Nibbles of Tidbits, a Food Blog

I like the idea of the $2, $4, $6, $8 Menu at Denny’s and had to try something for $2.

Thumbs up on the $2 Biscuits and Gravy with Eggs — It beat other choices for lunch this day.

Also tried the Build Your Own Chicken Wrap for $4 — A fair amount of food, but no thanks.

And didn’t find anything irresistibly valuable under the $6 or $8 — Enlarge Menu to view.

This weekend the Cadillac Culinary Test Drive Challenge will be happening at the Irvine Spectrum Center.  Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill Restaurant & Truck (among other accolades) will be competing against local famous Chef Yvon Goetz of The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar.  I hope to be there on Saturday (or Sunday) to help JUDGE one of the six presentations / challenges and possibly test drive an Escalade.  Good luck to both Chefs — See you there.

Can you believe the weekend Strawberry Tours have already begun at Tanaka Farms?  Time flies by too fast, but I’m happy to see it again.  We went last year and loved the experience.

We’ve previously posted about StoneFire Grill, but each time I go back I’m reminded that it’s so damn tasty — And it’s a great value, the food is high in quality, the ordering/dining process is efficient and comfortable and the service is always friendly.  I just can’t get enough.

We slip and slide as we fall in love and I just can’t seem to get enough of StoneFire Grill.

The Blackmarket Bakery is a true find — First you have to find it, and then you’ll discover that the somewhat hidden treasure offers high quality, unique baked goods.  It’s quirky and stylish like its CIA-trained Pastry Chef Rachel Marie and my kind of place.  It can be found off Sky Park Circle, near John Wayne Airport for those passing through.

Although the colorful store front is small, it packs in a variety of fresh baked (and baking) goods and other cool items.  I love the tie dye chef’s jackets too.

In addition to the weekly baked treats, they offer Cooking Classes - Here’s the current schedule.  Recipes, baking tips and generous samples are included with all.

As you can see, Blackmarket Bakery has won a lot of awards.

I was recently invited there to decorate CAKES with other local, fabulous food bloggers.

The Cakes were frosted by Chef Rachel in the flavor of our choice and bloggers were paired to create their own masterpiece.  The Cakes were then split in half for each to take home.

As you can see, pre-frosted it’s no ordinary Cake — They’re delicious and we got to decorate and take ‘em home.  How fabulous!  And YOU now get to do the same for a birthday, event or any day.  Order a simple two or three tiered Cake with the flavors of your choice.  You pick the Cake, filling and frosting, then take it home to decorate it however you please. 

Most of us here opted for the Vanilla Buttermilk Cake with the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

The professionals added our chosen Cake borders and we decorated the rest.

It was a pleasure to meet other talented food bloggers at this event — Joseline of Daydreamer Desserts, Kimberlin of Rustic Garden Bistro, Quyen of Kitchen Runway, Priscilla of She’s Cookin’ and Anne of Orange Coast Magazine.  My Cake decorating partner was Todd, who will need to provide his link info — I think our Cake turned out pretty good.

This post provides a few ideas for this DIY concept — It’s fun dressing a naked Cake.

We could run amok with the options, but ultimately learned that simple is often best.

You really don’t need much to make them look good.

The above is our final CAKE, by Team Todd and Shelly.  It turned out better than expected.  Chocolate curls and sugar flowers go a long way — Hooray.

Every Cake looked great and it was the first time decorating for most.

What fun!  Thank you Blackmarket Bakery and Chef Rachel.

Have you been to Tanaka Farms yet?  If you haven’t, you’re missing out.  It’s in Irvine and is also known as Orange County’s Largest U-Pick Farm.  During certain tours you get to pick your own Strawberries, Watermelon and much more.  We recently went on the Strawberry Tour, which was more fun than we imagined.

At the end of the Strawberry Tour, you get to pick and take home your own large basket of Strawberries, which happens after you eat as many as you can stuff down.  We all said they were the best Strawberries we had in our lives.  Not sure why, but they’re amazingly sweet.  The tour lasts about an hour. 

While on the tractor ride that’s included with the Strawberry Tour, you get to try a few of the seasonal vegetables along the way.  After sampling all, you feel like you’ve just had a healthy meal.  We joked that we should bring Salt, Pepper and Ranch Dressing next time — And we seriously might.

In addition to the endless Strawberries, we ate Radishes, Carrots, Sugar Snap Peas, Green Beans, Iceberg and Red Leaf Lettuce directly from the field.  What a treat!  And when you’re done eating, you just toss the remains (aka Carrot and Radish tops, Strawberry leaves, etc.) over your shoulder off the tractor.

Weekend Strawberry Tours are running now through June 27th (weather permitting) and the Watermelon Tours begin in early July.  Tanaka Farms also offers Cookout Tours, whereas you get to pick, wash and cook your own meal directly from and at the farm.  The view from the cookout area is beautiful.

We still keep talking about how much fun this was and that we now look forward to enjoying Tanaka Farms all year long.  They have a fresh produce stand that’s open daily. 

Family run Tanaka Farms is organized, friendly, fun, clean and pesticide free.  They do a lot of creative planting to put forth the best produce possible.  We’re impressed with ALL.

Welcome to Irvine – The Lazy Dog Cafe.  We’re lucky to have you.  The Togarashi Edamame Beans (above) lead this post, because we think they’re the best Edamame in Orange County.  Wash your hands good before eating ‘em, so you can lick your fingers.  Their smoky flavor is amazing.  My friend couldn’t stop talking about them, thus they made one of the biggest impressions.

The Lazy Dog Cafe at The Market Place in Irvine just opened a few days ago.  Nibbles of Tidbits happily attended a pre-opening sneak peek and we now report about a small portion of what’s on their menu.  To sum it all up, we were impressed with everything – The service, decor, friendliness, food and prices.  Here’s what we had… Trio of Hummus Dips which includes a Walnut Pesto, Sundried Tomato and Traditional Hummus served with Flatbread, Cucumbers and Tomatoes.

Spinach & Sundried Tomato Cheese Dip with Jack, Parmesan and Swiss Cheeses blended with fresh Baby Spinach, Garlic and Sundried Tomatoes.

Our sneak peek included a tour of the bustling kitchen and dinner with fellow Orange County Food Bloggers.  It was super fun to meet Scott from Foodie in Disguise and see Christian again from OC Mex Food.  And Griffin Eats OC posts another interesting report on The Lazy Dog Cafe.

Continuing with the food… We enjoyed the Cast Iron Idaho Trout that’s baked in a cast iron skillet with Sea Salt Roasted Vegetables, Baby Potatoes and topped with a Citrus Walnut Brown Butter Sauce.

Bacon Wrapped Coulotte Steak (best part of the Sirloin) served over Confetti Veggies and Mashed Potatoes with Burgundy Wine Sauce.

Mushroom & Onion Flat Iron Steak topped with sauteed Madeira Mushrooms and Onions, served with Mashed Potatoes and Confetti Veggies.

Beer Battered Fish N’ Chips made with Coldwater Cod and served with a Horseradish Tartar Sauce, Asian Slaw and French Fries.

Baja California Burger with Guacamole, Ortega Chilis, Jack Cheese and a Jalapeno & Lime Aioli with a side of Sweet Corn Salad.

The Bar Top is spectacular — I could stare at it all day, but probably wouldn’t get much accomplished.  Unfortunately I don’t remember the cool specifics about it, but ‘it ain’t no laminate’ on top.  We’ll ask our resident Interior Designer, Guest Blogger Bonnie to add a footnote about it.

Also pictured above is the Iceberg Wedge Salad, Chicken Tortilla Soup and a Cobbler — By the time the desserts came along, I was stuffed and had to get a move on, thus don’t have a clear report on the best part of the meal for some.  I sure wish I could take a bite now.

The view below is from the entrance looking into the bar.  It’s a big, cozy place with a menu to satisfy all tastes, even a dogs.

Dogs are welcome on the patio and even get their own menu upon request.  Not yet mentioned is The Lazy Dog Cafe’s Drink Menu — Who has time, fresh Mojitos, Margaritas, Lemonades and more, oh my.  I’ll go to The Lazy Dog Cafe anytime!

Tonight I learned it’s a real treat to have The Lazy Dog Cafe in your neighborhood.  One is officially opening this Thursday, March 4th at The Market Place in Irvine.  It’s large yet cozy, stylish and warm, hospitable to people and dogs, and offers a very impressive well-rounded menu.  We’ll be posting the full report of our tasty samplings soon.

* Pictured above is The Bleu Cheese New York and a Pizza going into The Pizza Oven.

I’m still enjoying what’s left of the Copycat Chipotle Barbacoa Beef in the form of Flautas, Enchiladas, Tacos and Tostadas.  It’s provided a week’s worth of lunches and dinners during the rainy days and nights.  Convenient and delicious meals bring rainbows.

We finally visited Tapas Restaurant Night Club in Newport Beach near the John Wayne Airport — It’s only been open about 16 years.  Under the Hot and Cold Tapas Menu, we tried the Lamb Chops Madrilenas, Cheese Fundido and Artichoke Toasts. 

We prefer to emphasize the positive on Nibbles of Tidbits, but we’re also truthful in our reports.  I deferred the Tapas review to my dinner guest, who wants to remain anonymous (she’s infamous, ha).  She wrote the following:

After wondering for years about Tapas Restaurant Night Club in Newport Beach, we finally got the chance to visit this venerable institution, which has been tucked away in a strip mall for the last 16 years. The dictionary definition of Tapas is “small snacks that are often served as an appetizer along with alcoholic drinks, originally from Spain” — Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, after our visit tonight our conclusion is that this concept is all tapped out.

First, the restaurant itself has lost whatever appeal it used to have on a visceral level — it is now dirty, dusty and damaged. Second, the food sounds good on the menu but it is just plain BLAH. For example, the Artichoke Hearts tasted like they came straight out of a can (they even had that can smell to them). The bread was stale and tasteless and the Cheese “Fundido” — which was baked Manchego and Goat Cheese with Spanish Chorizo – sounded divine but was barely edible (congealed). Ditto with regard to the bland Potato (Bomba). The only good Tapas we tasted was the Lamb Chops.

Equally tasteless was the décor, with broken tiles lining the floors everywhere and Spanish outfits hanging from the walls that were literally covered in dust. Finally, we were served on plates that did not even remotely match! In sum, don’t bother with Tapas as they are all tapped out. 

Tapas Restaurant Night Club’s sustainability must be through the night club, bar and entertainment.  We wish all restaurants well, thus hope they take more pride in their Tapas (for its namesake and for Pete’s sake), and why not tidy things up a bit?!

I was happy to see that The Counter Custom Built Burgers will be taking the place of the former Pasta Bravo in Westcliff Plaza in Newport Beach.  I’ve got a few more Hamburger combinations to test out.  According to the sign, it’ll be open in early 2010.  We wish it would open sooner.  And please excuse the light post shadow down the middle of the photo.

The Counter DIRECT: http://www.thecounterburger.com/

Have you seen our Chili Cheese Fries Comparison post?  We just added these Chili Cheese Fries from SONIC Drive-In to the post.  The report is linked below.  ALSO, we still need an address from two SONIC Drive-In Gift Card Giveaway Winners.  Hurry and get back to us or we’ll need to draw two new winners on July 10th, 2009.  All prizes need a home.

Chili Cheese Fries Comparison Post:
http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/2008/11/06/orange-county-chili-cheese-fries-comparison/

SONIC Drive-In Gift Card Giveaway:
http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/2009/06/25/congratulations-sonic-drive-in-gift-card-winners/

It’s a Cake Break and this one is from French’s Pastry in Irvine.  They’ve got 4 locations throughout Orange County and many people LOVE them.

It’s our second visit for lunch at The Veggie Grill at The Irvine Spectrum.  This time we tried the Sweet Potato Fries served with Chipotle Ranch and loved both.  And the “Bali Bliss” which is Indonesian styled Tempeh that’s sauteed and grilled, then served on a Bun with Chipotle Ranch, a tasty Relish, Lettuce, Tomato and Onion – It’s best with a side of their yummy Pesto.  And ”Steamin’ Kale” with a Ginger Miso Dressing and Roasted Sesame Seeds.  As previously reported on Nibbles of Tidbits, the service is friendly and the food is fresh.  There’s a couple interesting Burgers we’d still like to try.  Check back soon.

Last time we had the Baja Fiesta Salad and Bean Me Up Chili.  See Review HERE: http://www.ineedtext.com/FoodBlog/?p=4617

The Veggie Grill: http://www.veggiegrill.com/

Have you heard of The Veggie Grill?  It’s a small chain that I heard was good – So a couple of us tried it today for lunch and liked it.  I’m not in love yet, but the food was fresh, the restaurant was clean and the service was extra friendly and helpful.

We visited The Veggie Grill at The Irvine Spectrum.  It’s a semi fast food type of place, whereas you order and pay at the counter, then they deliver your food on real plates with silverware.  This first visit we both tried the same, a Baja Fiesta Salad and Bean Me Up Chili for the Soup & Salad Combo.  They also offer a few interesting Veggie Sandwiches and Burgers we’ll need to try next time.

The Veggie Grill: http://www.veggiegrill.com/