Sol Cocina’s LOBSTER & SHRIMP TACOS (each with a different salsa: one with mango habanero, one with pico de gallo and one with tomatillo (or pick your fave).

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Just recently, Sol Cocina in Newport Beach celebrated their one year anniversary with a week-long celebration that ended with a bash for a few hundred of their avid friends. Sol Cocina occupies a beautiful space designed to echo the expansiveness of the sea, sky, and desert of the Baja peninsula and successfully combines old world charm with urban comfort. The party began in the downstairs private dining room but, considering this area can be reserved for private events of 35 to 50 guests, we soon overflowed into the main dining area where guests enjoy a fabulous view of the Balboa marina while sipping Partida margaritas (or your choice of the 60 artisan tequilas offered).

Of course, there was Chef Deborah Schneider’s house special Guacamole Sol, passed mini carne asada tostadas, panuchos (empanadas), and other delicious Baja antojitos. And no party is complete without cupcakes!

Sol Cocina has a menu full of fresh, seasonal ingredients and  showcases dishes that are true to Baja style like Carne Asada Street Tacos and Cocktel de Mariscos as well as chef’s own Baja-inspired dishes. Besides ultimate harbor vistas from every table, the restaurant features an open kitchen with counter seating and a vibrant bar with cozy fireside seating. They have a fantastic happy hour from 3:00 – 6:00, 7 days a week, with $5.00 Sol house margaritas, well drinks and beer, and special pricing on antojitos. If you haven’t experienced Sol – you better,  Andale!

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Belcastel village is home to a one star Michelin

Restaurant du Vieux Pont

(The Old Bridge Restaurant)

If you love food, especially French food, and dream of dining at a one star Michelin restaurant in France, let me take you on a journey of flavors, aromas, artistic talent and setting. The French are known for love, passion and seduction, and this translates into everything, including of course, food.

I am fortunate to have lived in Paris during my youth, and came to understand the French and their never-ending obsession with food. I don’t mean this in a negative way at all and, during my recent trip to southwest France, I realized that even younger generations talk about food and fresh ingredients as though they’re recounting a personal love story.

We celebrated my father’s 85th birthday, (he lives in France), in Belcastel, a medieval village located in the department of Aveyron, between Clermont-Ferrand and Toulouse. With its cobbled streets and fifteenth century church who would have expected a modern one star (Michelin) and 16/20 (Gault et Millau) restaurant with hip young waiters dressed in black. The renowned stone bridge above, gave the restaurant its name: Restaurant du Vieux Pont.

Chefs Nicole and her husband Bruno Rouquier call their cuisine, “Contemporary, subtle and sensuous with local products evoking faraway scents”.

Considering the old stones on the exterior of the building, the interior consisted of one cozy dining room with only six or seven round tables. The walls were faux-finished in warm beige tones with modern artwork. White unusual tablecloths, with delicate corduroy fine lines and matching napkins rolled in a sisal ring with a button.

We selected the 52 Euro meal, or $65 called “Decouverte et Gourmandise” , a seven course meal.

Amuse-gueules (tiny appetizers) are complimentary, served while you wait for your aperitif (cocktail) on small slabs of granite.

I like the idea of heating a small slab of granite in my oven, and serving appetizers to my guests next time I entertain. These tiny rolled pancakes were bursting with fresh herbs.

In a French restaurant, you have to taste the local wine of the region, so my dad ordered: Gaillac, a red wine aged up to five years from southwest France. It ’s one of the oldest wine-producing areas of France, established since Roman times.

I ordered a dish with snails, since I figured I was in France, and hadn’t had snails in years. My appetizer was served in the shape of a tower, about an inch and half in diameter, with four layers in stunning greens, yellow, orange and brown, which I assumed were snails. I did not taste the escargots, though I did taste the various flavors of spring peas and carrots. Delicious, and fortunately, not filling.

Next, a couple of ounces of cod cooked in hazelnut oil with a decorative trail of pureed peas with tiny bits of ham and baby peas. Although presented with style, there was one thing that bothered me: the sauce. It was translucent and bubbly and did not taste like anything I recognized. The fresh peas were sweet and tender plucked a few minutes before, from a nearby garden, or so it seemed.

Everyone else ordered the veal, which was delicate and served pink, however, after the waiter explained that the calf was still suckling, I could not get the image out of my head. I guess I’ve lived in the U.S. for too long.

I could not resist the cart with at least twenty varieties of cheeses. I tried several unpasteurized goat cheeses, something I cannot find in Orange County. I enjoy pungent cheeses over mild cheddars and Monterey Jacks.

Dessert was the most rewarding, both in deliciousness and artistry:  imagine a ribbon of caramel gracefully topping a burst of  lemon meringue surrounded by succulent strawberries with lemon cream, and punctuated with a scoop of lemon, ginger sorbet.

An amazing experience I shall never forget, and what struck me as different was the relaxed young staff who knew all the ingredients and how each dish was prepared. They weren’t stuffy and overbearing, so we felt at home in Restaurant du Vieux Pont, one star and all.

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Earlier in the week, the Fast Food Maven, Nancy Luna of the Orange County Register, posted an article about the first casualty on the Orange County food truck scene, Brooklyn Boy’s Deli, and how the market here is a whole different animal from that of LA.

Orange County has always been a different market from LA – its not a bad thing, unless you’re a food truck and expecting a Kogi-like craze – we are simply less urban, more suburban sprawl and, I’d have to agree with the food truck follower quoted in Nancy Luna’s article, less spontaneous. I’d like to see the food trucks survive, mentioned in Fast Food Maven’s article are Piaggio on Wheels, Barcelona On The Go, and newcomer, Oh For Sweets Sake, if you click on their names it will take you their Twitter pages and you can follow them to get updates.

Food trucks rely heavily on social media as a key marketing tool in building a loyal following and updating followers with their locations. In January I wrote about  5 unexpected food trends and, of course, food trucks was one. I have a slew of Twitter friends that follow the food trucks and jump in their cars to race over to Santa Ana, Costa Mesa or Irvine when locations are tweeted.  As a food blogger, I follow these trucks on Twitter and retweet their tweets, but personally have only tried one: Barcelona On The Go.  Living in Huntington Beach and working at home, I just haven’t been in close proximity to any of the locations frequented by the food trucks – plus I’m She’s Cookin’ – I cook Oh, and I fell in love with Crepes Bonaparte when I dined on several of their wide array of delicious sweet and savory crepes at a graduation party last year – but I haven’t tried their “Gaston” truck.

I drove to Hi-Time Cellars to try Barcelona On The Go because I love Spanish cuisine and I wanted to meet Esteban Nocito, the owner of the only gourmet food truck serving paella!  Here is what I had from Barcelona On the Go:

Tortilla Espanola

Combo: Manchego Cheese Croquette and Chicken Empanada

Paella

What I liked:

• everything came with a fresh, mixed spring greens salad
• the remoulade sauce was creamy with just enough heat
• Esteban’s enthusiasm and friendly manner
• you can get a combo of one each of the croquette and empanada
• the croquette was my fave of  the tastes I had – fried crispy, not greasy, and manchego cheese is always a winner with me

What I wasn’t crazy about:

• the paella just didn’t translate well as take-away food: its difficult to reheat mussels or octopus without it becoming tough, plus I like mussels served with more liquid – like a garlicy broth, and I’m not much for tentacles :-/  And it was $9 .

What’s your favorite food truck eats?  Do you think  the food truck craze is just a fad or here to stay?

Barcelona truck photo credit: monstermunching.com , who has also written about BOTG.

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The Loaf Lovers stopped in Orange, CA at Haven Gastropub where Chef Greg Daniels created an amazing four course dinner  inspired by Tillamook cheese and paired each dish with an expertly chosen wine, signature cocktail or one of their vast draft or craft beer selections.

For the first course: a sinfully rich and cheesy White Cheddar and Witbier Soup with Tillamook Vintage White Cheddar. Paired with Unibroue Ephéméré Apple Ale.

The second course and my personal favorite, Chile Relleno with Tillamook Pepperjack Cheese and Corn Salad – the  layered flavors of sweet corn, spicy chorizo and creamy walnut sauce did a merengue in my mouth. Paired with 5 A.M. Saint by Brew Dog.

Transported to the south for the third course of Fried Chicken perched atop Tillamook White Cheddar Grits and served with a Jimmy Russell’s Reserve Rye Whiskey cocktail. Made me want to  burst into the chorus of   “My Old Kentucky Home”!

Tarte Tatin with shaved Tillamook Vintage White Cheddar served with Tawny Port was the crowning touch on an evening of great conversation, conviviality, and gourmet comfort food.

I wasn’t paid to write this post and I’m very selective about what I promote. Tillamook is the sort of “grass roots” company with core values that I can get behind. Tillamook was founded nearly a century ago and has earned a reputation for producing the best tasting, premium-quality dairy products. They are nationally recognized for their firm commitment to quality and over the years have distinguished themselves as great supporters of local and state dairy organizations and as committed stewards of the environment.  Unlike most national brands, Tillamook cheese is made with milk from cows not treated with artificial growth hormones - all their suppliers, whether farmer-owners or contract milk suppliers are in compliance certifying that the milk they supply is from cows not supplemented with rBST. They are perfectly suited to Haven Gastropub’s mission of maintaining purveyors of local and organic produce, sustainable produce, and humanely-raised meat and poultry as often as possible.

Kelly, Liam, Megan Russell, and John Russell, VP of Marketing

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Hosted by the ebullient Frank Groff, bloggers were greeted with chilled, lip-smacking-good blended Chambord Margaritas.

Chambord Margarita @ Z'Tejas *kisses*

We had a chance to mingle and chat with bloggers from all around Orange County while the kitchen, headed by Chef Danny Stevens, kept rolling out tasty bites from their appetizer menu as well as the Pan Seared Tilapia from the Flavors of Spring seasonal menu.

Shrimp & Guacamole Tostada Bites @ Z'Tejas

These Shrimp & Guacamole Tostada Bites are one of their most popular appetizers (my tweet about them got an immediate RT)!  You can cause a stampede at dinner or your next party – because Z’Tejas gives you the recipe!

I made this slideshow so you can savor all the food with your eyes – or better yet, taste it yourself sometime when you’re at South Coast Plaza. I wasn’t paid to write this post, but I DID enjoy the food and, as a season ticket holder of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, I’ve had previous delicious dining experiences at Z’Tejas. And how could I forget – kids eat FREE on Sundays! Unfortunately, mine can’t pass for 12 or under

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Pink Lotus @ AnQi Bistro

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After a bit of internet research, I can tell you that sushi has come a long way from its origins in southeast Asia.  In the 4th century,  salted fish wrapped in fermented rice was an important source of protein. After being stored and allowed to ferment for a few months, the rice was discarded and only the fish was eaten. Over time this method (known as nare zushi) spread to China and then, in the 8th century to Japan.

The Japanese preferred to eat rice together with their fish and during the Edo period, Japanese began making haya-zushi which was created as a way to eat both rice and fish; this dish was unique to Japanese culture. Instead of being used just for fermentation, the rice was mixed with vinegar and combined with not only fish, but various vegetables and dried preserved foods. During the 19th century, when Tokyo was still called Edo, mobile food stalls dominated the food service industry and nigiri sushi, also called edomae sushi, was born. Nigiri sushi is an oblong mound of rice with a thinly sliced piece of fish draped over it and is the most common type of sushi found in modern sushi restaurants. (If you like you can read more about the history and different kinds of sushi here.)

Now, jump into that time machine and vaporize to the year 2010 to Sushilicious in Irvine, CA where patrons select their sushi from freshly colored containers on a gleaming stainless steel conveyor belt.  Monster Munching aptly described Sushilicious as “what you get when you smoosh a Japanese restaurant into an Apple store, put it in a bag, added a factory-scene from How It’s Made, sprinkled a dash of Yogurtland and shook it all up”.

Owner Daniel Woo says he was inspired to create a family friendly sushi place after an incident in a sushi restaurant when his then 5-year old daughter was asked to sit down after standing up in the booth. He has expertly achieved even broader appeal with the fun, pastel-colored sleek vibe of Sushilicious. Although there are other revolving sushi restaurants, Sushilicious’ technology quotient is amped in other unique ways: his usage of social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook to promote the restaurant before it even opened (I heard about it on Twitter) and, if you want a drink or to order menu items,  your friendly server places your order on an iPod Touch enabled by a WiFi point of sale system. Way cool! Woo approached Apple and is among the restaurants using this beta version. Coming soon – servers will be able to run your credit card on the iPod Touch so your plastic never leaves your sight!

But back to the sushi: while not for purists, the sushi is fresh and well-prepared and creative names like Sushcalifragilistics (battered rock shrimp in a mayo sauce similar to Dynamite sauce), Medusa, Napolean Dynamite, and United Colors of Sushi cause you to impulsively reach out and grab one off the conveyor belt.  Your bill is calculated by adding up the number of the plates in front of you plus any drinks and menu items you may have ordered. The plates are color coded and range from $1.50 to $4.00. Oh, and each plate carries a tag that alerts the chefs who remove it from the belt after an hour.  And, they DO do this – one roll that I pulled off the line, the chef came over and told me he was about to take it off and he would make me a fresh roll. Awesome!

Sushilicious is all about having fun; and maybe one of these, if you’re so inclined:

!! Sake Bomb !!

Sushilicious
(949) 552-2260
15435 Jeffrey Road
Suite #119, Irvine, CA 92618

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