Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

Happy One-Year Anniversary to us, Freis West (above) — It’s told to be tradition to save, then eat the top layer of one’s Wedding Cake on one’s One-Year Wedding Anniversary.  Though the idea is romantic, I wouldn’t look forward to eating it.  Would you want a year old Cake?  Or would you prefer a fresh Cake, just like the one you had on your wedding day?  We opted for a fresh Cake and got it, because we were married at The Turnip Rose Promenade & Gardens, as previously reported. It’s how they do it.  You’ll get a fresh Cake one-year later, if married there too.  Our Cake was white with a Raspberry Mousse filling and Whipped Cream topping.  All is highly recommended.

As shown, we celebrated Sixteen Candles style — We call ours ‘One Candle’ for one sweet year of marriage.  What fun we had in our Las Vegas hotel room, with our Cake propped on an upside-down ice bucket, as we sat on the window sill/air conditioner overlooking the Stratosphere.  Our Anniversary Cake took us a year back, and we hope to be doing this again sixteen years later.

Do you have an event coming up?  I recommend The Promenade Event Centre & Gardens by The Turnip Rose.  I worked within walking distance from it and enjoyed its gardens and many introspective lunches at Cafe Rose Express.  And now, a couple years later I have an event.  Photos here are from a tasting event held there for current and potential customers.

Pick a date, package (if applicable) and food favorites, and all shall be great.

Mini Sliders & French Fries, Seared Ahi, the best Chicken Skewers ever, and more are options as Hors d’oeuvres — Taste all and choose a favorite for your event.

Crab Cakes too — Contact The Turnip Rose directly for actual choices and official dish names.

The service has always been exceptional at all Turnip Rose venues and events.

Your choice of an Entree is also in order — A small sampling of a large sampling is below.

Several Chicken, Fish and Steak selections are available.

I need (at least) one more tasting to be sure.

Dessert Bars, Cappuccino Bars, Candy Bars and Beer & Wine Bars by request, oh my.

Rock Candy Swizzle Sticks for the Coffee Drinks — I want them too.

It’s a comfortable and classy indoor/outdoor Event Centre with great food to consider.

If getting married and/or having a reception, a Wedding Cake by Creative Cakes is included.

Cheers to all — Thanks for coming.  Okay, let’s party now!

See you in January and in between with possible reports leading up, then happily ever after.

One day each week I work within walking distance from Cafe Rose Express at The Promenade Event Centre & Gardens by Turnip Rose, and the funny thing is that I just discovered it.  It’s been tucked back behind my office of more than two years, but I rarely take a lunch that day, until I recently saw someone come back to the office with the most amazing looking Sandwich.

Where did you get that Sandwich?

At Cafe Rose Express, I was told — Walking distance from my office.  What a treat.

It’s firstly a catering facility and event location that offers high quality breakfast and lunch weekly to the public through Cafe Rose Express and I’m happy to now know they do.

There are plenty of nice places to dine inside and especially out.

It’s genuinely an Oasis within walking distance.

The surroundings are beautiful and the food is exceptional.

It’s a pleasurable getaway for a half-hour or more.  Your time there seems longer.

People get married here and enjoy lunch on the lawn with a book when free.

The Southwest BBQ Chicken Salad with Zucchini Bread is pictured above and the Cafe Rose Classic Salad is below.  All Salads have been fresh and generous in size and ingredients.

We also tried the Chef’s Special, Caramelized Garlic Chicken with Pesto Mashed Potatoes and Spring Vegetable Medley.  Everything I’ve tried at Cafe Rose thus far has been superior.

I’m also converted to Zucchini Bread, as theirs is so moist and delicious.

A portion of available inside dining is pictured below.

Ballroom or event room, an option for weddings and parties.  See what others are saying.

Share a Sandwich on the grass for lunch — It’s humorous, the Sandwich that brought me here for the first time is a Sandwich I’d order last.  It was Egg Salad.  I still haven’t tried it, but it looked so fresh and grand, with loose chopped Eggs and all.  I may get around to it someday.

I just love the grounds and food and look forward to going back.

I ate today’s lunch for dinner too, as the portions are extremely generous.

We’re still looking back fondly while settling in.  Did you see our Wedding Cake?  It was perfect!  Not only did it look cool, but it tasted great too.  We highly recommend Creative Cakes and a few other superb wedding vendors noted and linked herein.  Check them out.

These photos and hundreds of other amazing ones were taken by Tremble Media.  We love them all and the professional Wedding Video they shot and edited for us.  They captured it all.

The Turnip Rose Promenade & Gardens was the BEST venue for us and people are still talking about the FOOD.  We appreciate so much about them — Quality, service, beauty, etc.

And Photo Booth On Wheels did a great job too — Nice people run it.

And mustn’t forget the Most Fabulous DJ around — Andy Nation.  Wow!  He’s an awesome, organized, professional person to work with and did an excellent job at our wedding.

Everything was lovely, seamless, tasty, entertaining and pleasantly memorable THANKS to all.

We’d DO it all again the same way.  Thank you!

Nice package indeed — We LOVED our Wedding Cake by Creative Cakes in Orange.  It came with the Wedding Package offered by The Turnip Rose Promenade & Gardens in Costa Mesa.  Our experience with both was superb!  We called it (above) our Graffiti Cake, since it was piped with amusing words and sayings related to us.  It looked cool and unique and tasted amazing.  As a bonus (also part of The Turnip Rose Package) — Instead of freezing the top layer of the Cake to eat it on our one-year anniversary, a tradition, Creative Cakes will bake us a fresh Cake to enjoy in its place.  We’ll just call around that time to tell ’em what we want.

The Turnip Rose Grand Newport Plaza, Celebrations and Elite Catering — A celebration to last throughout the years.  So bring your good times and your laughter too, they’re gonna celebrate your party with you.  Everyone around Orange County come on.  It’s a wonderful place for a memorable wedding (or event) and we got a taste of it.  Wow about everything!

The venue, FOOD, decor and service couldn’t be better and Celebrations couldn’t be hipper.

At a “Taste of Turnip Rose” we tried a little (and in some cases a lot) of that being offered by The Turnip Rose Elite Catering and we’re still talking about how great it all was.

This is your sample of our sampling of the Grand Buffet, California Classics Buffet and more.

All Chicken was tender and flavorful, not commonly said about wedding reception Chicken.

We’re still marveling that each Filet Mignon being perfectly cooked.

Unique Scalloped Potatoes.

There were self serve and full service stations throughout the Ballroom at the Grand Newport Plaza.  We hit ’em all more than once and rolled out with giant smiles on our faces — More “Filet Mignon PLEASE” seemed to be our theme of the evening.  Gracias.

And many thank you, thank you, thank you’s and WOW’s.

Mahi Mahi (below) to be plated and topped with a Cucumber Mango Salsa.

Filet Mignon and Mahi Mahi shared our third plate of food. 🙂

Flawlessly cooked Filet after Filet after Filet.

Sample table setting.

Pretty Special Martinis.

Hors D’ Oeuvres were passed by well-dressed, friendly and knowledgeable Servers.

The Mandarin Chicken (above) tasted like the Sauce was basted in — Truly tasty alone.

The adorable Gourmet Sliders have Truffle Oil, yum-and-a-half regarding that.

Additional Martini options include the Filet Peppercorn Martini and others below.

Salad Buffet.

Peanut Butter Brownie Shooters and Mini Cupcakes.

Bride and Groom Strawberries.

The service was impeccable and the affiliated DJ played great songs.

We met nice, soon-to-be Brides and Grooms including Nikki & Kyle.  Enlarge for a better view.

Sample food choices/options — You can’t go wrong with The Turnip Rose Elite Catering.

Coffee Stations, a Chocolate Fountain and Liquor injected Strawberries in the courtyard.

Lots to dip.

The Festival of Strawberries, a Sweet Things item with an injection of Kahlua…

…Amaretto, Tia Maria, Drambuie or Grand Marnier, if you so choose.

Love is Sweet! Candy Buffet for guests to pack a box to go.

Fun for all ages — We enjoyed the Candy days after the event, a lingering memory.

On to the hippest, we ended the night with a personal tour of Celebrations.

Celebrations is the most stylish OC wedding venue I’ve seen — Every detail is covered too.

It’s well designed and highlights each Bride and Groom in special ways.

Nice lighting, monogrammed floors, a photo booth, nearby Bars, changing wall photos, etc.

Celebrations is located in the former Club Vegas space, $2M later and way better.

Guests will certainly be impressed with the place now.  We are!

Choose your colors.

The kitchen is pristine too, like everything else there.  Was tempted to show the bathrooms.

As if all isn’t enough, a Farewell Table was set up with Hot Tea, Coffee and Donuts.

Even the parking is pleasant and close to the Grand Newport Plaza and Celebrations.

We love Kelly, one of the nicest around — He runs all with his Brother and a dedicated team.

Full with a Farewell Table Donut bagged in hand — Let’s celebrate, it’s (more than) all right.

08/05/13 Update:  Visit The Turnip Rose website for venue information — The Grand Newport Plaza event room is no longer available, but Celebrations is going strong, and so is The Promenade Event Centre & Gardens in Costa Mesa.

Off Scenic Avenue literally and figuratively is Cafe Rose Express, my favorite lunch spot of all time.  I call it Little Oregon to honor its peaceful Northern looking beauty and for the special people I know from Oregon.  The photos are momentous for a few reasons.  It’s also been a while since I had Lobster Bisque with generous amounts of Lobster in it and true to form Cafe Rose Express serves generous everything.  I’m consistently and pleasantly amazed by their top-notch food offerings.  I’d eat here every day if I could.  It’s a satisfying weekday escape.

And I’m now a Zucchini Bread lover, at least of theirs.

Every picture tells a story — It has all been said before, not really though.  Appreciate all.