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Will Work for Food's Blog (19)

Neiuport 17

As a whole, Southern California has a notorious reputation for embracing the destruction of our past. But while we should occasionally acknowledge and accept the scorn that oftentimes accompanies such demolition – the fact that the original Brown Derby in Los Angeles is now the home of a mundane strip mall…

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Added by Will Work for Food on April 28, 2011 at 12:00am — No Comments

Sundried Tomato Proves There’s More to San Clemente than Beach

By Rich Manning

Whenever I have driven southbound on I-5 and found the need to exit in San Clemente, I always knew to tur n right. This instinct was derived solely from my preconception that all commerce and fun occurred within walking distance of the coastline. This thought process was so thoroughly ingrained in my bean that I had grown suspect of any street going east lasting longer than a half-mile it traversed beneath the interstate. So imagine my surprise when our GPS…

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Added by Will Work for Food on September 17, 2010 at 2:57pm — No Comments

Matahari Café: Genuine Culinary Excitement on the Balboa Peninsula

by Rich Manning

The Balboa Peninsula has long satiated on a reputation for being laid back and casual. The presence of row upon row of tightly packed bungalows that practically rub walls with each other, the nostalgic boardwalk feel of its Fun Zone, and the requisite hang loose attitude permeated by surfers en route to The Wedge certainly renews that calling card practically every weekend. And to be sure, local business by and large responds in kind to the… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on September 17, 2010 at 2:30pm — No Comments

House of Big Fish and Ice Cold Beer in laguna Beach

by Rich Manning

When one typically thinks of Laguna Beach cuisine, one’s mind immediately starts associating it with adjectives associated…

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Added by Will Work for Food on June 15, 2010 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Our Dinner At Andrei’s

By Rich Manning

What’s in a name?

Ever since William Shakespeare thrust that phrase into common vernacular through the lips of his character Juliet…

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Added by Will Work for Food on March 15, 2010 at 10:00pm — No Comments

Cha Cha’s Brings New Life to Old Mexico

By Rich Manning

When you hear the phrase “Mexican restaurant,” what initially comes to mind? Chances are, your bean is instantly populated with thoughts of buildings laid heavy with faux crumbling adobe, archways, and other amenities designed to mimic something from days of yore (or in Orange County’s case, days of Yorba). Additionally, you would pretty much expect the menu to be populated with overstuffed tacos, burritos, chimichangas, and other familiar staples that have… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on December 7, 2009 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Don the Beachcomber by Rich Manning

The Polynesian motif has managed to cultivate a somewhat maligned reputation over the years in the food and drink scene. Once a proud beacon of trendy coolness, the setting designed to bring the wonders of the Pacific to the ma

inland have garnered a perception of forgettable food married with tacky ambience. However, such a biased observation is rather unfair to the theme, because it can be one of the most awesomely exuberant settings to dine, drink, and hang out when it is done… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on November 17, 2009 at 1:07pm — No Comments

Haven Gastropub by Rich Manning

Last week, a friend and I were having a discussion about experiencing great food while we happily consumed fish tacos. After sharing a tale with me about how this particular chocolatier in New York City has permanently cast other chocolates in a lesser light, he confessed that his love for this cocoa-infused art led him to realize that he would gladly experience the best type of food the world has to offer, then spend the rest of his days in anger over the fact that the globe cannot offer… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on October 19, 2009 at 10:30pm — No Comments

Executive Chef Greg Daniels

Chef Q and A

Executive Chef Greg Daniels

Haven Gastropub

190 S. Glassell St., Suite C&D

Orange, CA 92866

Phone: 714-221-0680

Hours: 11am-2am (food served until 1am)

Question: Who or what inspired you to become a chef?

Answer: My wife is my muse. I had a very limited palate before we met. I didn’t eat anything other than beef, chicken, or pork for the most part. Between her opening my mind, and… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on October 6, 2009 at 4:00pm — 2 Comments

No Bull: Matador Cantina is Terrific

No Bull: Matador Cantina is Terrific

By Rich Manning

There is one constant ingredient in all Mexican food: love. Yes, I know that such a line sounds a bit hackneyed and cliched – okay it sounds a lot hackneyed and chiched – but it has always rung true in my experience. I grew up in a largely Hispanic area about fifteen minutes southeast of downtown Los Angeles, amongst the grit of dying steel mills and bustling train stockyards, where a good day partially consisted of… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on September 23, 2009 at 3:00pm — 1 Comment

The Future is Bright for Shades

The Future is Bright for Shades

By Rich Manning

In many respects, unveiling a new menu can be a restaurant’s most daunting endeavor. After all, there are a host of questions that naturally rise up from such a culinary paradigm shift, and more often than not, they tend to carry negative connotations with them. Will people like the new items? Will people complain that some of the items they enjoyed have been pulled? Will the whisper of second guessing the… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on September 9, 2009 at 9:00pm — No Comments

Steercrazy BBQ: Seriously Good

Without question, the preparation of barbecue is the prime mover behind some of the most fiercely passionate debates to have in the culinary world. Many a knock-down, drag-out argument has been started over a person declaring their loyalty for, say, pork over beef or Carolina instead of Texas. Heck, we cannot agree on how to spell the word. Is it barbecue, bar-b-q, or BBQ? Even the Spellcheck on my MS Word offers no respite from the latter… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on July 2, 2009 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Ruth's Chris Steak House in Irvine....

Back when I was a kid, one of the first lessons I learned about dining out was that a steakhouse had a special aura that other restaurants simply did not possess. Even though the steakhouse of my youth was nothing more than the slap-dash faux ranch paradise known as the local Black Angus, it nonetheless taught me that a menu dominated by cuts of meat was a huge deal; one that transcended the realm of merely going out to eat, bounding fearlessly… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on April 27, 2009 at 11:30am — 1 Comment

O'Neill's Bar and Grill

O'Neill's Bar and Grill at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club

By Rich Manning

Let’s face it: A restaurant in south Orange County is a hard sell to anyone who lives north of the El Toro Y. Not that it’s a bad region or anything, mind you – on the contrary, I have long been envious of its beautifully undulating landscape and how it compares to the painfully vanilla flatness of central OC. Really, its only flaw is that it suffers from the… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on March 11, 2009 at 6:30pm — 2 Comments

Jason's Downtown Restaurant

Jason's Downtown Restaurant

by Rich Manning

Santa Ana is a difficult place to market a restaurant. So difficult, in fact, that some of the best strategies designed to get people to come to the city completely avoid naming the actual city itself. Case in point: South Coast Metro. Everyone knows that this successful region located just north of South Coast Plaza and the Arts district is merely southern Santa Ana in disguise. However, replacing the city’s true identity… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on February 11, 2009 at 7:00pm — 2 Comments

Savannah at the Beach

When one thinks of coastal dining in Orange County, Huntington Beach is usually an afterthought, its presence dimmed by the shadows of the twin bastions of beachfront glamour known as Newport and Laguna. Admittedly, I am far too often trapped by this mindset, as I chiefly link food and “Surf City” in terms of quick convenience, since I only reside a few blocks from its eastern border. However, this pattern of thought is rather foolhardy, as its… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on January 22, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Chaparosa Grill

A British chef who honed his skills in the kitchens of Italy and France comes to Orange County to make California cuisine infused with a Caribbean twist.

On the surface, such an unorthodox scenario seems the basis for a new reality show on The Food Network. However, it accurately describes the journey of Tony Corke as well as the genesis of his brainchild, Chaparosa Grill. While its original Laguna Niguel locale generated and… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on December 8, 2008 at 10:30am — 3 Comments

South Coast Winery Restaurant

Temecula is a lovely little town whose reputation for wine production seems to grow exponentially with each passing year. The only caveat to the city is that it is inconveniently located on the backside of the Santa Ana Mountains, which can make for a bit of a challenge to visit on a regular basis. Fortunately, the South Coast Winery, one of the gems of the Temecula valley, launched their eponymous restaurant in the South Coast Metro area last… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on November 16, 2008 at 11:36am — No Comments

The Crow Bar in Corona Del Mar

We Americans are still getting used to the concept of the gastropub. To the uninitiated, the concept of enjoying artisan cuisine in a casual tavern setting may seem a little intimidating, if not unnatural, simply because we have been taught for so long that culinary creativity and casual comfort is meant to be mutually exclusive. Thankfully, The Crow Bar in Corona Del Mar turns this stodgy mindset into an outright misconception by serving their… Continue

Added by Will Work for Food on November 3, 2008 at 12:20pm — 5 Comments