Another Stellar Time at the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival

Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival

100 Civic Center Dr.

Newport Beach, CA 92660

If there's one food event that I look forward to, more than any other, it's this one. The Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival is in its third year, and getting better as each year passes. It's now a culinary wonderland, which encompasses four days of celebrity chefs, an out of this world wine tasting event, cooking demos, and of course infinite tastings from the best restaurants in and around Newport Beach.

What makes this festival so great? I love that it's all inclusive. Once I pay for my ticket, I don't have to pull out my wallet again or bother with food tickets. This is where most, "Taste of.... insert city name here," lose me. I don't mind paying more for an all you can eat and drink situation. It's like being on a cruise ship, but no fear of being marooned at sea, or getting seasick. I also love the exclusivity of this event. They limit the ticket sales, which not only helps with the crowds, but allows you to actually interact with the chefs, and if you've never talked with a chef, you are missing out. It's very true that food people are the best people. Lastly, the people watching here is some of the best you will see anywhere.

Of course, if you come to this event, your also doing something good for the community. The Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival benefits the great folks over at Project Hope Alliance, who are ending the cycle of childhood homelessness one child at a time. Since 2012, this great charity has ended homelessness for 700 children and their parents.

Great work, but I was ready to do some work on my own, by eating my way through the NBWFF. Unfortunately, we could not make it to day one of the festival, due to a scheduling conflict, but we made it to day two, which had an all new lineup of restaurants giving out signature tastes. Both Saturday and Sunday had 21 different restaurants handing out food, and of course, there was lots of wine. Wineries were pouring over 250 varietals of wine, and for those that are not too keen on wine, there was plenty of cocktails on hand from top shelf brands, as well as beer furnished by Stella Artois. As if all that was not enough, there was plenty of jazz music going on, so you could take a break from all that eating and drinking to soak up the atmosphere. I did, of course, partake in the beverages offered, but I'm more of a food guy, so that was my main focus. Let's check out the food lineup for the second day of the NBWFF.

Always a crowd favorite, just like when its namesake was skating around Honda Center, Selanne Steak Tavern always serves up quite a spread at this event, and this day was no exception. They started things out with a Bartlett Pear Salad, then got into the fall feel with a Maple Roasted Butternut Squash Soup, and then finished things off with a tender Kobe Beef with a Parsnip Foam. I could have sat here all day going back and forth between these three items, but there was still plenty to indulge in, but I did partake in one of their Adult Root Beer Floats, which totally hit the spot.

What else would you expect from Roy's? This Hawaiian-tinged restaurant offered Kahlua Pork Sliders to hungry festival goers, which were also topped with a lilikoi slaw and a clear barbecue sauce between the Hawaiian roll slider. Chef John Vega definitely does Kahlua pork correctly.

Gratitude opened earlier this year after making a name for themselves in LA, and this 100 percent organic plant based restaurant dazzled with their Liberated Salad, which was made up of kelp noodle pasta with pesto, olives, and heirloom cherry tomatoes. Not usually my scene of course, but the noodles and pesto were pretty tasty. Katie, of course, loved this salad and has made me promise to take her here soon.

No longer the new kid on the block, Sushi Roku has taken Fashion Island by storm, and really dazzled with their Hand Tuna Roll, which was filled with plenty of fresh, chopped tuna, wasabi root, and soy chili sauce. Easy to see why there were always people milling around this booth throughout our stay at the NBWFF. Sushi Roku has definitely become the go-to spot for sushi in the Newport area.

Another spot I could have made myself a nuisance at was Mastro's. They were giving out generous tastes of their Sirloin steak with Lobster Mashed Potatoes. Yes, this was as good as it sounds. I loved that the steak was a perfect medium-rare, and the mashed potatoes were decadent. This helped lessen the blow that they were not sampling their iconic butter cake. Maybe next year.

I must admit that I had never heard of Sweet Lady Jane before, but I know about them now after trying their Famous Brownies. These brownies were addictive, with their chocolate chewy innards, and then the sea salt topping that hits you with a sweet and salty combo that can't be beaten. I was also pretty excited by their Brown Sugar Delights, which are a shortbread covered with caramel, dark chocolate, almonds, and coconut. Addictive.

I've had Filomena's Italian Kitchen on my list of restaurants to hit up for awhile, and I've moved them near the top after trying their Italian Sausage Pasta made with their special Sunday Sauce. Really well-done pasta here, and the sausage was on point. It was great getting a chance to talk with Chef Linda Johnsen as well. We'll be in soon for sure.

The Montage had a whole multitude of tastes offered at this festival, which included some pretty innovative desserts. They had a Canned Dark Chocolate Screwdriver, which really packed a punch, and they had an ice your own Dark Chocolate Cookie with Sea Salt. As if that was not enough, they also had some pretty tasty macarons offered. On the more savory side, there was a Baja Octopus and Shrimp Ceviche. This fresh seafood dish was topped with peppers, onions, avocado, mango, and a spiced coconut rum foam. Pretty much everything good in one bite.

Watertable is located Newport Beach adjacent, at the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, and is well worth the trip. On this beautiful afternoon, they were featuring their excellent House Roasted California Almonds, and a Beet Stained Scallop Crudo, which was surrounded by a pomegranate mango relish, caviar, and a prickly pear gelee. A great muted sweetness here, that popped with flavor.

A&O  Kitchen + Bar probably brought us the oddest pairing of the afternoon, with their A&O Branded S'More's and Beef Tartar served on a Bone Marrow Cracker. The combo did not really work when I ate them one after the other, but separately they were wonderful. We're making plans to dine at this Balboa Bay Resort restaurant soon.

Nothing Bundt Cakes has grown to multiple locations throughout Southern California, and after trying some of their products, it's easy to see why. Super moist lemon and their pumpkin spice were clear winners on this day.

Sam and Harry's had the most unique bite of the event. They started with their Superb French Toast, and then added roast fig and pomegranate molasses, with a five spice caramel corn. I was not too into this, but Katie absolutely loved this different dish.

I was not expecting to see Nordstrom Cafe Bistro here at the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival, but they represented nicely with a trio of items. They started with Roasted Pickled Beets with a ricotta cheese and toasted pistachio. They then featured one of my favorite items on any menu, Pork Belly, which they paired nicely with a tart cherry and Asian pear. For a dessert taste, they went with a Warm White Bread Pudding, which was accented with a raspberry and white chocolate. Delicious, and not something you would expect from a department store restaurant.

Probably the most grown up offering here was from Cafe Beau Soleil. They had a Chicken Roulade filled with herbs and placed on top of forbidden rice and a rice cream sauce. Really a great dish, and very sophisticated.

With an assist from Katie's excellent hand modeling, we were quite smitten with B Candy's ice cream. I actually thought this was just a candy store, but they have some really good homemade ice cream here, with unique flavors. I was partial to their Cookie Monster flavor, while Katie enjoyed the Coffee Toffee ice cream cone. They rotate about 40 or so flavors, so we are going to be heading to Corona Del Mar soon to visit this sweet lovers paradise.

I had to look up where the Pasea Hotel and Resort is, which is home to Tanner's. It's a few blocks south of the Huntington Beach Pier, near the Hyatt Regency. They came up with a Cherry and Citrus Smoked Foie Gras Spread on house made focaccia. Very light, but full of rich flavor from the foie gras.

You would probably expect Five Crowns to just run out some of their legendary beef on this afternoon, but Chef Kling went the seafood route with this Shrimp, Crab, and Hatch Chile Gazpacho. He definitely gave notice that Five Crowns is not just about prime rib anymore.

I found myself visiting the Andrea booth over and over again for their Saffron Infused Gnocchetti with Truffle Sausage. This was my favorite bite at this event this year. The gnocchi was hand made right in front of us, and that sausage and norcina sauce were heavenly. I really wanted to dive into the pot and swim in it. Due to social taboos, we will instead be making reservations to head to Pelican Hill to dine at Andrea soon for their great Italian cuisine.

Another unexpected find at the NBWFF was the offering from Honda Center. Chef Jo Jo Doyle always raises the bar higher than you would expect from a sports arena. This year he made us a Korean Barbecue Meatball over rice and sauce. Very tender, and I definitely got the Asian flavor profile here. We're of course looking forward to sampling more of Chef Doyle's cuisine throughout the upcoming Duck's season at Honda Center.

One last roving spot I wanted to highlight was the Bite's On Trikes by legendary OC chef, Pascal. He maneuvered his motorized bicycle around the festival grounds, delivering his French goodies, like this out of this world pate on good sturdy French bread. Chef Pascal was also generous enough to spend time chatting with us, which was a real honor.

So there's our roundup of all the culinary delights that dazzled the guests at the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival. Like I stated before, this is truly one of the best food events that come around every year in OC. We keep waiting for a drop-off from the year before, and after three of these events, we don't anticipate that happening anytime soon.

We would like to thank everyone at the Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival for allowing us to cover this wonderful event. Special thanks definitely go out to our friend, and one of the co-founders of this festival, the always personable, Lindsey Henn. We look forward to seeing you again real soon Lindsey. We also would like to thank all of the chefs, wineries, and sponsors of this event, who graciously give their time and talent to make this event so great, and raise money for a great cause. If you are on the fence about going to this next year, definitely set a reminder to buy your tickets for next years festival before it sells out. You will not want to miss out.

To keep up to date with all things Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival, visit their website here: http://www.newportwineandfood.com/

TLT Worthy of the Limelight? - CLOSED

TLT Food

705 Spectrum Center Dr. 

Irvine, CA 92618

A lot of people like to bash the Irvine Spectrum. I've heard that the restaurants are not so good, that the parking is horrendous, and that it's just too crowded with people. It's probably because of the times that we go, but I find none of this to be true. I get off the freeway, headed to the parking structure by Nordstrom's, and always find a parking spot within a few minutes. I've been to this mega shopping complex when it's been crowded, but I've never been run over by a stampede of people. I also really enjoy lots of restaurants here; Cucina Enoteca, Del Frisco's Grille, Wood Ranch, and Paul Martin's are some favorites, and this evening we were trying TLT Food, which I was hoping would be added to this list.

TLT stands for The Lime Truck, which was one of the most successful food trucks in OC, and beyond. They won TV's "Great Food Truck Race," made the former chef, Jason Quinn a household name, and landed on pretty much every best of food truck list that has ever been written. Of course most of the time, a food truck is just the precursor of what the owners hope is a brick-and-mortar restaurant in their future, and the Lime Truck achieved that milestone when they opened its first location in Westwood in 2012. They now have three other locations, including two in OC, this Irvine spot, and one in Newport.

I never made it to the Lime Truck when they were roaming the streets, and from what I've been able to gather, there's not much crossover between their menu now, and the menu that won the hearts of the food truck crowd at the start of this decade. According to their website, they do not really want to be pigeonholed into a set description of their cuisines, but they just want to build a menu that is pleasing to the palette. Others have said that they serve California cuisine, with a squeeze of lime in almost everything. I was very intrigued.

We arrived at the Spectrum at 5:30, quickly found parking, and made our way to TLT, which is located near Dave and Buster's, and right next to the giant Halloween store that has invaded the old Sport's Authority site that was there up until recently. I really enjoyed the sleek and cool vibe of the space at TLT. Ordering is done at the counter, and then the food is brought out to you. There are plenty of communal tables, along with a patio out in front of the restaurant. The pleasing color combination of gray and lime green dominates the space and another cool feature is the seating in front of the glass-enclosed kitchen, which allows for easy access to view the hard-working kitchen staff. Let's check out what these guys had cooked up for us on this early evening.

Starting things off for us is Katie's selection at TLT Food, the interesting sounding, Steak Quesadilla Salad Bowl ($11). This was really more of an open-faced quesadilla, as the cheese blend was just placed on top of the crisped flour tortilla, and then the steak, pico de gallo, cilantro, guacamole, iceberg lettuce, cotija cheese, lime, and chipotle honey aioli was placed on top of it in bowl form. Both Katie and I really enjoyed this clever salad. It was pretty good-sized, and the steak was tender and had a good flavor to it. She would probably not get this again because it was too rich for her, but I'd contemplate getting this unique salad on future visits here.

TLT seems to specialize in tacos, as they have eight featured on their menu. I tried one of their most popular ones, the Short Rib Taco ($4). This good-sized taco came on a soft flour tortilla and was filled with short rib, crispy onions, arugula, and horseradish crema. I liked this taco but was not in love with it. The meat was tender and I liked the textural element that the crispy onions brought, but the horseradish crema was too bland and did not bring this taco to life. I'd probably go with one of their other tacos on future visits, like the pork belly or the steak.

One of the few holdovers on the menu from the food truck days of TLT, are these Carnitas Fries. Again, this was a big serving size of fries, which is piled high with pulled pork, cotija cheese, crema, guacamole, pickled red onion, and a chipotle honey slaw. The fries here were pretty average, but the real bummer with this was the very dry and flavorless carnitas. They tasted like sandpaper going down. Also, it was hard to get everything in one bite, because there was no cohesion among the ingredients here. There was nothing to bind the items together, and stuff was just layered, and never really intertwined with each other. This also had temperature issues as well. Not anything I would get again.

I finished off my evening at TLT with the PBAT Sandwich ($9). I was probably most excited about this, because of my love for pork belly. This sandwich also came with arugula, tomato, red onion, garlic aioli, and cotija cheese. Again, there was no cohesion here. The pork belly was good on its own, but could not make this sandwich a winner all by itself. There was not enough aioli on this, and the rest of the sandwich fell flat as well. Very boring, and I never thought I'd write that about pork belly.

Both Katie and I left TLT Food pretty disappointed in our food. It was not awful, but I think I had this place hyped up more, due to their past success as a food truck, which in hindsight is probably unfair. None of their food really popped with flavor, and there was never that wow moment for either of us. I like the uniqueness of their menu, and maybe there's something on here that would make us return. Service was pretty good on this early evening, and they were really into keeping their restaurant clean and organized. Even though TLT will not make our list of favorite restaurants at the Irvine Spectrum Center, we'll still continue to visit this mega shopping complex often. Just not at peak times.

Out of five mangoes, (because although the national fruit of India is the mango, that country is the world's leading producer of limes, a whopping 2.52 million tons annually), five being best to zero being worst, TLT Food gets 2 mangoes.

For more information about TLT Food, head to their website here: http://www.tltfood.com/home

The Best Part of the Day is Still Recess (Room)

The Recess Room

18380 Brookhurst St.

Fountain Valley, CA 92708

When you are a kid, it seems like the world is so small. Most of your life revolves around a two or three-mile radius. You go to school, or maybe the local store, but other than that, you stay pretty close to home. At least that's how it was for me, growing up in the late 70s and early 80s. You probably had a group of friends, and you thought that you would know these people forever, not just on Facebook. For most of us, this was not the case, but for the five owners of the Recess Room in Fountain Valley, they have remained friends since childhood, and have now even opened a restaurant together.

Recess Room is the culmination of five lifelong friends, who wanted to bring a different kind of restaurant to their hometown. Fountain Valley has a lot of noteworthy Asian restaurants, a very good Turkish place, (Istanbul Grill), and a smattering of Mexican restaurants, but they were lacking a place for modern American cuisine, until now. These five friends brought this restaurant to the city they grew up in, not only because there was nothing like it around, but because they also wanted to give their fellow citizens a place where they could take a break from their lives, and experience a little recess, which is something we all daydream about.

Opened a few weeks ago, I was afraid that this restaurant was going to be kind of over the top with the elementary school theme, but thanks to restaurant designer, Kenneth Ussenko's tutelage, the restaurant has an understated nod towards a schoolyard, without being too in your face. The ceiling over the bar area is a replica of a redwood basketball court from the 60s, there are chain curtains, which are a slight nod to playground swings, and the tables are made from one-hundred-year-old wood. I also liked that the center bar area was separated from the dining area by a wall, but at the same time, you felt included in the bar action, due to the big windows that allowed for easy access to view one of their two TVs over the bar. With all these renovations, it's almost inconceivable that this used to be Coco's just over a year ago.

The menu at Recess Room is also light years away from Coco's. A good many of the items here are intended for sharing, but there's also a varied selection of entrees for people who are not too keen on sharing their food, like me. Manning, the kitchen is the very talented Chef Sergioivan Ortega, who has spent time at heavy hitters, ARC, Cucina Enoteca, and Social. As I mentioned before, this menu is probably best described as modern American, but most items offer a twist from the norm. I was definitely intrigued, and we hurriedly made our selections and waited for our food to hit the table.

A lot of my friends swear that I do not get enough veggies in my life, and that's not true. I sometimes get a stray piece of lettuce on a burger, and fries are made from potatoes, which are also a vegetable if I remember that from studying the food groups in second grade. Anyways, we started things out here with these Sprouts ($10). It seems like everyone is doing a Brussels sprout dish these days, and this one was pretty stellar. The sprouts are jazzed up with the inclusion of some brown butter, Meyer lemon, hazelnut, Parmesan, and Chinese sausage, lap Cheong. Their choice to use the milder Chinese sausage, instead of the more in-your-face bacon, really made the sprouts the star of the show here. This was a cleaner version of this dish, than most other restaurants showcase. Each tasting note, whether from the lemon, the hazelnut, or the brown butter, came through in short bursts. A great start to our night at Recess Room.

Just our second item, but this was the star of the night for me. These Blue Crab Beignets ($15) are definitely a must-order when dining at the Recess Room. These little balls are filled with Maryland blue crab, and a little mascarpone, and then served with a very good guajillo aioli for dipping. No filler inside of these, you just get the delicious crab through and through, and I was surprised that the outer shell was grease free and lighter than expected. The aioli had a little kick to it, but was very manageable, even for a spice lightweight, like Katie. Don't miss your chance to try these when you are here.

Probably my least favorite thing that we tried on this evening was these Deboned Wings ($12). I think I was just expecting more of a boneless chicken wing kind of feel, and what I got was like no boneless wing I have ever had. They had a great spicy gochujang sauce covering them, which was both spicy and sweet at the same time, but there was very little meat on them. I did like the crispy skin on the outside, but I'd probably forgo these in favor of trying another one of their appetizers, like their avocado toast or bone marrow mac and cheese, on my next visit.

Entree time was next for us at the Recess Room, and both Katie and I contemplated what to order for a while. She finally decided on this Hue Dip ($14), which she enjoyed very much. This sandwich was inspired by the "other" Vietnamese soup, bun bo hue. This sandwich was filled with thinly sliced brisket, spicy lemongrass, a jalapeno slaw, and seasoned with some coriander, all included on a very solid ciabatta, which held up to the au jus admirably. This was like two sandwiches in one. Without dipping the sandwich, you could really get a good feel for the contents of the sandwich, and Katie was impressed with its crunchy texture of this. Dipping the sandwich was like giving this a flavor boost, even though it did not need any help in that department. This sandwich came with plenty of their beer-battered fries, which we had a hard time finishing, even though they were so addicting.

I was torn between the skirt steak, short rib, and the burger, and I guess you can see that I ended up with the Bone Marrow Burger ($16) this evening. This was a stellar burger, made with some pretty high-quality beef. Even though this burger featured bone marrow and a bacon jam, it was still a subtle burger, which let the natural flavor of the beef shine through. Don't get me wrong, this was rich but not heavy, due to the lack of greasiness. Again, the bun here deserves some credit for keeping its integrity throughout the life of this burger. I enjoyed the generous serving of fries here, and the beer batter gave these fresh fries a great crunch.

The decisions at Recess Room are not easy, as I really wanted to try their cereal-inspired creme brulee, which is made with Frosted Flakes and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but the call of this Fluffer Nutter ($9) was too great to overcome. Their take on this east coast favorite includes the predictable peanut butter and marshmallow fluff, and then they add bananas and vanilla ice cream on the side. The bread is battered and fried to a very crisp french toast-like feel to it. I liked this dessert, but feel the inclusion of a little chocolate sauce could have elevated this to even greater heights. Of course, I'm a big fan of peanut butter and chocolate, so I always feel these two items belong together. Good finish to our meal here.

Recess Room has been getting lots of love from the OC food community. I read lots of restaurant review blogs, and the consensus among everyone is that these five lifelong friends have a winner on their hands. The future looks promising as well since they are expected to get their craft cocktail program up and running, once they get their liquor license, which should be any day now. Liquor license or not, this restaurant was packed with people on this Saturday night, and they were just here for the food, so that's a promising sign that this area was starving for a restaurant like this. Everyone we encountered here, from two of the owners that we chatted with, to our waiter, Roy, and to all the food runners and bussers we interacted with, all shared pride in the food and were excited to hear our thoughts as well. I'm happy that these five friends have remained so close for so long, but I'm most happy for all of us, that they opened this restaurant.

We'd like to thank everyone at the Recess Room for their hospitality, and for the chance to experience their food this evening. We did not get a chance to meet Chef Ortega on this initial visit, due to the packed restaurant, but we were really impressed with everything we consumed here. Special thanks also go out to our waiter Roy, who shared his thoughts on the food and gave us some great suggestions. He knew this menu inside and out and was at our table frequently to fill their rather small water glasses. Thanks for that Roy, and we promise not to be so thirsty on our next visit. Lastly, we'd also like to thank the great PR powerhouse, Nerissa Silao for the invite to come and try the Recess Room. Thank you for thinking of us Nerissa, we had a great time.

For more information about Recess Room, head to their website here: http://therecessroom.com/