Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

Have you been to A Restaurant in Newport Beach?  It occupies The Arches original location.  We’re sorry to report that we don’t care for the name “A Restaurant” at all, but happily the menu, atmosphere and Happy Hour prices make up for it.  The bar lighting is irresistible too, especially during Happy Hour which starts earlier than most in town (3:00 – 7:00pm).  During that time ALL sophisticated appetizers and drinks are half off.  If trying to save, it’s the best time to treat yourself to A Restaurant food, since it’s a little on the pricey side.

Posted from top to bottom — We tried the Steak Tartar, which is rarely seen on menus these days.  We were excited by its offering, given that it’s been years since we had it.  And we shared the Chicken Liver Terrine.  We liked the creamy Pate, but unfortunately didn’t care for the Tartar, which was chopped too chunky and had too much Worcestershire mixed in.

We loved the Burger with Caramelized Onions, Blue Cheese, Bacon and Arugula that comes with French Fries, and the Flatbread with 3 Cheeses and Bacon is quite rich, but good tasting too.  It’s best to share these appetizers amongst as many as possible.

A Restaurant has A Market next door, which sells freshly baked goods, Wines, Cheeses, Sandwiches, Salads, pre-packaged gourmet foods and merchandise and more.  We couldn’t stop staring at the amazing Cinnamon Rolls.  Both A+ locations are worth frequenting.  Our recommendation is A Market for breakfast and A Restaurant for Happy Hour.

Direct to A Restaurant – They have one of the cutest websites we’ve seen.

Nibbles of Tidbits highly recommends Substituting Ingredients, The A to Z Kitchen Reference, by Becky Sue Epstein.  We’ve only had it a few days and already love it.  It’s clear and concise, easy to use, and so far it includes everything we’ve ever wanted to find a substitution for.  Wish we had this book years ago – We had marked several ingredient substitution pages in certain cookbooks, but it’s nice to have all the information (and more) in one crisp book.

We’re HAPPY to have this necessary book as an important part of our cookbook collection.

It’s a Marble Rye [whose] purchase was inspired by a Seinfeld episode.  We still love Seinfeld and need a laugh as we continue to work with Network Solutions on a few nagging technical issues.  In searching for the above link, we stumbled across a blog named after the famous episode — Very cool, we might have picked that ourselves.  Each morning this week we’ve enjoyed Marble Rye Toast while thinking about Jerry mugging an old lady for a loaf — Shut up y’old bag. Next we want to bring a loaf to a dinner party and then take it back when the hosts aren’t looking.

Note: This site is safe, has always been safe and will continue to be safe as we work through current technical issues.  This post is a break from the madness — There’s a lot of interesting reports coming down the pike.

It appears that Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will soon be coming to Costa Mesa.  That’s good news, since it’ll be within walking distance from Nibbles of Tidbits.  It looks as if they’ll occupy the former DSW location off Newport/Harbor, across the street from Triangle Square.  We don’t yet have the ETA, but will report more later.

I stopped in to visit a friend staying at The Balboa Bay Club & Resort — She decided to treat herself for a couple days while having work done on her house.  And for a couple hours I pretended to be on vacation too, even though it’s pretty much down the street in Newport Beach.  Pictured above is the entrance to The First Cabin.  We haven’t yet dined there, but admire its beautiful entry.

This visit we had appetizers on the outdoor patio at Duke’s Place.  Neither restaurant at The Balboa Bay Club & Resort is inexpensive, but valet parking is free with validation, and the basic items we tried were indeed more tasty than they are at other restaurants – Both in conjunction with the view help to sweeten the deal.

We like all the appetizers listed on Duke’s Place Cocktail Lounge Menu (even the Escargot).  This day we tried the Tempura Fried Crispy Spring Asparagus, which was made with White Asparagus and served with Lemon Garlic Aioli and Ponzu Dipping Sauce.

And we had the Panko Crusted Chicken Fingers — Although the Chicken Fingers look typical, the Chicken was fresh tasting, extra crispy and light, as it should be.

Click HERE for more information about The Balboa Bay Club & Resort.

In AAA‘s Westways Magazine, Al’s New York Cafe in Costa Mesa was recently named one of the “Best Cheap Eats”  in Southern California, and most on Yelp rave about it too.  We tried their Pepperoni Pizza and unfortunately thought it was a bit too greasy for us.*  We might be a little too CPK.  We’ll try a couple of Al’s other specialties next visit.

* We’re not grease snobs – Pizza photo was taken after blotting.

We’re fine tuning recipes to enter into the Orange County Fair Culinary Arts Competition this year.  Entries are due by May 26, 2010.  You can ENTER HERE.  Other than the photos, we’re not tellin’ more about what we’re working on.  And no, they’re not Lemon Bars above.  It is a competition afterall.

To read about past Culinary Arts Competitions and more, click HERE.

Cost Plus is so worldly.  It’s been one of my favorite stores for over 20 years.  I recently took a trip to England, Australia, Thailand, India, Italy, Japan, Sweden, China and a few other stops along the way at Cost Plus World Market.  Did you know that it’s a food lover’s paradise?  It truly is!  Many travel far and wide for the Wine deals at Cost Plus, which are impressive alone, but you’ve got to check out the large food section.  It offers hundreds of sought after treats from all around the world.  If you’re looking for something in particular and haven’t found it elsewhere, give Cost Plus a call.  If they don’t have it and there’s a demand, they may consider offering it in the future — They strive to satisfy their customer’s needs.

Since there is so much FOOD to try and report about at Cost Plus, Nibbles of Tidbits will be posting a series of articles highlighting many of them.  We’ll be calling it our Cost Plus World Series.  For starters, we are planning a Chip Taste-Off, whereas we’ll be sampling several of the numerous bags of Chips available.  After that, we’ll be going on a Gourmet Picnic bringing only Cost Plus goodies (it can easily be done), and then we’ll be touring several regions for dinner, etc.  The possibilities are literally endless.

Note:  The first honorable mention goes to Nyakers Gingersnap Cookies from Sweden (above).  They’re Sweden’s Best Cookie and Cost Plus built a facility to have them made especially for you.  They are phenomenally crispy, thin and tasty.  We’re hooked.  Be sure to follow our Cost Plus World Series to learn a lot more.

Marie Callender’s Classic Combo – 1/2 a Turkey Sandwich, French Fries and a Cup of Soup for $5.99 is a good deal, although you hardly get any Fries.  I jokingly accused the Waiter of eating my Fries on the way over, haha.  It just looks funny.  It’s two ounces they say.  Perhaps one more ounce might look a little better. 

Aside from the lack of French Fries, I left full and satisfied.  The service is always good at the Marie Callender’s 17th Street location in Costa Mesa.  I love their Potato Cheese Soup with Tabasco.

Today we attended a Grand Opening Celebration for Sandy’s Beach Grill.  We didn’t want to miss it, since it’s pretty much on the beach and it was a beautiful day.  Sandy’s Beach Grill is the newest restaurant from TS Restaurants of Hawaii and California.  It now occupies the former Chimayo’s location in Huntington Beach (Surf City).  TS Restaurants is also the parent company of Duke’s, the restaurant upstairs.

Above is the view from the large outdoor patio next to the Huntington Beach Pier.  As guests at the celebration, we enjoyed the sights and a sampling of their menu, and our drink proceeds go to benefit the Friends of the Junior Guards.

Sandy’s Beach Grill specializes in Small Plates — All is meant to be shared.  They also offer a few “Bigger Plates” as well as Burgers, Sandwiches, Thin Crust Wood Fired Pizzas, Soups and Salads.  The menu has a nice variety to choose from.

Pictured from top to bottom we tried a good cross section of all — Grilled Shrimp Flatbread, Seafood Ceviche, Free Range Tofu Bites (Free Range Tofu, that’s funny), and Mini Fish Bites (exact name unknown).

From left to right below, we also sampled the Veggie Sandwich, Smoked Chicken Flatbread and Cajun Lamb Chops.  We like everything we tried, especially the Cajun Lamb Chops, Grilled Shrimp Flatbread and Pork Lettuce Wraps (not pictured).  We’re excited about the menu and look forward to going back to try more.

After consuming the above with a few Mischief Strong Ales recommended by the Bartender, the last photo shows our shadows waving from the pier.

For a school project, Chef Lexi from Kids in the Kitchen made a State Cookie.  How fun is that!  The kids loved shaping the Cookies into their chosen states.  Lexi picked South Dakota, since she traveled there in a motorhome for vacation last year.  It’s a little hard to tell, but Mount Rushmore is made of a mound of Frosting with 4 Marshmallows on top.  She drew on the faces with a marker.  Too funny — I love it.

Note:  Enlarge photo to see the South Dakota Cookie details better.

Our Banana Split Cake started out as a fun idea, but unfortunately it didn’t quite cross the finish line.  Good thing we’re testing out recipes before entering ‘em into the 2010 Orange County Fair Culinary Arts Competition — This one certainly wouldn’t win a ribbon.  The concept is entertaining and it tasted really good, but one can’t submit a Cake looking like this.

With ripening Bananas and Strawberries on hand and the recent receipt of Southern Living Classic Southern Desserts Cookbook, we created a Banana Split Cake.  We started with a prepared White Cake Mix evenly divided into 3 round baking pans — Then mashed a Banana, pureed a few Strawberries and got out the Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup.  As shown below, we added each respectively to the divided mix. 

We baked the Cakes, then set them aside to cool completely — We did get that part right, although it may not look that way.  We made an amazing Cream Cheese Frosting from the Southern Living Classic Southern Desserts Cookbook.  It’s called Nutty Cream Cheese Frosting (p. 37).  Before adding the Pecans that are called for in the recipe, we reserved and divided a portion of the Frosting to mix pureed Strawberry into one and Chocolate Syrup into the other, and then added Pecans to the remainder and chilled all in the fridge.

To build our Banana Split Cake, start with Chocolate Cake on the bottom, then add a layer of Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, followed by Banana Cake, Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting, and ending with Strawberry Cake on top.  We then smothered the assembled Cake with Nutty Cream Cheese Frosting.  It held together at first, but then you see what happened.  We ultimately separated the layers and frosted each separately with the Nutty Cream Cheese Frosting.  Office co-workers usually don’t care what it looks like.

Next time we’ll add less Strawberry puree and Chocolate Syrup to the Frosting and less Frosting in between the layers.  We might also want to chill the Frosting a little longer or make more Cake, so the layers aren’t as thin.  Perhaps we’ll add sliced Strawberries and/or Bananas in between the layers to avoid sliding Cakes.  Again, it tasted pretty good, therefore it’s worth another try.

Note: So far we like what we see in Classic Southern Desserts Cookbook by Southern Living and look forward to making the recipes we’ve tabbed in it.

My Brother-in-Law just told me a funny story.  One of his co-workers learned that purchasing a maximum of (5) Green Beans at one time doesn’t weigh anything, thus he’s usually not charged for them at the checkout stand.  After fine tuning his discovery, he went to the supermarket daily for a week, until he had enough Green Beans to make a meal.  Can you believe it?  It’s true.  And he’s not poor either — He owns two houses and has a great job.  I’m still laughing about this.  In some ways it’s moderately inspiring (haha), but I certainly wouldn’t want to go to the supermarket every day.  Hope he doesn’t stumble upon this blog or my Brother-in-Law is in trouble.

Note: Photo is of Fava Beans, which are generally more expensive than Green Beans.

Have you noticed that some restaurants inside Nordstrom are called Cafe Nordstrom and others are named Nordstrom Cafe Bistro?  And on Yelp it’s referred to as Nordstrom Marketplace Cafe.  Not all have the same name or exact menu either — Most items are the same, but some are different.  Whichever way, it’s one of our favorite places for lunch.

This lunch is from Cafe Nordstrom at the Brea Mall — It’s the Lime & Cilantro Steak Salad and Roma Tomato Basil Soup.  We’ve almost worked our way through the menu, thus only post newly tried dishes.  The Chili-rubbed Flat Iron Steak served on the Lime & Cilantro Steak Salad is cold, but we prefer it heated/hot on top.  It has a big flavor and tastes better warm.  The Roma Tomato Basil Soup is very good too.  More Nordstrom meals are linked above and here.

These flowers are found at the Corona Del Mar Farmers’ Market.  I bought different ones for Mother’s Day, but can’t post ‘em due to more technical issues with Network Solutions.  We apologize for the inconvenience.  This site is safe and we’ll soon have refreshed permissions to post new photos.  We’re pushing hard to get ALL resolved, cuz we ain’t happy about it either.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom — Sorry you’re cookin’ again.  Last year I wrote the following poem as an entry into an OC Foodies Mother’s Day Contest.  Although I didn’t win, it still applies.

She cooks for me on her Special Day — My Mom’s dishes are delicious, what can I say? For that reason and immeasurable more, there’s no other Mother I could ever hope for. She’s loving, giving and likes to eat, thus OCFoodies’ Mother’s Day Gift would be the BEST treat.

Note: The prize was (10) $50 Gift Certificates/Cards to (10) amazing restaurants.