Rise and Shine, it's Time for Sol's Take on Brunch

Sol Cocina

251 E. Coast Highway

Newport Beach, CA 92660

Yes it is true, another post about Sol Cocina. This just happens to be one of Katie's favorite restaurants, and one that we frequent quite often. Anything to keep the woman happy I guess. I actually do enjoy the food here too. We have been to Sol Cocina for dinner, for a couple of media events, and now we are trying the brunch here. Along with us on this trip are my parents, who are trying Sol for the first time.

Sol Cocina comes to us from Executive Chef and Partner, Deborah Schneider. I have had the pleasure of meeting Chef Deb a few times, and can honestly say that she is as nice, as her food is good, and I love her food. She has written five cookbooks, including the James Beard nominated, "Cooking with the Seasons at Rancho La Puerta". Her passion for Baja cooking comes from her many trips down the coast, observing the small street stands which offer flavorful and healthy food. Chef Deb has brought what she learned in Mexico across the border, and opened Sol Cocina to help showcase her culinary talents. Now with two locations, (this Newport Beach location, and one in Scottsdale), they have just announced that a new sister restaurant to Sol will be opening at the Bella Terra Center in Huntington Beach. It will be called Solita, and will be a neighborhood-casual restaurant serving items that have bold flavors, while integrating traditional favorites with other more imaginative dishes. I can not wait to see what they come up with when this sister restaurant opens in September. For now though, I was really excited to try the brunch at Sol, so let's see how it turned out for us.

We got to Sol at about 10:30 on a recent Sunday morning. I had made reservations, so we did not have more than a couple of minutes of a wait. We were very lucky to get one of the last tables overlooking the marina. If at all possible, ask to be seated overlooking the water, whether on the outside patio or in the restaurant, with a window seat. It kind of gives the impression of being on vacation. The brunch crowd definitely was a little late in arriving, but by the time we left the restaurant was pretty full. I am usually partial to all you can eat brunches, but this one had a menu to order off of. After ordering from the waitress, this is what came out for us.

I was pretty hungry at this almost lunchtime hour, so I was happy to see that Sol Cocina serves their Taste of Baja, which consists of salt, lime wedges, and hot sauce, along with an addicting bean dip and a salsa that had a mild spice to it. The big round chips did not last too long at our table, as they were being gobbled up by the four of us. I definitely had more than my fair share of that bean dip. So good. The main plates were coming, so I really had to test my willpower to stop eating this bean dip.

If you can avoid being distracted from my Dad's wonderful peach Hawaiian shirt, you will see that he ordered the Crab and Shrimp Cakes Benedicto ($17.50). This unusual take on an eggs Benedict used the shrimp and crab cake as a base, then it was topped with a poached egg and a chipotle-orange hollandaise sauce. It is also served with black beans, a few slices of avocado, and bacon on the side. My Dad really had a hard time putting this away. It was very rich, and I was the willing recipient of what he could not finish. The crab and shrimp cake had a great crunch to it, and the hollandaise sauce was spot on, with a very subtle chipotle flavor to it. The one drawback I would say about this was that the seafood really got pushed to the background in this dish. Not surprising with everything going on here, but I would have liked the crab to play a more prominent role.

Before I had got to Sol, I had looked at the menu and picked out something I would have liked to have ordered. My Mom beat me to this Breakfast Changa ($11.75). This deep fried breakfast burrito came stuffed with scrambled eggs, cheese, bacon, Serrano chilies, cream cheese and onions. It is then topped with pico de gallo, avocado slices, and crema. Again, and not surprisingly, I got to eat what my Mom could not finish of this dish as well. I was really cleaning up here. I thought this changa was going to be a little more fried than it was. I would have liked the tortilla to be a little crisper. The insides of this had some big time flavors going on. The cream cheese kind of melted away, but the creaminess remained. Not something you could eat everyday, but once in a while this would be a welcome treat.

Katie's plate of food really lacked the color of the rest of ours. Maybe I should have had my Dad's peach shirt lurking in the background for this shot as well. Katie went with the Sol Chilaquiles Verde ($11.75). You do have the option to have this with meat added for three dollars more, but Katie declined this option. Pieces of corn tortilla are sauteed in a tomatillo salsa, along with queso fresco, then topped with eggs, crema, cotixa cheese, and onions. Katie felt this was really a well made brunch plate, but the tomatillo salsa was very mild. She has decided that she favors red salsa with chilaquiles. The chips were still crisp, which is very hard to find in a chilaquiles. She would probably get something else on future brunch visits here.

Since my Mom got the changa, I selected my second choice, the Papas Papi ($12.50). This started with a bunch of thick cut red potatoes and onions, then melted cheese on top of that, then a whole mess of items; Serrano chilies, crema, chorizo, bacon, pico de gallo, green onions, and then topped with three fried eggs. The base of this version of a breakfast skillet was very good and flavorful. I, of course would have liked even more chorizo and bacon, but I made due with what was given to me. I liked the flavors here, but this really needed more cheese. I should have also asked for the eggs to have runny yolks. That's my new thing, I have grown very fond of a runny yolk at breakfast. This was a very filling plate of food, and kept me full until dinner time.

I liked the brunch at Sol Cocina, but it still is not as good as the dinners here. The brunch was good, but nothing really rocked my world on this visit. After eating my food, and some of my parents, I was definitely very full. The food had a great flavor, but I might have been expecting more because I am so fond of the lunch and dinners here. The atmosphere for brunch can not be beat though. The great view, the laid back vibe, and the wonderful service really made this visit for me. My Mom took advantage of the $10 Bottomless Mimosa, and our waitress Donna was right on top of it every time the glass was nearing empty. My Dad had the Sol Bloody Mary ($8) and made very quick work of it. We all agreed that we would definitely come back for brunch, and eating here really got my parents excited to try their dinners in the near future. A return trip that both Katie and I are always up for.

Out of five soccer balls, (because the former women's professional soccer team based in LA, was called the Los Angeles Sol), five being best to zero being worst, Sol Cocina gets 3 soccer balls.

For more information about Sol Cocina, go to their web site here: http://www.solcocina.com/

Two Great Events in One Great Night at Sol Cocina

Sol Cocina

251 E. Coast Highway

Newport Beach, CA 92660

It is probably no secret to any of our regular readers of this blog that we really like Sol Cocina. We have visited this restaurant numerous times. This was the venue for our first media event, it was also one of our highest rated restaurants in 2011, and Sol was also the restaurant where Katie and I celebrated Valentines Day this year. It is always a treat coming back to Sol Cocina, and we were really excited when we were recently invited to celebrate the return of Tequila Thursdays and to get a first look at their new Spring/Summer Culinary Offerings.

Let's start with the return of Tequila Thursdays. On Thursdays guests can enjoy a complimentary taste of the featured tequila of the night from 6-8 pm. After you have your taste, you can then take advantage of that featured tequila being offered at half price for the rest of the night. I have included the remaining dates and tequilas below.

April 11th: Patron
April 18th: Tres Sietes
April 25th: Partida
May 2nd: Cinco De Mayo
May 9th: Patron
May 16th: Tequila Ocho
May 23rd: Pura Vida
May 30th: TBD
June 6th: Partida
June 13th: Restaurant Buyout
June 20th: Dos Armadillos
June 27th: Casa Noble

We were lucky enough to be able to try Sol's latest addition to their 70 plus tequilas, the Sol Single Barrel Reposado. This extremely limited tequila is only offered at Sol Cocina in Newport and Scottsdale. As the name suggests, this tequila is made in a single barrel at the Casa Noble estate in Mexico. This means that there are only 360 bottles of this tequila available. Talk about being rare. A lot goes into making this tequila, starting with the wood used for the barrel. It is French white oak that is slightly charred for the optimal aging of the tequila. The tequila is then aged for 364 days, monitored during that time, then placed in hand-made bottles, which are numbered and signed by the makers. The result is a tequila that is able to be sipped, or is able to keep its presence felt in a cocktail. I am not too much of a sipping tequila kind of guy, but this Single Barrel Reposado was very smooth and I detected hints of caramel in it. Even in the Margarita you could tell that this was a very special tequila.

After all of this tequila I was definitely ready for some food, and lucky for me some of the newest seasonal offerings were headed out for us to try. Sol Cocina has had some of the best guacamole we have ever had. Now they are offering two new ones. The Guacamole Verano caught my attention right away. This guacamole had raspberries dusted with chili con limon, toasted almonds, spicy Serrano chiles, and cotixa cheese. Talk about having a little bit of everything in this guacamole. Every bite contained a new element. The sweetness from the raspberries, the earthiness from the almonds, and the spiciness from the chili were very evident here. The Corn Goddess Guacamole was a little more traditional. This one used their regular guacamole as a base, and then added grilled and crunchy corn, cotixa cheese, pico de gallo, minced Serrano chiles, red onions, cilantro, and a first for me, Inca Corn, which is like a version of corn nuts, very crunchy. I just had a small sampling of this one, but this guacamole also had layered flavors, that played nicely against each other.

My favorite food item of the night was the Taco Viper. I could not control myself with these, and probably ate close to five of them. This taco started with a corn tortilla, and then melted cheese and grilled chicken is added. Then the viper salsa is added to the taco. This viper salsa is made up of dried chipotle meco, caramelized onions, agave, a splash of tequila, and just for good measure, ghost chili, the hottest chile on the planet. This taco had a good heat, but was not as scary as it sounds. Katie even tried this one, but she did not have another one. The heat was good, but you could still taste the other elements of the taco. A very hard balance to find, but Chef Deb definitely did it here.

I was pretty full from the Taco Viper, so I limited myself to only one of these Taco Adobado D.F.. These are the taco that is most closely associated with Mexico City, which Mexicans call the the D.F. In this version of a taco, the pork is added to a marinade, diced onions, and pineapple, then that filling is put into a puffy fried flour tortilla. This was a different taste for me. It was a little on the sweeter side. I also wanted the pork to stand out more than it did. Not bad, but maybe for people that enjoy a more mellower taste.

This of course is only a small portion of the new seasonal offerings at Sol Cocina. When I got home I perused the new seasonal menu and found a  few other things that caught my eye, including the Puerto Nuevo Lobster Tacos, the Spicy Chicken Milanesa Torta, and the Hangover Changa, which is basically a breakfast burrito deep fried. Wow, that sounds amazing, but that one is only available at brunch. I guess we will have to make another trip to Sol Cocina to try their brunch soon.

I would like to thank everyone at Sol Cocina for this great event that they put together. Starting with the driving force behind Sol Cocina, cookbook author, James Beard nominee, and too many more accolades to list here, Chef Deborah Schneider. The three times that we have met her, she always takes the time to talk with us and she is so passionate about her restaurant and her food, which shows in the end result. We would also like to thank Sol Cocina Partners, Rich Howland and Matt Baumayr for sharing with us the process about how the Sol Single Barrel Reposado came to be, and was brought to the restaurant. Another big shout out to one of the best PR people in the business, the wonderful Mona Shah-Anderson at Moxxe PR. We always enjoy your events Mona, especially when they are at Sol Cocina. Lastly, we would like to thank all of our fellow food bloggers, and media that we get a chance to catch up with at these events. We are all such a close knit group and it is great to swap stories, get tips from one another, and just catch up with all of you. We look forward to seeing you all again real soon.

For more information about Sol Cocina, and everything that they have going on there, check out their web site here: http://www.solcocina.com/

 

Sol Cocina Shining Bright?

Sol Cocina

251 E. Coast Highway

Newport Beach, CA 92660

Sol Cocina is not my usual type of spot for Mexican food. I usually like small taqueria's or Mom and Pop places where you can get big burritos, or tacos stuffed with cheese. I usually shy away from, "fancy" Mexican places like Javier's, or Las Brisas, because I feel that they are over-priced and have stuffiness about them. We made an exception for Sol Cocina. We had been invited to a media event here a few weeks back and liked the appetizers we had so much, that we put this place on our list of places to try during OC Restaurant week.

Sol Cocina has been opened for about a year and a half, and has been gaining praise in the media, and on-line in blogs. Like the restaurant, Chef Deborah Schneider has racked up an impressive list of credentials as well. Nominated for a James Beard Award for her second cookbook, and touted as the "reigning queen of San Diego chefs," she draws her inspiration from the Baja peninsula.

We arrived at 7 on a Friday night. We had reservations and were seated right away. The vibe here is hip. All of the wait staff look like they just came off the pages of a fashion magazine. They did not look down on us less attractive people, like many other places in Newport, do. We felt very comfortable here. But enough about all of this, let's see if the food tastes as good as the staff looks.

At Sol Cocina they do not have chips and salsa, they have their Taste of Baja, which is set on every table. The large, round tortilla discs were fair, but the winner of this grouping was the black bean dip with pepitas on top. This was an addicting dip. The salsa had a little spice, but was tart at the same time, a nice contrast.

Sorry, this picture seems so far away. This was the start of the four-course restaurant week menu for me, the Nopales and Shrimp Tostada. This tiny tostada had a very mellow flavor. Very fresh tasting and light.

For her Amuse, Katie got a small Naked Guacamole. At Sol Cocina their guacamole is made with avocados, cilantro, lime, tomatoes, onion, and Serrano chile. Katie felt this was one of the best guacamoles she has ever had. She liked the citrus taste, with just a hint of spice. I liked this as well, but not as much as Katie.

The soup above is the Mexican Onion Soup. This was a complex soup, with no two bites tasting the same. Sometimes sweet, and then turning spicy, each spoonful had a different degree of each. I would definitely get this again.

Something I would not get again was this Avocado Caesar Salad. It sounded so good on the menu, but when it arrived it was nothing but your basic salad. The dressing was very tart, and I guess I expected hunks of avocado, but there were none.  Not the worst salad, but not worth ordering again.

Now on to the main course, where Katie got her signature dish in a Mexican restaurant, the Chicken Taco Combo Plate. She felt that the chicken was tender, and not too greasy. She was also happy that the tortilla stood up to the meat. I liked the taste of these tacos but would have added more hot sauce to them. These tacos were also served with Spinach Garlic Rice and Borracho Black Beans. The rice was forgettable, but the beans had a great flavor.

Pictured above is my dinner for the evening, the Garlic-grilled Skirt Steak with Cilantro Pesto. Cooked medium rare, this steak had a great flavor and was tender. The steak was made even better by pairing bites of the spinach and the meat together. I was however not impressed with the tomatillo salsa, but I am not a big fan of tomatillos normally.

If Katie had her way this would be the flavor of the month at Baskin-Robbins. Espresso Sorbet with silver tequila and whipped cream. Not exactly what the ice cream man brought around in his truck, with that annoying music. Katie liked the balance of this dessert. I felt it was a little much. This definitely quenched Katie's need for Starbucks on the way home, and that is something that is not easily done.

I will take a page out of Katie's book and let you know that this is one of the best flan's I have ever had. The Requeson Flan with Agave Orange Syrup and Fresh Fruit was what I got for dessert. Really creamy, and the taste was amazing. I am usually not much of a flan guy, but this is one I will get again. Great finish to the meal.

It was a pleasure to eat at Sol Cocina. The atmosphere was inviting, the staff did a great job keeping things moving in an orderly fashion, even though it was busy. It was a little loud in the wide-open restaurant. The food was fresh, and the meal was not heavy at all. The prices were fair. They only have one meal over $20 on their dinner menu. But, they also have a steak and shrimp taco served ala carte for $11. I still enjoy Mexican restaurants that cover their plates in cheese, but Sol Cocina will definitely be at the top of my list when we want a different, more upscale kind of Mexican food.

Out of five bottles of suntan lotion, (because Sol is Spanish for sun, and everyone should wear sunscreen), five being best to zero being worst, Sol Cocina gets 3.5 bottles of suntan lotion.

For more information on Sol Cocina, click here: https://solcocina.com/