche of two different items whenever you visit. Today's amuse bouche was a bean tostada and a chicken flauta, both topped with cotija cheese. Served alongside the amuse bouche was escabeche, a mixture of pickled carrots, onions, and jalepenos.

The bean tostada was quite refreshing with its heaping mound of lettuce and tomatoes, peppery pinto beans, and crisp corn tortilla.

On the two occasions that we have visited Taco Rosa, Devin has ordered the Morenita Quesadilla. The whole wheat tortilla is filled with cheese, chicken, avocado, onions, and tomatoes, served with rice, beans, sour cream, guacamole, and escabeche.

Taco Rosa has an wide variety of tacos to choose from, all for $3.50 each. Although their website says that the Lobster Tacos are market price, my Lobster Tacos on this visit cost $3.50. The tacos came with more escabeche, tortilla chips, and salsa and I also had the option of accompanying the tacos with rice and beans, but I thought the three tacos would suffice.

In the above photo, clockwise from the top are the Portobello Mushroom, Salmon Taco, and Lobster Tacos. You will notice that although I only ordered one Lobster Taco, a serving comes with two Lobster Tacos because they are actually smaller in size than the other tacos.

The Lobster Tacos are topped with mango habanero cream sauce and mango relish. These were my favorite of the three tacos. The lobster was plump and juicy and served in a fried flour tortilla, making for a deliciously light and crisp taco.

In addition to the charbroiled portobello mushroom, the Portobello Taco has red peppers, onions, and cheese. Because mushrooms absorb liquids very easily, the contents of this taco were very slippery. It was not a pretty sight to see as I took a bite and the taco filling fell out the back end and oil dripped down my hands. Alas, I cannot deny a mushroom and really enjoyed the robust flavor of the portobello paired with the sweet red peppers and onions.

I was surprised by the size of the grilled salmon filet in the Salmon Taco. Topped with papaya butter sauce and papaya relish, I could barely fold the corn tortilla due to the size of the salmon. The subtle flavor of papaya complimented the strong flavor of the grilled salmon very well.

I was quite satisfied after the amuse bouche and the four tacos, but I made a sacrifice in the name of food blogging and ordered dessert.

Although not a big fan of flan, I was intrigued by the Flan De Queso served at Taco Rosa. The Flan De Queso is a baked cream cheese flan served with a pool of framboise vanilla sauce, drizzled with chocolate from their chocolate fountain, and dotted with fresh raspberries. The flan not only has the dense consistency of cheesecake, but the first flavor that hits your tongue is cheesecake and finishes smoothly with the custard flavor of flan. Paired with the creamy framboise vanilla sauce and specks of chocolate, this made for an amazing end to our meal.

Taco Rosa
13792 Jamboree Road
Irvine, CA 92602
714-505-6080

Waikiki Hawaiian Grill

2007-10-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

I first went to Waikiki Hawaiian Grill based on Elmomonster's post and have now been back several times.

Waikiki Hawaiian Grill is located in an unassuming shopping center called Tustin Plaza. I visit this shopping center for the Office Depot, Souplantation, and Wahoo's Fish Taco, but I never even noticed Waikiki Hawaiian Grill until I read Elmomonster's post.

The interior of Waikiki Hawaiian Grill is small, with only about six tables inside, but it is spotlessly clean. Really, the interior shines, probably due to the highly lacquered tables. As you can see in the above photo, pictures accompany many of the menu items, so if it's your first time trying Hawaiian food like it was for me the first time I visited Waikiki, then you'll be comforted by seeing exactly what you're ordering before it's brought out to you.

I was reprimanded for taking pictures after the above photo, so the next pictures may be blurry, as I took them in the most stealth manner that I could.

All the Plate Lunches and Mini Meals come with a scoop of white rice and a scoop of macaroni salad. The macaroni salad here is amazingly creamy, with a few shreds of carrot, and tuna! I was surprised to find little bits of tuna in the macaroni salad and it really makes for a delicious macaroni salad.

On this visit, I ordered the Crispy Shrimp Mini Meal. Although it's called a "Mini Meal", this portion of four crisp and golden shrimp was the perfect size. With the addition of the Crab Rangoon that I also ordered, I had to save half of my meal for dinner that night!

I'm definitely a "Dipper", using ketchup with my french fries, ranch or honey mustard dressing with my pizza, and olive oil and balsamic vinegar with bread, and whenever I visit Waikiki, it's no different. Because pairing fried shrimp and white rice is a little dry for my palate, I dipped my Crispy Shrimp into the Katsu sauce that came with Devin's order of Chicken Katsu .

Crab Rangoon are wonton shells filled with a mixture of cream cheese, green onions, and crab and then deep fried to a gooey consistency on the inside while staying crispy on the outside. On a previous occasion, the Crab Rangoon that I ordered from Waikiki were room temperature and the wonton skins were chewy with staleness. The Crab Rangoon on this visit were piping hot and deliciously creamy.

Devin always orders the Chicken Katsu from Waikiki and has begun to order two scoops of macaroni salad in place of the white rice, because the macaroni salad really is that amazing! Although I can't tell you my personal experience with the Chicken Katsu, Devin describes it as perfectly fried to a crisp without being greasy. He really enjoys the accompanying katsu sauce, so we usually ask for two containers of the sauce. The Chicken Katsu is only available as a Plate Lunch, so the portion lasts him at least two meals. There are just layers upon layers of Chicken Katsu in this Plate Lunch.

Since we dined in for this review, I chose a Hawaiian Sun Green Tea with Lychee and Ginseng. I really love lychee-flavored anything (remember those little jello's with the piece of lychee floating in the middle?), but I think this drink was a little too sweet for my taste. The sweetness of the lychee was the only thing I could really taste.

Dining-in, we received our meal in styrofoam containers with plastic utensils. So while Waikiki does have a clean dining room with music piped in through speakers, it's really the kind of place to order your food and go.

When I'm feeling especially hungry, I order the Mahi-Mahi, which is available only as a Plate Lunch portion. The Mahi-Mahi comes with tartar sauce, but I usually end up stealing a container of Devin's katsu sauce to dip the fish into. The four squares of mahi mahi that come in the Plate Lunch are large and, just like the Chicken Katsu and Crispy Shrimp, fried to a golden perfection without being greasy. It's really an amazing cooking process because you're not left feeling the heavy, greasy guilt after eating a plate of fried food. The Crispy Shrimp, Chicken Katsu, and Mahi-Mahi are all breaded in panko crumbs, which may account for the light, greaseless frying process.

Waikiki Hawaiian Grill
13771 Newport Ave.
Suite 10
Tustin, CA 92780
714-731-7371