A Trip Down the Coast For Breakfast

RJ's Cafe

25001 Dana Point Harbor Dr.

Dana Point, CA 92629

Our winter this year in OC has been one of the mildest in a long time. There have been a few days of temperatures in the 50's and a few days of rain, but for the most part, the weather has been great. Especially when you consider the record snow that the eastern part of the country has encountered.

Katie and I decided to take advantage of a nice February morning in the mid-'60s, by walking the harbor in Dana Point. Exercise is great and everything, but of course I had alternative motives for doing this. It, of course, gave us a reason to try a breakfast spot, in a city where we have not been back to for almost a year, Dana Point. After reading the reviews of breakfast places in this seaside town, one place really grabbed our attention, RJ's Cafe.

RJ's is located in the shopping center across from Harpoon Henry's and The Brig. It is a shopping center with wood buildings, and RJ's are kind of hidden from street view. Just look for the crowd of people waiting for a table on weekends. We got to the restaurant at 10:30 and was told it was going to be a twenty-minute wait. It was closer to 45 minutes, but the people watching made the time go by quicker than you would think.

RJ's has a nice outside patio that has about ten tables, but we were sat inside the bustling, somewhat cramped dining room. The dining room has about 20 tables, some of which are too close together. They do have more than enough people working here though. I counted at least six wait staff, taking orders, running food, and making sure things were running smoothly. It seemed to be a real team effort. The dining room had a pretty relaxed feel, even though the weekend breakfast rush was in full effect. The menu included almost everything you would expect on a breakfast menu, including some items that RJ's put their own spin on. Let's see what came to our table on this gorgeous southern California winter morning.

One of the items that most people on-line talked about most here was the Apple Cinnamon Stuffed French Toast ($8.25). This is made with French bread, stuffed with cream cheese, and topped with apples and cinnamon. It was then lightly dusted with powdered sugar. I am not the world's biggest fan of cream cheese, but Katie really seemed to like this better than I did. When I have something like French toast, I want it to be sweet. The cream cheese cut the sweetness too much for me with this. I did like this a little better by adding some maple syrup to my half of it.

After almost four years of being together, sometimes Katie can still surprise me by what she orders. I can not remember another time that she has ordered an Eggs Benedict ($9.25) like she did here. This classic breakfast dish was made the traditional way. Katie was pretty pleased with this plate. She felt the egg was well done, the ham was nice and thick, and the hollandaise sauce was very flavorful. She liked that they were not skimpy with the sauce, so she could mix it into her home fried potatoes.

I am usually more partial to breakfast skillets, which they don't have at RJ's,  so I was relegated to having an omelet. The breakfast menu is very omelet focused here, with a whopping fifteen varieties of this breakfast staple. I eventually settled on the Hole In The Fence Omelette ($8.95). This unusual sounding omelet contained mushrooms, sausage, and jack and cheddar cheeses. This omelet was made with three eggs, and it was pretty tasty. Filled with lots of fillings that were cut in big chunks, this was a very stomach stuffing breakfast. The home fried potatoes could have been fried crisper, and maybe seasoned a little more than they were. A very good omelet though.

It is easy to see why so many people flock to RJ's for breakfasts. They give you a lot of food for the price. Very few of the items are over the double-digit mark, and you will definitely leave RJ's very full. I would not hesitate to order any egg dish here, but I would probably forgo the stuffed french toast in favor of the blueberry pancakes on future visits. Even with the busy atmosphere here, our service was pretty good. Food was served promptly, the waitress kept things moving, and they did all this without making us feel rushed. This was a good place to replenish after our walk around the harbor.

Out of five pilgrims, (because Dana Point Harbor contains a replica of Richard Henry Dana's ship, The Pilgrim, which is used as a floating classroom by the Ocean Institute), five being best to zero being worst, RJ's Cafe gets 3 pilgrims.

For more information about RJ's Cafe, click here: https://www.rjscafe.com/

Learning What Goes On at Second Harvest OC

Second Harvest Food Bank Orange County

8014 Marine Way

Irvine, CA 92618

I have been with my girlfriend Katie for pretty close to four years now. Besides her, one of the things I love the most about her is her family. They are a great, close knit group that has welcomed me into their lives with no hesitation. I might be a handful sometimes, but they never seem to bat an eye. 

One of the members of the family that I have noticed the biggest change in during my close to four years in the family, is Katie's little sister, Emily. When I first came into the picture Emily was still in college, spent many nights on the couch watching TV, and had a strange obsession with Justin Timberlake. Okay, not much has changed, except that she has now graduated college and has a "real" job at Second Harvest Food Bank. I was intrigued to see what went on at a Food Bank, so she was gracious enough to take me on a tour.

We started our tour in the busy parking lot of the food bank. Second Harvest has been located on the old El Toro Marine Base since 2007. The move became necessary after they outgrew their former 53,000 square foot building in the city of Orange. After a long approval process and retrofitting of the warehouse, Second Harvest opened the doors of their new 121,000 square foot building. The facility was definitely busy, as we were standing in the parking lot. Two trucks made their way to the loading docks to drop off food. I was very excited to see the work they do here, so Emily decided to start our tour. 

When the food arrives it comes in on pallets or boxes. The majority of the food that the food bank acquires is from restaurants, grocery stores, food manufacturers, growers, the USDA, and through corporate and individual food drives. 

The food is then placed in milk crates for sorting. This is where the volunteers come in. Groups and individuals check the food for safety, sort and label all the incoming food. Last year the food bank used 10,000 volunteers. Many companies have donated their time at Second Harvest as a way to give back to the community and as a team building experience. 

Once the food is sorted by the volunteers it is then checked into the food banks inventory system, where it can be ordered by Second Harvest non-profit partners. Organizations then have the opportunity to come into the facility to pick it up, or have it delivered to them. 

Some of the sorted food is used in what Second Harvest calls Emergency Food Boxes. These boxes contain staple items, and are distributed to 13,000 families that are in the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Emergency Food and Shelter Program. Also, once a year they can provide these boxes to 300 non profit agencies, who in turn distribute them to over 22,000 families. Rather remarkable numbers.

One of the newest features at Second Harvest Food Bank is the creation of Izzy's Corner. This area of the warehouse grew out of the necessity that there was no opportunity for children to donate their time helping out at the food bank. The warehouse at Second Harvest is a very active place, so they needed to have a gated area where girl and boy scout troops, church youth groups, and school aged children could help their peers by packing and sorting thousands of pounds of food for children and families in need.

While we were on our tour, Emily was spewing out many staggering numbers. Orange County may seem affluent, but there are 400,000 people who struggle with hunger. Nearly 35 percent of this group are children.  Other groups who struggle are seniors, single parents, the working poor, the unemployed, and the homeless. 

So how can you get involved? Of course Second Harvest Food Bank accepts monetary funds. For every dollar that is donated, they can provide three meals for the hungry. Ninety cents out of every dollar goes directly to feeding the hungry. You may also choose to donate food, whether through an organized food drive or by dropping off fresh produce, canned foods, or other items in their original packaging to the Second Harvest warehouse. Lastly, you may volunteer your time by choosing to sort and label food,  harvest at the Incredible Edible Park by picking weeds and planting seeds, or if you have any other talents that you feel the people at Second Harvest would benefit from, they would love to hear from you. 

As we ended our tour back where we had started, I saw another truck leaving the warehouse. It made me happy that I knew that another truck was on its way to feeding the hungry of OC. It also made me proud to know that our little Justin Timberlake loving, couch sitting family member, Emily was working at a place that is doing so much good for the community. Very proud of you and your coworkers Em. 

For more information about what goes on at Second Harvest Food Bank Orange County, and to find out how you can help them with their great work, click here: http://feedoc.org/ 

  

Happy Times at Charlie Palmer's Happy Hour - CLOSED

Charlie Palmer at South Coast Plaza

3333 Bristol St.

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

I feel pretty blessed to have started this blog and to have eaten in some of the best restaurants our great county has to offer. My list of places I want to eat at has now ballooned to three pages long. I get a good many of the recommendations  from you, our readers. I get the other restaurant tips from the almost thirty blogs that I read about OC dining establishments. It is from other peoples blogs that I had written down the name Charlie Palmer.

The man for whom this restaurant is named opened his first restaurant, Aureole in New York City in 1988. Since that time he has blown up. Now he has 12 restaurants, he has branched out by becoming a hotel owner, written four cookbooks, operates a chain of retail wine stores, he's been honored by the James Beard Foundation twice, including being named best chef in New York City in 1997. I am in awe just listing all of these accomplishments.

Almost since the opening of Charlie Palmer at South Coast Plaza, this restaurant has gotten glowing reviews from some of my favorite OC food bloggers. With all of this great press I knew it would just be a matter of time before we got to experience Charlie Palmer for ourselves. Lucky for us we were recently invited to Charlie Palmer to experience their new happy hour small plates and cocktails.

We arrived at South Coast Plaza just before five on an unusually warm March day. Charlie Palmer is attached to Bloomingdale's, in the most southern part of South Coast Plaza. Walking through their door I was shocked by the sleekness of the bar area. It had a real hip vibe, but not in an uncomfortable way. The chairs and sofa were comfortable, the staff was not uptight, and they even had sports on a very large plasma TV. Of course they would have gotten bonus points for having hockey on instead of basketball, but then I would not have been able to concentrate on all of the great items that started to make their way from behind the bar and out of the kitchen.

The drinks started coming out rapidly. Luckily we only got tasters of each, otherwise I would have been in trouble.  I am usually a very simple kind of guy when it comes to cocktails. I like two ingredients in my drinks; rum and Coke, gin and tonic, and vodka and soda are some of my favorites when I go out. The cocktails at Charlie Palmer are a little more advanced than that. Two drinks that grabbed my attention right away were the Blood Orange Mojito and the Little Gypsy (all cocktails are $14). The Blood Orange Mojito was made with Bacardi rum, lime, blood orange, mint, and a splash of soda. This one was fruity, without being overly sweet. A very good balance. The Little Gypsy was a gin based drink that combined the unusual ingredient of rhubarb bitters, along with sage, simple syrup, and grapefruit juice. I really got a good amount of rhubarb in this beverage, along with the tang from the grapefruit. A very well made cocktail.

Before we had gotten to Charlie Palmer, I checked out their happy hour menu and one drink really piqued my interest, the Two Thumbs Up. I only got a picture of the sample we got to try, but this was the best drink of the night for me. It combines house made popcorn vodka and vanilla syrup. The popcorn really stood out for me here. The flavor of that, along with the vanilla, almost made this like drinking some kettle corn. A very unique cocktail.

Cocktails are great, but I was definitely ready to try some of the food at Charlie Palmer. First out were a couple of salads. I very rarely eat beets, but after eating the Roasted Beet Salad ($8), I may have to rectify that situation. The cubed beets were joined in this salad by hazelnuts, oranges, and goat cheese. This salad had a very good balance to it. The sweetness with the oranges was perfect with the goat cheese, and the beets were done well here. The hazelnuts added an earthiness to this salad. Another salad that I might shy away from, but I was glad that I tried was the Seaweed Salad ($12). Seaweed always reminds me of the Sigmund and the Sea Monsters TV show, from when I was a kid. I know this salad tasted better than I would have imagined that sea monster would have tasted. The seaweed had a nice pleasant flavor to it, along with the slightly sweet apple-miso vinaigrette. I enjoyed the crunchiness that the nori chips added here.

I have never really been a big fan of pate, but the Chicken Liver Pate Sandwich ($10) was so creamy and rich, that if you did not know what you were eating, you wouldn't give it a second thought. To go along with the well made pate, was an interesting red onion fig marmalade and some arugula. I would have liked a little less arugula on this, and maybe smaller pieces of it as well. The bread was very nice and toasted.

Whenever I think of head cheese, I always think of that horrible looking stuff that is hanging by the packaged deli meats in the grocery stores. I never thought people would actually cook with that, but Charlie Palmer has helped me to change my view. The Head Cheese Croquettes ($12) are paired with a kimchi remoulade and I could have easily dusted off a few more of these easily. The croquette was fried perfectly, without being greasy. I should have taken a picture of the inside, but I ate these too fast. The pork had a great flavor, and did not resemble anything close to what was on the supermarket deli shelves.

The Red Wine Braised Oxtail Risotto Cakes ($9) came out the same time as the croquettes, and they paired nicely with each other. I expected these to be a little more flavorful than they were. The risotto really seemed to take over here. There also needed to be a little more of the romesco sauce on these, but I always prefer a heavy hand when it comes to sauces.

This was probably my least favorite thing of the night, but it was one of Katie's favorites. Can we ever agree on anything? Anyways, these Lamb Belly Steam Buns ($9) came with Gochujang, cucumber, tamarind, and sesame. My problem with this dish was the steamed bun. It was way too much bread for the contents of the bun. I took the insides of the sandwich out of the bun and ate them with a fork. I really enjoyed the Korean flavors of this meat. Katie liked the sweetness of the bread, and felt that this had a dim sum kind of feel to it.

Katie is not a big shell fish eater, so I had her plate and mine to polish off, but I made quick work of these Steamed Clams ($14). They came with a nice garlic aioli that added a big pop of flavor to these clams. The meat was very easy to get to, and it went well with the toasted bread that came with this.

Probably one of the funniest parts of the night for me was when we were given the Steamed Escargot Dumplings ($10) to try. Katie was deep in conversation, so she did not hear what she would be eating before popping it in her mouth. Later when asked what she thought of the escargot, I could see she was surprised that she actually liked it. I have never minded escargot. There is always plenty of butter and garlic, so that can never be a bad thing. At Charlie Palmer they even added Parmesan cheese to this to make it even more appealing. This was my first time having snails in a dumpling, and I liked this different presentation.

I have an admission to make to all of you. I feel that I have to get this off of my chest. My life as a food blogger has been a sham up until this point. I had never had bone marrow until this night. I know, the trendiest thing since foie gras has left our state, and I had yet to try it. Charlie Palmer has put an end to the bone marrow drought in my life.  The Roasted Bone Marrow ($14) here was described by my friend Rich as, "butter of the gods." He is not too far off. At Charlie Palmer the bone marrow is topped with a black garlic pesto, and served with grilled bread. The bone marrow was less dense than I thought it would be, but it was very rich. Very good and I can see why people like this so much. I guess I am a new fan as well.

By the time the dessert made its way around I was filled to the brim. I will be honest, I did not get the in depth explanation of what these desserts were. I know there was a very nice sorbet, a rather bland tart, and a very good chocolate? macaron. I was very happy we did not have a very heavy dessert, because I don't think I could have handled it. Also listed on the happy hour dessert menu is a trio of creme brulee's that we need to try on our next visit here.

The happy hour at Charlie Palmer is two happy hours for the price of one. These items, and others that we did not get a chance to try are available daily, and are served from 4 to 7, and then again from 9 til they close. The perfect time for a late afternoon snack or to celebrate another successful shopping day at South Coast Plaza. We only really scratched the surface of the happy hour menu at Charlie Palmer. They feature 28 items on their happy hour menu and ten signature cocktails. That is a whole lot of eating that you will need to do to get through this wonderful menu. We are already looking forward to our next trip.

We would like to thank the great Lee Healy for the wonderful opportunity to experience the greatness that is Charlie Palmer. As always, another great event Lee. We would also like to express our gratitude to Executive Chef Seakyeong Kim for providing us with all of the awesome food that we ate on this night. You can tell that he put a lot of himself into the food here at Charlie Palmer. Also, thanks go out to General Manager of this Charlie Palmer, Chris Moran. You and your staff made us all feel very welcome, and we definitely enjoyed meeting and chatting with you. We would like to thank all of our servers and bussers, who took such great care of all us bloggers. Thank you all so much. Lastly, I would like to thank all of the great bloggers that were in attendance on this night. It is because of you guys that I started my blog, and being a part of your community has made this blog such a pleasure to write. Thanks guys, and I can not wait until our next meal together.

For more information about Charlie Palmer at South Coast Plaza, click here: http://www.charliepalmer.com/Properties/CharliePalmerAtBloomingdales/