Acquiring A Taste for Authentic Italian at Angelina's

Angelina's Pizzeria Napoletana

8573 Irvine Center Dr. 

Irvine, CA 92618

I think I've written this before, but going out with fellow food bloggers is kind of tough. We all have our list of restaurants that we want to try, and we almost fight for who will pick the restaurant we eventually end up eating. This is what happened when we went out with our friends Tom, of the wildly popular Tom's Foodie Blog, and Daniele of Dani's Decadent Deals. They asked for a list of places I wanted to go to, and then Daniele picked her own place, which just so happened to be Angelina's Pizzeria.

I must admit that I had never heard of this restaurant before. After Daniele told me where we would be eating, I did a little research and was surprised that I had not heard of Angelina's before. They have been open in Dana Point for close to four years now, but they really started to get a lot of press when they opened up this new Irvine location, which is in the new Los Olivos Marketplace, just across the freeway from the Irvine Spectrum.

This new location of Angelina's has been open since April and received a glowing review from one of the most trusted restaurant reviewers in OC, Edwin Goei, from the OC Weekly. He really raved about this place, so I was put a little more at ease by Daniele's selection this evening. Along with Edwin's glowing review, Angelina's has also been mentioned numerous times in Modern Luxury Magazine, Orange Coast Magazine, and even a review by the Gossiping Gourmet in the Huntington Beach Independent.

Angelina's is run by a pair of Italian guys. Chef Sandro Nardone formerly of the Naples area heads the kitchen, while Antonio Bevacqua is the Chief Operating Officer, and he hails from Tuscany. Professionally he spent time at Il Fornaio, along with a stint with the Patina Restaurant Group. There Yelp reviews are littered with words like, "authentic", and "real deal Italian." I must admit, I'm more partial to American style pizza, with lots of cheese and toppings, but I'm always game to try a new restaurant.

We arrived here at just before 8 pm on a recent Saturday evening and were met with about a fifteen-minute wait. Luckily, Tom and Daniele got here before us and had put our name on the list. They wanted to sit outside on the front patio, due to Daniele feeling a little queasy. She would eventually spend our whole meal out in the car, and the result was one of the better times we have spent with this fantastic couple. I'm kidding of course, (or am I?).

With Daniele out of the picture, we quickly made our picks off the menu at Angelina's. The menu, as you would expect is pizza driven, with them divided by no sauce pizzas and red ones. There are a good number of starters and salads to choose from, but less in the way of pasta dishes and main courses. I imagine that most people come here for the pizzas, so let's see what we thought of our time at Angelina's.

I've been on a real meatball kick lately, so I figured that I'd give this Polpette Al Sugo ($16) a try to start things out. I'm really glad I did. Three meatballs were bathed in San Marzano tomato sauce and topped with a little bit of burrata and basil. These were very tender and full of flavor. Their sauce was to die for, and the only thing to make this even better would be if they added more of that very good burrata. One of the better meatball dishes I have had, and it made me wish they had a meatball sandwich on their menu.

Tom selected this Polipo and Shrimp Salad ($18), which was a special on this evening to start with. This salad is not on their online menu, but judging by the number of pictures of this on Yelp, it seems to be available rather regularly. For those of you that don't know, like me, polipo is Italian for octopus. So this was basically a seafood salad, which also featured a good amount of tomatoes, red onion, and arugula. Tom loved this salad, and would totally get it again. He thought the octopus was done nicely, and the shrimp was delectable.

As if we did not have enough food before our entrees came out, Katie wanted to try this Melanzane Alla Parmigiana ($13). She was very happy she did. Even as I write this, a month after the fact, she can't stop raving about this square portion of eggplant drenched in Pomodoro sauce and topped with a fresh sprig of locally grown basil. She described this as eggplant lasagna, without the guilty feeling of having noodles. She tossed around words like, "fantastic", "flavorful", and "hearty, without being heavy." She could not see herself coming to Angelina's, and not having this starter.

Since we're talking about Katie's food, we might as well talk about her meal also, which was a special on this evening, the Filetto ($40). This filet was delicious, even though she ordered it medium well. It was topped with a Gorgonzola sauce, which boosted the flavor profile of the usually tender, but sacrificing flavor filet. The filet was sandwiched between roasted potatoes and a side of spinach, which Katie felt both were kind of unremarkable.

Both Tom and I opted for pizzas, and we'll take a look at his Margherita DOC ($18) first. There are two versions of a Margherita pizza on Angelina's menu, and I finally learned the difference between the two. One uses cow's milk to make the mozzarella, and the other, the one that is above, is made with buffalo milk mozzarella. See, even after doing this for seven years, there is still so much for me to learn. Tom must have enjoyed this pizza, as he tore this up, or was he just trying to eat fast to get back to his wonderful wife, who was sawing logs in the car?

As I stated before, I'm usually not a big fan of this authentic, Napoletana style pizza, but I gave it another shot at Angelina's on this evening. I was torn between two, and with a little help for our waitress, I settled on the Saporita ($18). I'm glad I did. This one featured some big-time flavor, which was provided by the inclusion of Gorgonzola cheese, mozzarella, and sausage. It was finished off with their very tasty Pomodoro sauce, extra virgin olive oil, and a light smattering of fresh local basil. The crust here was not as soggy in the middle as others we have had, and it was cooked all the way through, but still had a little chew to it. Of course, it could have used a little more sauce for my taste, and I'm always up for some extra cheese, but this was probably one of the best versions of this style of pizza I have had.

Not only was this a nice and quiet evening, with our friend Daniele in the car, but Angelina's also proved that they can make an authentic Italian pizza that I will enjoy. It's not going to replace my love for more Americanized pizzas, with all of that gooey cheese, extra sauce, and tons of meaty toppings, but I'd definitely come back to have this pizza again with no qualms. Both Tom and Katie also felt that this was a very solid place to experience authentic Italian, made with recipes you would find in that boot-shaped country. Service was pretty stellar on this evening, with our waitress, Maria giving us the lay of the land here, and answering all of our inquiries. I did feel that the prices here were a bit on the high side for the amount of food that you receive, but I understand the ingredients used here are of a higher quality than what most other restaurants use so this might be more of a special occasion restaurant for most of us, including myself. Special occasion or not, Angelina's taught me that I can appreciate real Italian pizza, and also a peaceful night with Daniele.

Out of five tourists, (because the most famous Angelina in the world is Angelina Jolie, who was in a movie called, "The Tourist", and you'll feel like you're touring around Italy eating this pizza), five being best to zero being worst,  Angelina's Pizzeria Napoletana gets 3.5 tourists.

For more information about Angelina's Pizzeria Napoletana, head to their website here: https://angelinaspizzeria.com/

Giving Fleming's a Shot

Fleming's

455 Newport Center Drive

Newport Beach, CA 92660

We've been to Fleming's numerous times, and all those times we have been here through the run of this blog it was for a promotion, and I realized that we have never really done a proper review of this restaurant. I often don't really think of Fleming's when people mention steakhouses, even though I have never had anything but a great experience here.

The main reason for that is geography. Fleming's is off by itself at Fashion Island, while the rest of the great steakhouses are all located at, or near South Coast Plaza. Mastro's, Morton's, and Capital Grill are all situated in Costa Mesa, while Ruth Chris is just a stone's throw away in Irvine. With all the visits to Fleming's we have made in the past, we have learned that Fleming's should not be disregarded, just because they are kind of out on their own island. No pun intended.

This Fleming's location is the flagship of this chain, which was founded in 1998, and has since grown to 67 locations in 28 states. Started by major restaurant veterans, Bill Allen and Paul Fleming, who have had a major hand in creating and overseeing some of the most well-known restaurants out there. P.F. Chang's, Paul Martin's, Pei Wei, Roy's, Habit Burger, and more have been under their leadership at one time or another.

Each Fleming's is run by a chef partner and an operating partner. When we first started coming here this spot was run by Russ Bendel and Chef Chris Hutten. Both have moved on, and the reigns have now been turned over to Operating Partner Stephen Blevins and Chef Partner Kevin Monahan. We were curious to see if they maybe had lost a step, but the busy dining room on this Thursday evening gave no hint of that. Let's see if Fleming's should be considered one of the better steakhouses in OC.

First off, I'm going to apologize in advance for my sub-par pictures on this evening. We were seated in a rather darkened area of the restaurant, and I snapped pictures as quickly as possible, as to not disturb the other guests seated around us. Anyways, Katie decided to start things off with this House Burrata ($13.95). This do it yourself starter came with charred grape tomatoes, toasted garlic points, arugula, and of course the creamy burrata. Katie loved the presentation here, with the creamy cheese and perfectly done toast as highlights.

I'm a big fan of wedge salads, so the New Wedge Salad ($11.50) needed to be ordered. I know it's not in the form of a wedge, I had them chop it up for me, which makes it a lot easier to eat. Not sure what makes this a new wedge salad. It featured some very fresh iceberg lettuce, grape tomatoes, chunky blue cheese dressing, caramelized bacon, and crispy onions. Maybe what made it new was the inclusion of some toasted sunflower seeds, which the menu did not mention. This was a very solid salad. I really enjoyed the blue cheese dressing here. It had a good blue cheese flavor to it but did not overpower. The sunflower seeds and crispy onions added a nice texture element, and the bacon, which would have been better crumbled up instead of served as a strip across the salad, was delicious as well.

I was a little shocked when Katie went with this Petite Filet Mignon ($49.45), instead of the seafood dish she was eyeing before we got here. I always cringe when Katie orders her steak in a place like this, because she always gets it medium well, which usually ruins it. Even though that's the way this 8-ounce prime steak came out, they still managed to make this edible. Maybe it was the pocini mushroom rub, with a garlic butter and Gorgonzola cream that saved this. Whatever magic they worked back in the kitchen, Katie made quick work of this steak.

I went pretty big here, with their Dry Aged Prime Rib Eye ($58.95). Unlike Katie, I ordered this 16-ounce steak the right way, medium rare. It came out beautifully. Tender, slightly charred on the outside and made even better with a very well done Bearnaise sauce, which was complimentary. I could have eaten my shoe with that Bearnaise. A very satisfying entree, but we were not done yet.

As is the case in all these high-end steak restaurants, sides are not included with the entrees, so we ended up each ordering one here at Fleming's. Katie picked the Grilled High Country Asparagus ($12.50), and I have to admit that when she ordered this, I was not too excited about it. She redeemed herself when I got the chance to try this and proved that not all asparagus is equal. This was some of the freshest I have had, and it was seasoned wonderfully with black pepper and salt. The Fleming"s Potatoes ($12.50) were also not to be missed. I assume Fleming's does not feel the need to have a lobster mashed potato, because this potato casserole is so good, and they are correct. A wonderful combination of cheddar cheese, cream, and mild jalapeno elevate the potato to new heights. Just like I go to Mastro's for just their butter cake sometimes, I could see myself coming here just to order these potatoes, they are that good.

Dessert was going to be our last hurrah here at Fleming's on this evening, and I'm almost always drawn towards Carrot Cake ($11.50). This was a good, not great version of this classic cake. Three layers, each separated by a light cream cheese frosting, encased the cinnamon-tinged cake. I though the cake portion was served too cold and could have been a tad moister. Not as memorable I would have hoped.

Fleming's on this evening proved that they belong in the conversation of very good steakhouses in OC, even if you don't immediately think of them. The steaks are the stars here, but the sides and appetizers are great in their supporting roles. I wish they had a signature dessert like that awesome butter cake from their rival that I had mentioned earlier, but still a good night at Fleming's. Even though this area of town can feel a little snobbish, I have never encountered this at Fleming's. The ambiance here is more on the lively side, with a very boisterous bar crowd, which seems to give dining room guests a green light to be a little more relaxed as well. The feeling of the dining room has always kind of felt like a cruise ship dining room to me, which is not a bad thing, as it has the feel of vacation to it or at least a vacation from your day. Service was excellent here. Our waiter Michael was professional and personable and the rest of the staff we encountered were fantastic as well, with management being very hands on. I also have to mention that Fleming's offers some great three course seasonal specials throughout the year, and has a great prime rib special going on now on Sundays and Mondays. So meals here can be a little more affordable than some of their competitors. With all of that said, I have them third, right behind Maestro's and Capital Grille as the best high-end chain steak restaurant in OC, but as always, these rankings are subject to change based on my next visit. Glad we finally made it to Fleming's to do a proper review, and we won't forget about them in the future.

Out of five shots, (not because of the ones being served in the bar here, but for Scottish Biologist, Alexander Fleming, who helped discover penicillin, which is sometimes given in shot form), five being best to zero being worst, Fleming's gets 3.5 shots.

For more information about Fleming's, check out their website here: https://www.flemingssteakhouse.com/

Is Tustin the New Little Italy of OC?

Roma D' Italia

611 El Camino Real

Tustin, CA 92780

I really enjoy all kinds of Italian food, but I've come to realize that there are two distinct types that are available here in OC. There's fancy Italian food, which is more what you will see in Italy. Restaurants like Prego, Delize's, Andrea, and Antonello's are good examples of this type of Italian, which is lighter with the sauces and cheese, but take a heavier dent out of your wallet due to the authenticity of the ingredients they use.

The second type of Italian cuisine is what I would term, informal Italian. This could best be described as Americanized Italian food. This kind of fare features dishes with heavy red sauces, lots of meat, and items that you would be hard pressed to find on a menu in Rome or Naples. Examples of OC restaurants that fit into this category are Mama D's, Conca De Oro, Angelo and Vinci's, and the restaurant we were going to be eating at on this particular evening, Roma D' Italia in Tustin.

Tustin probably has one of the most underrated collections of Italian restaurants in any OC city. They have both types of Italian spots included within its city limits, along with one of the best Italian markets you will find in OC, Claro's. As far as fancy Italian joints go, you can't beat Pina's Bistro or Barolo Cafe. For more informal Italian spots, they have Ameci's, Pizza Shack, which has been on my list forever, and this place, which was the first Italian restaurant in the city and is still going strong. Roma D' Italia, which opened in 1961, has been run by the Corea family for the last 48 years.

The matriarch, Anna "Nina" Corea passed away in May of this year, but her legacy lives on through her recipes and beloved restaurant that is now being run by her children and grandchildren. The next generation must be doing something right because when we were here, this larger than it seems restaurant was filled with hungry patrons, with much more waiting to be seated on this early Sunday evening at 6. It had been about twenty or so years since I had last eaten here, but I was looking forward to seeing if they could continue our hot streak of very good Italian restaurants in Tustin.

Since we were waiting patiently for our friends Angel and Rebekah to arrive, we decided to start with this Sausage Bread ($9.75). Too bad they showed up as this made its way to our table because we had to share this delicious starter. For this one, they wrap their pizza dough around a mild sausage, and bake it with mozzarella cheese, and then brush the top of it with butter and Parmesan cheese. It's served with a very good meat sauce, or if you prefer ranch dressing. Not overly greasy like other versions I have had, I was pretty impressed with this, and it got me excited for the rest of my meal at Roma D' Italia.

I almost forgot to share the bread that comes to the table before every meal here. I liked this bread, it was freshly baked and was a great vessel for sopping up any extra sauce left on your plate. It was also good with the provided butter as well.

Both Rebekah and I sat this one out since we are not really big fans of tomatoes, but Angel and Katie loved this Caprese Salad ($10.95). Even I have to admit that the bright colors of the ingredients of this salad really brought this to life. Each slice of vibrant red tomato was topped with a small ball of buffalo mozzarella, which was ringed by red onions and topped with basil, garlic, and olive oil. I did try a little of the mozzarella and it was one of the creamier that I have had in awhile.

Entrees were up next, and we might as well start with Rebekah's selection since she did not have any of the Caprese. She ordered this good looking Chicken Marsala ($16.95). This traditional Marsala dish included chicken breast, mushrooms, onions, and a very tasty Marsala wine sauce. I tried a bite, which included a very tender piece of chicken and that very good sauce. A very comforting dish. This was served alongside a side of mostaccioli with meat sauce, which I did not try.

I've come to the conclusion that baked pasta dishes photograph almost as well as burritos, which is to say that they are not very photogenic, but they are usually delicious. Angel felt that was the case here with this Cannelloni ($13.95).  Two pasta crepes are filled with ground veal, and then topped with a generous amount of mozzarella, meat sauce, and Angel asked to have some red pepper added, which they obliged. He was pretty pleased with this dish and called it one of the better ones he has had. He thought there was plenty of meat included in here, and liked the hint of spiciness that the red pepper flakes provided.

Again, not the most picturesque food photo you will ever see, but Katie was pretty happy with this Eggplant Sorrentino ($13.95) at Roma D' Italia. With this plate, they start with rolled up eggplant, which is then filled with ricotta, mozzarella, eggs, Romano cheese, herbs, and then topped with plenty of meat sauce. Kind of like a lasagna made up of eggplant. Katie really liked this original dish and did not miss the presence of noodles, which helped make this more of a low carb option than it otherwise would have been. She ate the side of mostaccioli sparingly because the eggplant was so filling.

Yes, this was all mine. I have a bad habit of almost always ordering a side of meatballs when getting a new pasta dish in a restaurant. I feel that if I'm not a fan of the pasta dish, I can usually doctor it up with extra meat and red sauce. I did not have to do that with this Penne Amore ($13.95). The penne is sauteed with mushrooms, onions, and prosciutto, with a Marsala sauce, and finished with a sprinkle of Parmesan. This was a good dish, but I wish the sauce was a little more prevalent, as it was a little on the thin side. The rest of the plate was good, with plenty of prosciutto. Since I did not mix the red sauce and meatballs into my dinner, I ate them separately. Very tender meatball, which melded nicely with the delicious sauce. I liked this meal, but would probably explore more of their menu on future visits.

All four of us left Roma D' Italia full and satisfied. There's really a family feel to this restaurant, and not just because there are so many families eating here. You can feel the family atmosphere in the food and service as well. This is good, stick to your ribs Italian food. Sure, some might scoff that this is more Americanized Italian cuisine, but that's what I crave sometimes. Not sure why they have closed their other two locations that were once in Orange and Ladera Ranch. It seems like this is the kind of Italian restaurant which would work in any neighborhood, including Italian rich Tustin. This will not be our last trip to Roma D' Italia.

Out of five footballs, (because at one time Tustin High School had the most active NFL players in the league, and I'm also pretty excited for the NFL season to start), five being best to zero being worst, Roma D' Italia gets 3.5 footballs.

For more information about Roma D' Italia, head to their website here: http://www.romaditalia.com/

Mojito Madness 2016

This post is going to be a little different from our usual restaurant reviews. My good friend Richard never gets to come hang out with his friends, but on his birthday this year, I had an excellent idea of taking him on a bar crawl to find him a great mojito. It just so happens that mojitos are his favorite alcoholic beverage, and he got permission to come out and find the best one with me.

The first task was scouting a location with an abundance of mojitos available for us to try. There are not too many places left in OC where you can do pub crawls. Yes, there are the beach cities, but after this evening, he was going to need a ride home, and since his wife had already relented into letting him go, we could not put her out more by making her drive any further to pick his presumedly drunk ass up.

For those of you that are new to the mojito scene, they are a rum based drink, which also includes sugar, lime juice, soda water, and of course muddled mint. The birthplace of this cocktail is Cuba, but there are conflicting stories as to who invented it, and how it got named. It's also been rumored to be Ernest Hemingway's favorite cocktail, but this is also doubted by some historians.

I did a quick search online and found that the Irvine Spectrum would fill the bill nicely for us. Not only is it centrally located between mine and Richard's abodes, but a quick Yelp search confirmed that nearly 10 of their restaurant tenants serve, or are capable of serving a mojito. Score.

We were not going to be drinking ten mojitos, and I wasn't even going to be ordering one, as they are not really my favorite. I picked five places to try, and we can maybe try the other five next year. We also would be ordering something to eat at each of these places, because we're responsible like that. So sit back, relax, and watch the mojitos fly, as we try to find the best mojito at the Irvine Spectrum.

We started things off at Del Frisco's Grille due to their proximity to the parking structure that I parked in. We were here at just after 3 pm, and the bar was pretty empty but filled up as we approached their happy hour, which starts at 4. They do not have a mojito on their cocktail menu, but their amicable bartender, Diane made Richard his initial birthday Mojito ($11.50) happily. This beverage drew rave reviews from Richard, who thought it had the right amount of sweet, with just a tinge of bitterness on the back end of the drink. He was less excited by the Cheesesteak Egg Rolls ($13), which he called bland. I've always said that these would be made better with the sauce served on the side, instead of streaked across the plate. On to spot number two.

Yard House was next on our journey. The best part about our time at Yard House was that we hit this place right at Happy Hour, which goes from 3 to 6 pm weekdays. The Mojito ($7.75 with the $2 off during happy hour) was obviously made from a mix, and not really good. Way too sweet, Richard couldn't even tell if there was alcohol in here or not, as it tasted just like sugar water. The Blue Crab Cakes ($7 on HH, but $12.45 most of the time) were also not worth the bother. These good sized crab cakes were mostly filler, overly breaded, and placed in this weird, runny white sauce, along with diced mango, papaya, and passion fruit. Nothing about this screamed order this next time to us, so we'll skip it on future visits.

Another happy hour spot we were lucky to hit was Paul Martin's American Grill. I've always kind of been let down by this restaurant, as I've always though it should be better than it is. This was not the case on this late afternoon. The Mojito ($5 on HH or $13 all other times), was pretty solid and helped wash away the taste of the one we had back at Yard House. It was definitely made to order and was just a tad too heavy with the rum for Richard's palette. Happy hour goes on from 3 to 7 pm, seven days a week here at Paul Martin's, which gives you ample time to take advantage of their Bistro Burger Special ($14), which also comes with fries and your choice of a craft beer. The burger was pretty solid and was made even better with great melted cheese, which spread evenly across the warm beef. This simply dressed burger is rounded out nicely by a very well done bun, which is soft, but keeps its integrity. The fries were good as well and seasoned with salt and herbs. The perfect spot for two guys visiting as many bars as possible in a short time.

I've always been a big fan of Wood Ranch. Yes, their barbecue is good, and in fact, I think they are one of the better of all the chain barbecue restaurants, but there's something else that I crave when I walk by here at the Irvine Spectrum, their Oreo Cookie Crunch ($6.95). Of course first, we had to try the Havana's Best Mojito ($7 for happy hour, or $9 the rest of the day). This was not an awful version of this drink. It was pretty sweet, and the mint was kind of lost here, but you still knew you were drinking a mojito. Pretty good balance. Glad they took the time to prepare this cocktail the right way. The Oreo cookie crunch was delicious and so simple. It's a scoop of good vanilla bean ice cream, rolled in Oreo cookie crumbs, and then served with chocolate and caramel sauces. This works wonderfully, and the only way to make it better would be to swap out the chocolate sauce and use hot fudge instead. Still one of my favorite desserts I've had during the seven-year run of this blog.

Yes, we had already had dessert, but we still had about twenty minutes before Richard's wife would pick him up, so we decided to try the Mojito ($10) at Cucina Enoteca. When we were at other bars, bartenders told us that they thought this would be the best mojito that we would encounter on our trip around the Spectrum. It wasn't. It wasn't horrible, but was definitely on the bitter side, and was rather boring due to the lack of mint used in it. What wasn't boring was this Giant Meatball ($9). The food has always impressed me here, and this meatball was no exception. Very tender, with a great flavor to it. I liked the melted cheese on top of it, but what rounded this all together for me was their very tasty red sauce, which really made this dish pop. A must get when eating at Cucina Enoteca.

So we made it through five different mojitos in the span of three hours. Who had the best? We liked the one at Del Frisco's Grille as our number one pick. It was the most balanced and refreshing versions that we tried on this afternoon. Second place would go to the one at Paul Martin's, and then the one at Wood Ranch would probably be third. The worst was by far the one at Yard House, which almost every bartender that we asked had predicted it would be.

Their food was not much better. The Yard House crab cakes definitely were the worst thing we ate on this afternoon. Not a very good showing for the folks at Yard House. The best food item for me probably was the meatball from Cucina Enoteca, then the Oreo Cookie Crunch and the bronze medal would go to the Burger at Paul Martin's.

All in all, this was a great afternoon with my friend Richard. We got to celebrate his birthday, go bar hopping, and try some pretty good food. I can hardly wait until next year when we get to hang out again and try the rest of the mojitos offered at the Irvine Spectrum.

To help plan your pub or food crawl around the Irvine Spectrum, check out their website here: http://www.shopirvinespectrumcenter.com/