Checking Out Chixy In Costa Mesa

Chixy Natural

488 E. 17th Street

Costa Mesa, CA 92627

I get a lot of my tips from reading other blogs, magazines, and newspaper food reviews. Our visit to Chixy Natural is thanks to the great people over at OC Weekly. I have religiously read almost everything that they have posted on their Stick A Fork In It blog, as well as what they put in their print edition of the OC Weekly for a good many years. One of my favorite columns is the Hole In The Wall, written by Gustavo Arellano. Just from reading Gustavo's words all of these years, I can tell that he has very particular tastes, especially when it comes to hot sauce. He was the one that gave me the heads up on the habanero salsa that you have to ask for at Taco Adobe in Orange. In his review of Chixy Natural, he mentions another fine salsa, and it was enough for us to make the trip to Costa Mesa.

Chixy Natural is located on the corner of Irvine and 17th Street, right across from La Cave. I lived in this area for over ten years, and never once found myself in this tiny strip mall. Of course, Chixy was not around then, they opened just over two years ago. In that time Chixy Natural has had numerous write ups in the OC Register, along with some mentions in OC Weekly. We were on our way to the OC Fair for the second time, and did not want to have fair food again. So we swung by Chixy on a Saturday night at about 6PM.

You know that you have found this place, when you see the chickens that appear to be on fire in the window. Stepping inside, this not a huge restaurant. Maybe seven tables, and ordering is done at the counter. The menu is not large either. There is no doubt about it, they are definitely chicken focused here. They offer chicken combo plates, salads, bowls, and wraps. There was definitely a steady stream of customers on the night we were here, most of which had their orders prepared to go. We would be eating here, and after about five minutes our food was brought to our table.

Let's show Katie's meal first. She went with the Chicken Wrap ($7.50). This wrap was filled with chicken of course, but also had lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pickle, mint, basil, and their house dressing inside of it. As if that was not enough, Katie also added avocado in there for an extra dollar charge. This had some good, and some bad things going for it. The wrap was filled with tons of tender chicken. They definitely do not short change you when it comes to chicken with this. She was not too fond of the house dressing used here. She felt it overpowered the meal, and she used a lemon garlic sauce to help cut the sweetness of the dressing. She would probably get a bowl on her next visit here, but hold off on the house dressing. She also got a side dish of Couscous Salad ($2.50). Gustavo had raved about the salad, but we both thought it was just okay. To be fair though, I am not much of a couscous kind of guy. This one was better than most, because it had raisins in it, which gave it a little sweetness. Let's see if my meal turned out better than Katie's.

I went the more traditional route at Chixy Natural, with the Number Two Combo ($9.90). This combo included half of a chicken, two regular sides, and a tortilla. Let's start with the chicken. The chicken was very tender, juicy, and fell off the bone rather easily.  I did make quick work of this half of a bird. For my sides I went with Mashed Potatoes and Baked Beans. The potatoes were a little on the dry side, but made much better with the provided gravy. The beans were a much better choice. They were cooked well, had a good spice to them, and the consistency was spot on. The tortilla served with this was a little too wheaty for me. I would have rather of had a flour tortilla.

Of course I have not forgotten to mention the Spicy Hot Sauce that ultimately brought us here. This green sauce was very good, and went well with the chicken. Just like Gustavo, I used more than my fair share of this. I expected more spiciness, but it definitely did add flavor. They also offer seven other sauces, so if you are not feeling like a hot sauce, you have other options here.

I liked our visit to Chixy Natural, but was not blown away. The meals were pretty good, but what made this place for me were the sauces. They brought this restaurant just above the average mark for me. I felt that the prices here were a tad too high for the amount of food that you get. The chicken was just a step above what you could pick up at the local supermarket deli case. The ladies behind the counter were pretty nice, and patient with newcomers coming in and taking quite a long time to peruse the menu board above the register. If I were in the area, and one of my friends wanted to meet here, I would still totally go, just so I could have that green hot sauce again.

Out of five deep fried Oreo's, (because we were on our way to the OC Fair on this day, and during the month long fair, fair patrons consumed 100,000 deep fried Oreo's), five being best to zero being worst, Chixy Natural gets 3 deep fried Oreo's.

For more information about Chixy Natural, go to their website here, http://www.chixynatural.com/index.html

Having a Great Time at the Live and Dine Event

To Live and Dine Event

South Coast Collection 

3303 Hyland Ave. 

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

I love food events a lot. I know, not exactly earth shattering news coming from me. I especially love food events when the admission price includes all you can eat samples. I don't want to have to worry about the admission price, plus dealing with food and drink tickets. I always feel ripped off by those kinds of events, like the now on hiatus Taste of Newport. You could easily spend close to $60, and still need to go out to dinner afterwards. The To Live and Dine Chef's Challenge definitely did not require dinner after this event, in fact I was still full even the next  morning.

To Live and Dine was put on by the great folks at Riviera Magazine. They assembled over twenty of the hottest restaurants in OC to participate in a chefs contest. Each person in attendance was given one coin, and told to place that coin in the restaurant's container that they liked best. With so many great restaurants, I knew it would be a hard choice for me to decide, but I was definitely up for the challenge. Not only was this going to be a great night of eating, but this was also a night of giving. A portion of the proceeds from the $20 admission went to a very worthy cause, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). CASA volunteers are appointed by judges to watch over and advocate for neglected and abused children going through the overburdened court system or to prevent children from languishing in group homes or inappropriate foster homes. For a lot of these kids, this CASA volunteer is the only constant adult presence in their life. A very worth while charity to get behind.

This chef challenge was held appropriately at the South Coast Collection, which is also known as SOCO to us more hip people. Okay, I am not really hip, I just heard someone else call this place SOCO, so I wanted to try to be cool as well. If you have not been to SOCO, you need to head over there. They feature over 300,000 square feet of home decor, fashion, design, and culinary retails spaces for you to peruse. Of course being a food lover, I am of course drawn to the food more than the fashion side, (my wardrobe probably gives that away though). SOCO features OC's largest Farmer's Market, along with some of the most buzz worthy restaurants to hit Orange County in years. A good many of these restaurants are on our ever growing list of places we will eventually eat at. That is for another day though, because as soon as we entered, I made a beeline for the first restaurant I saw giving out what they hoped would be the winning entry in this chefs challenge. Let's check out the competitors.

Mastro's probably would have gotten my vote if they would have given out their Butter Cake, which is one of my all time favorite desserts. They settled on handing out this Smoked Salmon with a parsnip puree. Very tasty, the puree was done well, and the salmon was nice too. This would have paired nicely with the butter cake. Sorry, but I really do love that dessert.

Mare Culinary Lounge is located in Laguna Beach, so it is no surprise that they went with something from the sea to showcase. This Lobster Ravioli was full of lobster, made with a limoncello pasta, and topped with a sauce that I did not catch the name of. With this one sample, Mare Culinary Lounge has made it onto our must try list.

The sign says coming soon, but Taco Maria is now open at SOCO. This former food truck takes it turn becoming a brick and mortar restaurant, and all the foodies in OC could not be more excited. This was actually my first time having anything from Taco Maria. I am not a big food truck guy, so that explains why I have not tried them before this. They definitely made a favorable impression on me with this Soft Egg with chorizo and verde sauce. Not like anything I would expect from a Mexican restaurant, this whetted my appetite for more from them.

Nice hand modeling Katie. This is the restaurant that I lost my coin at. I voted for this to win the Live and Dine event, but of course, just like my sports teams, Brasserie Pascal did not win this contest either. It really could have though. This Oyster was topped with caviar and a very subtle cream sauce. It melted in my mouth. So good, and bonus points for bringing oysters to an outdoor event, where temperatures were not optimal.

Sandy's comes to us from Surf City, Huntington Beach and brought us their version of a layered seafood cocktail. This contained lots of my favorites, lobster, shrimp, avocado, and an orange chili sauce. This had a lot of things going on with it. The slight spiciness from the chili, the cool avocado, the rich lobster and the brininess from the shrimp, all worked wonderfully together.

Not only were restaurants here, but event planners, Posh Events was on hand with guest sushi chef, David Fernandez, and his Spicy Tuna Wonton Cups. These were topped with avocado and Dave's Jalapeno sauce. These really packed a punch. The tuna was fresh, and I liked the inclusion of the wonton cup instead of the traditional rice paper or seaweed.

I sing the praises of The Ranch Restaurant every chance I get, so it is no surprise that this was one of my favorites from this night. The Ranch always outdoes themselves. On this night they were giving out samples of their Diver Scallop with a prosciutto wrapped fig. The scallop was wonderful, and the prosciutto and fig were nicely done as well. I liked the salty and sweet combo. For dessert they were giving out Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches. They had other flavors, but I am a sucker for mint. These were as good as they look. The Ranch won this event last year, but there would be no repeat in their future. Still a solid entry though.

Walking into the Live and Dine event, I would have been shocked to have seen a movie theater competing with some the best restaurants in OC. I would have been even more shocked by their decision to serve Crispy Pork Belly Sliders. Cinepolis is not your Mom and Dad's movie theater. They serve real food, instead of that hot dog that has probably been in the case since the premier of Star Wars in 1977. This slider was very good. It was a little too bready, but the crispy pork belly was right on point. I went back and had another one while Katie was busy talking.

Chef Seakyeong Kim at Charlie Palmer was really cooking at SOCO, and he had the smoke to prove it. I really enjoyed the playfulness of his Smoked Bulgogi Philly Sandwich. Very tasty, all it needed was Cheese Wiz to make it even more of a cheesesteak.

Wild Goose Tavern comes to us from Costa Mesa, at the same address that the Little Knight used to call home. This new, more hip bar has made our list of restaurants to go, for not only what they sampled at this event, but for the great personalities behind the food. We really enjoyed talking to them, and their Venison with back beans and a spicy salsa really got my taste buds roaring. Very good.

One of the more fancy presentations at the Live and Dine Event was the offering from Wildfish Seafood Grille. They were passing out jumbo scallops with a potato puree, a cilantro sauce, and seasoned popcorn on top of that. The scallop was really the star of this show. It was cooked very well, and the popcorn added a nice texture element. Instead of plastic plates, they were serving these on shells, which was a nice touch.

Newly opened at SOCO is the Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop. They had a pretty unique sample to hand out, Grilled Peach with burrata, prosciutto, and pecans. Even though I am averse to anything healthy for me, this was pretty darn good. Very mellow, but the highlight of this for me was the burrata, which was excellent.

By this time we were getting pretty full, but a lot of people were talking about the offering at ARC, which is also located at SOCO. They had something that was dubbed, Land, Air, and Sea. This one bite had all of these covered. Placed on top of a duck fat chip was some pork, a little quail egg, and some caviar. If I had not been so full, I could have eaten many more of these. This one bite got me excited to try ARC, which I hear has an awesome off the menu burger.

One last sample before we get to the big winner of the night. This was my first time having anything from the Iron Press. I was pretty excited to try them. This was a cross section of their chicken, waffle, bacon, and tater tot sandwich. It was also drizzled with Siracha ketchup. Very good, and it got me excited to come back and try other things on their menu.

Not to tease you anymore, but before I reveal the winning entry in the To Live and Dine Event, we took a break from the samples, and went inside the OC Mix Mart to see some of the merchants hawking their wares. Two that caught my camera lens were We Olive and Wine Bar, which is an olive oil merchant, and the great girls from Bread. We Olive had a great Jalapeno Olive Oil, which I was thinking up hundreds of uses for it after I sampled it. Really tasty. I can never pass up bread, and the people from Bread know the way to my heart is samples. This wholesale bakery gave away a bag of bread that barely made it out of the parking lot, as we could not stop eating it.

Now the moment we have all been waiting for, the winner of the To Live and Dine Event was this dish from Chapter One: The Modern Local. This Lamb Neck Ragu was not the most photogenic of samples, but the uniqueness of it was enough to give it the win. The lamb was placed on top of a potato gnocchi, curry granola, and crispy kale. This was the brainchild of Chef Chicken Wang, and the different flavors and textures were a great thing. I could have eaten a bunch more of this, but by the end of this event, we were stuffed. Congrats to everyone at Chapter One, we look forward to seeing what you come up with next year.

To be truthful, when we walked into SOCO on this night, I did not know what to expect. I left this event having experienced one of the better food events I have been to. What made this for me was the creativity of the chefs, and the great restaurants that they represented. I will definitely not miss this event next year. We would like to thank the great Jade Schuck from Kitchen Table PR for the invite to this great event. Thanks so much of thinking of us, and it was a real pleasure meeting you. We would also like to thank everyone at Riviera Magazine and the creative folks at SOCO for putting on this great party. You guys nailed this event.

Southern Cooking in OC's Most Southern City - CLOSED

Iva Lee's 

555 N. El Camino Real 

San Clemente, CA 92672

If there could be one kind of food genre I think needs to be added to the OC restaurant scene, it would be Southern/Cajun. Yes, there is already a tiny smattering of these kinds of restaurants here. Memphis, Jack Shrimp, and Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen come to mind immediately. I want a place where you can get the real thing, an etouffee, a great gumbo, and a jambalaya that will blow the roof off when I eat it. I have never been to New Orleans, but I have seen lots of TV shows showcasing the food from there. It all looks fantastic, and I hope we will someday have Cajun places like that here. I had some hope when I heard about a place in San Clemente called Iva Lee's.

Iva Lee's has been around since 2002 and comes to us from the husband and wife duo Lisa and Eric Wagoner. Lisa has quite the resume. She worked at Splashes at the Surf and Sand Resort, then opened her own restaurant at 24, the critically acclaimed Ramos House Cafe in San Juan Capistrano. During her time at Ramos House, they won numerous awards and were even named the best Orange County restaurant. Of course, all this leads to the question of who Iva Lee is. Iva Lee was Lisa's grandmother, a woman from the south, who fed her family southern meals and classic dishes from New Orleans. This restaurant is a homage to Iva Lee. Let's see if they do her proud.

We got to Iva Lee's at about 7PM on a recent Saturday night. We luckily had reservations, as this place was packed. They even had a wedding reception in the restaurant's backroom. The restaurant is a little on the dark side, and each place setting is decorated with a string of red beads draped across a napkin. I liked this subtle nod towards New Orleans and even saw some customers proudly wearing their beads. They did not even have to flash anyone to get their beads. Katie described the waitress's outfits as "a southern Gothic look, with their lace red corsets. These are some of the best waitress outfits outside of the Tilted Kilt. They have music most nights here, starting at about 7 to 7:30, depending on the day. The night we were here, they had a band performing zydeco music, which helped lend to the restaurant's ambiance. This ambiance was great, but let's see if they have the food to back it up.

Before we get to our order, we were presented with this bread basket. This one included two types of bread, a sourdough mini loaf, and the not-to-be-missed cornbread muffins. I am not too much of a cornbread guy because, most of the time, cornbread is too dry and crumbly. This was different here. The cornbread was moist and sweet, while the outer shell of it had a nice crunch. We ate three baskets of this bread but would probably do it again on future visits to Iva Lee's.

The menu at Iva Lee's had a 3 For 30 promotion, so we took full advantage of this offer. Three course meal for $30. For her first pick, Katie selected the Bourbon French Onion Soup ($7 on the regular menu). Katie was pleased with this soup, calling it "one of the best I have had."  It came out of the kitchen scalding hot. Once it cooled down, we could see that the cheese was plentiful but did not overpower the sweetness of the onions. It was also not as salty as other French onion soups tend to be. I was grateful when she offered me a few bites of this. What a giver.

Since Katie went with the soup, I tried the Pear Salad ($7). I usually call salads with fruit "Mom salads" because every Mom I know, including mine, loves salads with fruit. Along with the pear, this salad also contained crumbled blue cheese, Creole pecans, mixed greens, and a maple vinaigrette. I liked the different flavors and textures thrown together in this salad. Even though the dressing had maple in it, it was tangy. The pecans were candied, while the blue cheese added a pungent but pleasant flavor. The greens were very fresh, and the pear added sweetness and crunch. You could get me a Mother's Day card in May because I liked this Mom salad.

I was slightly surprised by Katie's selection on the 3 for 30 menu when she went with the fish option, the Cajun Seared Red Snapper ($19.50). This snapper was served over some summer vegetables and whipped potatoes. The menu said they were supposed to be sweet potatoes, but they did not taste like them and definitely did not look like sweet potatoes. Nonetheless, Katie was pretty happy with her dinner. The fish was cooked perfectly, tender, and flaky, while the seasoning used here added a little bite to the fish in a nice way. The veggies were good and paired nicely with the fish.

Nothing says New Orleans more to me than Jambalaya ($19.50). This version contained Andouille sausage, rock shrimp, bay scallops, summer vegetables, and rice. I have always liked my jambalayas with rice over noodles. The shrimp and scallops were really on the small side in this dish. The rice was very moist, and the sausage was a highlight. I cranked up the heat by adding some of the hot sauce on the table, which made this jambalaya come alive a bit. I know they have to make this for the masses so they do not get docked by having this come out mellower than I like. When this came out, I thought the serving size was a little puny, but this filled me up quickly.

It's dessert time, and I bet from the picture above, you can tell that this was Katie's choice. The Strawberry Shortcake ($7) came with a nice toasted marshmallow meringue on top. The strawberries were fresh but not overly sweet. Katie also made no mention of the shortcake underneath this, so I can assume it got a little lost here.

This is more my speed; chocolate is a more suitable dessert in my book. This Flourless Chocolate Cake ($7) was joined on the plate with Tahitian vanilla ice cream and port-soaked cherries. This black forest cake take was better than I had expected. The chocolate portion of this was very rich, but the cherries' tartness helped cut it a bit. I love ice cream and will never say no to it, but it seemed unnecessary with this dessert. Yes, I still ate it, though I am not that crazy to pass up ice cream.

I left Iva Lee's pretty happy. Most of the items we tried were very good. They really had what I imagined, the New Orleans/Southern vibe. I wished their menu was even more Cajun or Southern than it is now. They do not even have pecan pie on their dessert menu, and the regular menu lacks hush puppies, fried chicken, and okra. What was on the menu was all very solid and worthy of a return trip. I would like to try one of their Hurricanes or maybe even a Mint Julep on those return trips. The service on this particular Saturday night was excellent. Our server, Allison, did a great job getting us everything we had ordered, ensuring we were fine, and keeping things moving at a relaxed clip. I hope other restaurateurs come to Iva Lee's, see how busy they are, and feel the need to open up Southern/Creole-style restaurants in OC. For now, though, I am happy we have Iva Lee's.

Out of five stars (not because I am getting lazy, but because in 1977, Orange County had a team in the International Volleyball Association, also known as the IVA, and they were called the Orange County Stars), five being best to zero being worst, Iva Lee's gets 3.5 stars.

For more information on Iva Lee's, go to their website here: http://www.ivalees.com/