Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

Here’s the article:  http://www.restaurantica.com/blog/Shelly-Borrell–A-Food-Writer-in-the-Making/124/

Restaurantica offers more than 350,000 restaurant listings across the United States and Canada.  Its format is similar to Yelp and Chow.  Restaurantica’s been providing down to earth, honest restaurant reviews since 2003 and now has more than 184,000 reviews.  You can search for the restaurant you’re looking for, after searching for it here of course. 🙂

I’ll be their Costa Mesa expert, if you will.  I’ll be posting monthly on Restaurantica about all the fabulous food finds in Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Orange County, and wherever I might travel.  The above photo is related to my post about Nick’s Pizza Ristorante Italiano.  Restaurantica has ALL the yummy food pictures and details.  http://www.restaurantica.com/blog/Nicks-Pizza-Ristorante-Italiano/130/.

Be sure to check the Restaurantica Blog for monthly reviews and food photos by me, then write about your favorite restaurant.  The more reviews the better.

Related Link:  http://www.restaurantica.com/blog/

“Crispy Taquitos” are an unlikely choice at The Cheesecake Factory, especially since there are so many great Mexican Food Restaurants around, but they make them soooo good.  We recently had ’em on the patio at Bella Terra in Huntington Beach. 

It’s our third time eating them and they’ve been consistently tasty each time.  They are made with Spicy Chicken and can be found under Appetizers on The Cheesecake Factory’s magazine-menu, if you know what I mean.  You can take a peek at the link below.

Related Links:

http://www.cheesecakefactory.com/

http://www.cheesecakefactory.com/menu.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cheesecake_Factory

This visit we had the Cilantro Lime Shrimp Salad and Brick Oven Margherita Pizza.  Both were good.  I like many things on their menu — Next time I want the Chicken Artichoke & Goat Cheese Salad or Salmon BLTA. 

The decor could be lightened up a little, but the service is excellent.  The Desserts are on display and they offer Beer & Wine.  It’s a nice escape from shopping or working.  You’ll find it on the 2nd Floor of Nordstrom at the Irvine Spectrum Center — There’s a lot of great restaurants and entertainment at the Irvine Spectrum.

Related Links:

http://about.nordstrom.com/aboutus/restaurant/default.asp

http://www.allmenus.com/menus/54953/Nordstrom-Cafe-Bistro/

http://www.shopirvinespectrumcenter.com/

The Brea Mall Cafe Nordstrom INFO & FOOD:
http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/2009/06/07/cafe-nordstrom-serves-a-mean-mall-lunch/

It’s lunch at Sage on the Coast in honor of a dear friend’s twenty years of service at the distinguished law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.  I once worked there myself.  The patio and adjacent garden at Sage are very nice.  It has a retractable roof and a fireplace.  We had a wonderful time in a beautiful environment with great food and wine.

To get an idea of what you might want to eat, I’ve posted a few photos.  Above is the Parmesan Crusted Asparagus with Balsamic Syrup, then moving on down to the Tortilla Soup with Cheddar Cheese, Cilantro, Chicken and Crispy Tortilla Strips.

Farmer’s Market Roasted Beet Salad with Arugula, Goat Cheese, Marcona Almonds and Orange Vinaigrette.

And this Roasted Cauliflower with Anchoaide Crust turned out to be one of our favorite dishes.

Sautéed Mexican Prawns with Linguine Pasta, chopped Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Spinach, Pine Nuts and Pesto Cream Sauce.

Coconut Crusted Barramundi with Coconut Rice, Bok Choy, Carrots, Shitake Mushrooms and Sweet & Spicy Sauce.  This is the first time I’ve tried “Barramundi.”   It’s a delicious Fish with beautiful white meat and great texture.  My portion was generous too.  I want it again sometime.

And here’s the Grilled Beef Filet Medallion, Hawaiian Ahi Sashimi, and Crispy Duck Confit Spring Rolls, respectively.

Sweet Potato Fries with Papaya Mustard, Grilled Salmon Salad, and House Made French Fries with Smoked Ketchup.

And of course we had Dessert, starting with a Lemon Chiffon Tart with Blackberry Coulis, Cream Fraiche Ice Cream and Lemon Tuile.

Plus an Old Fashioned Rootbeer Float, Farmer’s Market Poached Pear, and Hawaiian Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding.

Butterscotch Pot de Creme, Warm Chocolate Truffle Cake, and a Cappuccino.

Based on the offerings from the local Farmer’s Markets, Sage prints a new menu almost daily.  And they’ve got a Late Night “Sweet Tooth” Happy Hour for dessert tasting.  That sounds fun.

Related Links:

http://www.sagerestaurant.com/SOC/default.asp

http://www.sagerestaurant.com/

http://www.gibsondunn.com/Pages/default.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barramundi

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-tuile.htm

The Artisan Salumi Santana is described by Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale’s as Rustic Paté, Dijon and Country Bread, but you can see that it’s a lot more than that.  Can you believe that all these Meats are made and cured in the restaurant?  My favorites are on the entire bottom row and top left corner of the platter pictured here.  I especially liked the Smoked Meat (bottom corner) and both Patés.

The above was served with this Bread — I liked the presentation and stylish Bread Rack.  And more Bread choices are available to all guests and served on arrival.  It’ll be delivered to your table.  The Olive Bread also goes well with this appetizer.  As like the Meat, all Bread is made in-house.

During this lunch, we also had what’s to follow, starting with Crisp Pacific Sea Bass with Miso Orange Vinaigrette and Edamame Shitake Ragout.

Roasted Sonoma Chicken, a Crispy Thigh with Broccoli Puree and Preserved Lemon.  It tasted drizzled with Truffle Oil too and had many great flavors.

Charlie Palmer’s has a great selection of side dishes too.  This visit we had the Wild Mushrooms, with Shallot and Fresh Thyme.  I’ve got my eye on the Crisp Fries with Chipotle Aioli for next time — I bet they’re good here.

These desserts are best described as unique and luxurious.  I don’t have their official descriptions, but they’re similar to Ravioli of Pear with Rootbeer Ice Cream, and some pretty sophisticated techniques thrown in.

And Warm Gianduja, Smoked Marshmallow, and Kumquat with Chocolate Ice Cream.  WOW!  The Gianduja was presented in a warm round Donut oozing the Hazelnut.  Get a look at the Ice Cream color (below), that’s some richness there — I’ve never seen Chocolate Ice Cream so dark.  Have you?

This meal was truly amazing.  Thanks Charlie.  I like saying that, because I feel like one of Charlie’s Angels – HA. 😉

Related Links:

http://www.charliepalmer.com/bloomingdale/home_files/Web_menu_091508.pdf

http://www.opentable.com/single.aspx?rid=20119&restref=20119

http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=1036

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianduja_(chocolate) 

http://www.charliepalmer.com/bloomingdale/home.html

I wrote a lengthy review about El Matador for Orange County Mexican Restaurants (OCMEXFOOD Blog).  Christian Z’s site has a lot more food pictures.  Check them out.  I just ate there again and had the Chorizo Con Huevos y Papas with a side of Tortillas and good Cadillac Margarita.  I liked it all. 

I’ll tell a semi-funny story about Chorizo when I prepare a Soy Chorizo post.  I don’t wanna think about the ingredients now.  Ciao.  🙂

Related Links:

http://ocmexfood.blogspot.com/search?q=el+matador

Great Meatballs are at the Spaghetti Bender on PCH.  I like to swing by to pick some up, even if it’s out of the way.  The Meat Sauce they are served in tastes homemade with hours of love.  The Meatballs are airy and filling, not dense, nor hard like too many others.  Two large Meatballs come in a side order.  That’s what I got, plus an order of Garlic Bread.

The Meatballs and Sauce are consistently good.  In comparison, the Garlic Bread is just okay.  It’s a little dry and doesn’t really have much of a Garlic flavor, but it’s nice to dip in the Sauce.  Another item worth mentioning here is the Original House Salad, which is different and delicious.  It has capers, avocado, tomatoes, and a few other ingredients I’ll need to report about next time I get it.

As a bonus, there’s a large Rosemary bush out front.  I usually pick a piece on the way out.  It comes in handy sometimes and smells good.  Now what should I use it for this time?

Related Links:

www.spaghettibender.com

The Spicy Vegetable Gumbo at Catalina Fish Kitchen (CFK) in Costa Mesa is excellent.  Tip:  If ordering anything take out, be sure to call ahead so not to have to wait too long.

Related Links re CFK, not CPK, which is another favorite 😉

http://www.letseatoc.com/info/catalinafishkitchen.htm

http://www.calendarlive.com/dining/87903,0,386438.venue

http://www.restaurantica.com/blog/Shelly-Borrell–A-Food-Writer-in-the-Making/124/

http://www.yelp.com/biz/catalina-fish-kitchen-and-sea-food-deli-costa-mesa#hrid:9LkTdyFpX_wCROp_-J7OEA