Food Frenzy Invades Taste of Sicily! - CLOSED

Taste of Sicily

655 N. Tustin Ave.

Orange, CA 92867

You may think that being a food blogger is a pretty solitary experience. I thought it would be as I started this blog over two years ago. What I have discovered, though, is that I became part of the food community of our grand county. I have been lucky enough to be invited to great events from time to time, and up until now, everyone has been so lovely and welcoming. So it was with great excitement that I was headed to another great food event, the Food Frenzy Foodie Fest.

In case you do not know, the Orange County Register has a food blog (http://foodfrenzy.ocregister.com/),  where they review restaurants, pass on information, and on rare occasions, meet up to eat, find new places, and talk about our passion, food. This meet-up would be extra great because we would be able to meet Food Frenzy's newest blogger Kathleen Luppi. As well as Kathleen, other bloggers in attendance were Nathan from Papa Kaster Eatin, Niyaz, representing Fat Dude On A Diet, and one of my favorite blogs to read, Eat In OC, which is written by Dan. With all of these food bloggers and readers of Food Frenzy here, of course, we talked about food and shared some laughs and food-related stories, but when the food came, everyone turned into TMZ, and the cameras came out, just like on the red carpet. So let's see if the food is ready for its close-up.

After being seated, we were presented with these Garlic Knots. Katie prides herself on being a garlic knot connoisseur, and she pronounced these as some of the best she has had. They were soft on the inside and were not overly saturated with garlic. I would have liked more garlic here, but these were good, and I ate my fair share. Next time I will ask for a side of ranch dressing with these.

Both mine and Katie's meals came with a Dinner Salad. This was your basic dinner salad. I did enjoy the cheese added to this, and they were very liberal with the dressing, which is always a plus for me.

Food Frenzy reader Michael ordered some Fried Calamari and was generous enough that allow all of us to sample it. I felt this was a little overdone, but I enjoyed the breading here. It was thick but did not get in the way of the squid. Thanks for the sample, Michael!

When it was my turn to order, I was at a loss for what to get, but I finally decided on the Pasta Carbonara. This mostaccioli dish was served with bacon, basil, and a cream sauce. The first few bites of this were good, but as time passed, it became too rich. The sauce was very heavy, and I could only finish three-quarters of this plate. I would probably choose something different from their menu next time.

Claudia, our event organizer, barely made a dent in her medium Green Margherita Garlic Pizza. This thin-crust pizza came with a green pesto sauce, mozzarella, and roasted garlic. I wanted to try some of this but was too full from my meal. However, she seemed very pleased with her choice here, and I am sure she had leftovers for a long while after.

Niyaz was thoughtful enough to package his wife some of his Baked Ziti, with sausage added, to go. I forgot to ask him how it was, but I did not hear any complaints from him.

Katie also went the pasta route with her selection, the Tortellini with Blush Sauce. She liked the sharpness of the cheese used in the tortellini and felt the blush sauce had a nice full body, which complimented the pasta well. I tried a bite of hers and felt this was an excellent, mellow dish.

Nathan was more than happy to show off his Sausage Sandwich. This $12 sandwich was huge. Unfortunately, the picture does not do it justice. This sandwich could easily feed two people with a normal appetite. It looked terrific too.

Taste of Sicily was not a bad spot for this Food Frenzy Foodie Fest. The restaurant was comfortable, low-key, and could easily accommodate our party. The prices here were not bad for a sit-down Italian place. The pasta dish ranged in the $10 to $15 range, and the chicken and beef dishes were a little more. The serving sizes were definitely suitable. You will probably have leftovers. The service on the night we were here was outstanding. They are under new management, so the menu will be tweaked, but all of the pizza, sandwiches, and pasta will probably be safe.

So another Foodie Fest is done. I look forward to the next one. I would like to thank Claudia at Food Frenzy and, of course, all of the people we had the pleasure of dining with at this food event. I look forward to swapping food stories and many more meals in the future.

Out of five Coppola's (a traditional flat cap worn in Sicily, and now regarded as the definitive symbol of Sicilian heritage), five being best to zero being worst, Taste of Sicily gets 2.5 Coppola's.

For more information on Taste of Sicily, click here: http://www.tasteofsicily.net/