About once or twice a month, our apartment complex has a local food truck show up to the leasing office for an evening and serve a smaller, just as delicious menu for the residents of our complex. Tonight's truck was Tamarindo and I had never even heard of them before I received the flyer on my door earlier today. At the top of my flier: "The Tamarindo Truck is out and about serving up fresh and authentic Mexican food across Orange County. Our concept is simple; bring the best that traditional Mexican food has to offer to the streets of Southern California". Sounds good to me! I had to go check it out!

The menu tonight had about ten items on it, and they were all completely different and a great variety of meat, fish, and veggie items. I decided to try two items tonight, the "Drunkin' Torta" and the "Tacos Dorados". The Drunkin' Torta sounded awesome: Skirt steak marinated in Bohemia cerveza, black bean and garlic spread, Oaxaca cheese, arbol chile salsa, Bohemia cerveza grilled onions, micro greens, and tomato on a fresh baked mexican bolillo roll. It was decent... the flavor of the steak was excellent, except there was hardly any of it in the torta. It was mostly beans, which is great, but then call it a black bean torta. I was also surprised out how under-flavored everything else was. This was not something that I would order again if I ever end up at this truck. It was alright, but not great. Everything was fresh like they advertised, which is nice.

Now, onto the Tacos Dorados: Potato tacos mixed with panela cheese, Oaxaca cheese and epazote. Topped with lime infused cabbage salad, pickled red onions and carrot-habanero salsa. Garnished with fresh chopped epazote and cilantro. Daaaaaamn these were GOOD!!! The tortillas were hand rolled corn tortillas,fried up nice and crispy and the flavor of the potato mixed with the panela cheese was just amazingly good. I also seemed to forget that habaneros are hot as hell, so when I went for this thing, I maybe should have asked for the salsa on the side, but it was also fabulous. Really, really, REALLY spicy hot, but very good. These were worth the walk out to the truck with the splitting headache that I have.

All in all, Tamarindo has some good food, at fair prices, and is worth the trip, in my opinion. I think the next time I will try their ceviche... stay tuned! :)

Slater's 50/50

Pork shivers. I have pork shivers. You know? When you eat a ridiculous amount of good food, then you sit back, kind of in a trance, and your whole body does this wierd "shiver". Yep. That's a pork shiver (derived from a hilarious encounter with an obscene amount of bbq pork, but that's a whole other story)...
Tonight we joined our friends Alex & Valerie, Jason & Julia, and Tiffany, Dave, & Quentin for a dinner at Slater's 50/50, in Huntington Beach, CA. None of us had ever been to one (they have 3 locations), but we had all certainly heard of it. If you watch the Travel Channel or Food Network you probably have seen it featured at some point. A few years ago, this guy named Scott Slater came up with this idea to have a "build your own burger" joint, but with a little twist... the burgers are made up of half ground beast, I mean, beef and half ground bacon. Oh yeah. You read that correctly. Ground bacon. On top of all of that, the list of items that you can put on your burger is just insane. You choose the bread, the sauce, the cheese, the toppings, & the "over the top" toppings, which include the likes of pastrami and fried pickle chips. Okay, you get the point. Or, if you are like me and just can't make up your mind, otherwise you'll either be there for another hour deciding or you'll end up with every topping they offer on your plate, they have a list of burgers already designed for you. They also have six appetizers to choose from, all with their own special sauce to dip them in. It's important that I now list those items because when the waitress asked us if we wanted any appetizers we all just blankly stared at her and shook our heads "yes"...can we have them all? Oh wait! Yes! We can have them all - on one plate! With a side plate of all the dipping sauces?! Where do we sign?

Please stare intently at the following picture: it is a mound of fries, sweet potato fries, fried pickle chips, beer battered onion strings, fried artichoke hearts, & panko fried mac & cheese. The plate of sauces in the background included pumpkin sauce, mustard sauce, bbq sauce, sage mayo, tapatio ranch, & bacon infused ketchup (which tasted like God himself was making it in the kitchen).


Here's a fabulous photo of Julia's napkins and the sauces up close & personal (after we polished off that appetizer plate). Please note the fairly dessimated bacon infused ketchup... it didn't stand a chance with this group...


Now, let the food porn begin!! I was just able to reach across the table to get pictures of a few burgers before my friends started eating my hands, but the ones I were able to get photos of are goodies!

Jason's burger: Jason created his own burger, which, let me tell you, looked just as sinister as the "already designed" burgers that showed up at the table. If I remember correctly, he had lettuce, tomato?, cheddar cheese, & bbq sauce on it. He also chose ciabatta bread for his bun. I believe his statement was this after taking a bite: "If I wasn't already married to Julia, I would marry this"....


Julia's burger: You know, I don't remember exactly what she had on this joyful piece of art, but all you gotta do is appreciate the volcano of 1000 island dressing pouring from the side of it, to know it was bad ass.


Andy's burger: Andy went with one of the "already designed" burgers on the menu. This particular masterpiece is called the Peanut Butter and Jellousy. It is the 50/50 burger, topped with bacon, creamy peanut butter and strawberry jelly, all served on a honey wheat bun. Now, we like to think we are a bit snobby when it comes to this particular burger combo. There is an L.A. food truck called Grill 'Em All, that pretty much reigns supreme with this burger (they call it a Dee Snyder). Look, Slater's has a decent burger, no doubt. But, after final consideration, Grill 'Em All ended up taking top honors with the PB&J burger combo. The factor that puts them at the top? They happen to put tapatio on their concoction, which really cuts the sweetness of the other toppings. And, for me, I also like the crunchy peanut butter that G.E.A. uses, but that's just me. Hey, Slater's, good on ya for putting it together and serving a yummy burger, but we said we would maybe try something different next time... or not... :)


My burger: Meet the Pizza Burger. It is Slater's Burger of the Month, which obviously changes month to month. So, if you have any love for mankind, you will get your ass in the car and take yourself down to this dining establishment, and order. this. hamburger. You have four days left. I'm not even kidding when I tell you that it rocks and it rocks hard. The burger is half beast, half ground sausage, topped with marinara sauce, mozzarella sticks, and pepperoni (you can choose from pepperoni, hawaiian, or combination pizza styles). It also normally comes with garlic aioli, but I opted out of that spread. Not to worry, though, because it was served on a ciabatta bun which happened to be made into ciabatta garlic toast. Do you wonder if I ate it all? Keep scrolling, my friends. Keep scrolling. (I'm almost embarrased to post the "empty plate" photo. Almost.... Okay, not really.)



As if all of that wasn't enough to satisfy us, we went for dessert. Hell, we knew exactly what we were ordering for dessert well before we even ordered the appetizers. They have a list of about 15 or so milkshakes you can choose from, everything from vanilla to Guinness mint chocolate. Tiffany tried to order a nutella milkshake, but they were out of nutella (which, let me say: how the hell do you run out of nutella?! Don't they sell that shit in Costco sized containers??) I guess that must mean the nutella milkshakes are amazing... It's okay because she ended up getting a maple bacon milkshake instead, which was quite awesome all in its own right. We all agreed that it tasted "like breakfast". Very sweet, very delicious. Then we went completely overboard and ordered their bacon brownie. Yep, you read correctly: bacon. brownie. This thing came to the table and you should have seen the look on our faces. It's a Ghiradelli chocolate brownie, with crumbled bacon pieces both on the top and in the middle of the thing. Plus the chocolate ganache layer all around the egde of it. And, as if that wasn't good enough, they added vanilla ice cream all around the outside of the bowl. For those of you who know me well, the answer to your question is: Yes. I did have some. And, no, so far I do not feel like I will be in the hospital later with the migraine of the year. Did I mention that we ordered two? One each for four people? Here is mine, Andy, Jason & Julia's trough, I mean, bowl.

Here's the end of the end. And, to be honest, I believe this is Tiffany, Dave, Valerie and Alex's finished product. The server had long before taken away our demolished plate...:


Just looking at those photos gives brings back the "shivers"...

So, there you have it! Slater's 50/50! It's delicious, it's amazing, they have a good beer selection, crazy awesome burgers, and fabulous desserts.
I heard they also have salads on the menu....
Yeah. Right.

Wierd Day Scallops

I was having a wierd day today. Long story, but rest assured, it was weird. It called for a really yummy dinner. I know "yummy" is pretty objective, but I love seafood, and especially shellfish. My number one, all-time favorite are scallops, so I made a delicious scallop dinner with some orzo pasta. In case you also happen to love scallops, and had a weird day (or hopefully not), here's the recipe for you.

Here's to no more wierd days and a love of little rubbery mollusks. :)


Seared Scallops with greens and orzo
olive oil, 2 tablespoons
onion, 1/2, finely chopped
orzo, 1 cup (I used tri-color, but the multi-grain is also good)
low-sodium chicken broth, 3 cups
greens, 1 cup, chopped (I used red chard, but you can also use black kale or escarole)
Italian parsley, 3 tablespoons, minced
fresh thyme, 3 1/2 teaspoons, minced (I think I would use half of that next time)
grated lemon zest, 1 teaspoon
salt and pepper
butter, 2 tablespoons
large sea scallops, 3/4 pound
sherry vinegar, 3 tablespoons

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the orzo and stir until it begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Add the 3 cups broth and bring to a boil, stirring up the brown bits. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the orzo is almost tender, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes. Add the chard and stir until the orzo is tender, the greens have wilted, and the mixture is creamy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the parsley, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the thyme, and the lemon zest. Season the orzo to taste with salt and pepper. Mix in 1 tablespoon of the butter. Remove from the heat, cover and keep warm.

Season the scallops on both sides with salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon of the thyme. In a large frying pan over medium high heat, warm the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the scallops and saute until almost springy to the touch, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the scallops to a warm plate. Pour off the oil from the frying pan. Add the vinegar and remaining 3 tablespoons of broth to the pan and boil until syrupy, stirring up the browned bits, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat. Add any scallop juices to the plate. Swirl in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Divide the orzo between two plates. Top with the scallops, drizzle the sauce over the top, and then sprinkle with the remaining 1 teaspoon thyme. Serve right away.

Gus's Grocery

I just arrived in San Luis Obispo, CA early this afternoon and, of course, that meant it was time to eat. Or sleep. But I was hungry. And hungry for a sandwich. Now, you're in SLO and you want a sandwich. Where do you go?? High Street Deli? Nope. Lincoln Street Deli? No. Subway? Oh hell no. My sandwich spot of choice is Gus's Grocery (usually shortened to Gus's). And, before I go on about how yummy this place is, I must mention, I also enjoyed Muzio's Italian Deli, but they closed their doors some months ago and that was a very sad day. So, I just have the memories...
Gus's is this fairly small sandwich making place that has been owned and operated by the same owner since 1989 and has made the Best of SLO List for the past 21 years running. There are the sandwich makers behind the long counter, a small-ish salad bar with a couple of homemade soups daily, a bunch of chips everywhere, and a giant wall of refrigerators full of drinks (both alcoholic & non-alcohlic). There is also an outdoor patio of about 20 tables or so, which is perfect for SLO because the weather is always right.
One of the appealing things about Gus's is the sandwich "menu". You walk in, you grab one of their wierd red "crayons" and start checking off what you want on your sandwich. A whole bunch of bread choices, cheese choices, meat choices, and a slew of veggies & condiments. Not to mention, everything is very fresh and local. The sourdough bread items are from SLO Sourdough and are pretty much amazing. To be honest, I have no idea what the rest of the breads taste like because I only do the sourdough. I'm assuming the others are pretty darn good, though. Check out this delicious list of items...

Here was Mom's sandwich: The Gus's Veggie with nom nom veggies, herb cream cheese and Italian dressing all on your choice of bread (Mom went with a French baguette).

This was my creation today. A turkey, cucumber, red onion, pickle, mustard & Italian dressing on a SLO sourdough roll.

I almost forgot!! They have these really very good mojo potatoes that we normally get (instead of chips). Now, you noticed I said very good, not ah-ma-zing. My first Gus's exerience was my first year at Cal Poly and they had these crazy good mojo potatoes like none I have ever had. I don't know what happened to those mojos, but they were rad. Oh well. I'll settle for the new ones, I suppose. :)

So, that was my lunch today. And really, as much as I think these sandwiches are good (and they are), I think some of why this place rocks for me, is the unforgettable memories I have of going here as a college student. Let me just say this: if you were a Brother of Alpha Rho Chi from the years of 1997 to 2000, then your memories probably are very similar to mine: Saturday night. A party has just rocked the night away at a certain house on Foothill Blvd... Sunday morning: You wake up on said house's floor (let's say around the wee hour of noon) wondering why the Pledges have not shown up yet to clean the mess that you stayed the night in. Some of you have clothes on from the night before & some of you thought ahead and brought your pajamas. But, really, it doesn't matter what you're wearing because you are hungry as hell. And the insane amounts of liquid you consumed last night are not sitting well. Everyone decides it's lunch time, but no one asks where we are going. We know where we are going. Everyone enjoys their sandwiches on the patio (donning sunglasses, of course). Some of us are having water, some of us are consuming a little Hair of the Dog. Once we are all done, we head back to the house to clean up (aka take a nap). Speaking of cleaning up, where the hell are those Pledges anyway??...
Yep. Gus's. The food and the memories rock.

Chocolate Salon Anniversary

Two years ago today, Andy and I got married!! At our wedding, we had the one thing I would say I was kind-of "bridezilla" about: I wanted, no, I needed, to have the Chocolate and Coffee Divas (from San Luis Obispo) do a full-on, giant spread of chocolately goodness, with every imaginable item that you could dip into the dark or white chocolate fountains that we had there. It was fabulous and I LOVED it! I hope our guests enjoyed it as much as we did!

So, it is only right that we celebrated today by going to the 4th Annual Los Angeles Luxury Chocolate Salon this afternoon. We "forced" our friends Michael and April to go with us and the feasting began! When we walked into the convention center, the smell of delicious chocolate came over us and we started in! There were around 20 vendors, all of them offering samples of their goodies, ranging anywhere from truffles, to chocolate bars, to gourmet ding dongs... oh yeah... gourmet ding dongs. I'll get to that in a minute. In the meantime, enjoy a little chocolate porn.




Wait a minute.. did you say "gourmet ding dong"? Yes, my friend, I did say those delightful words. So, I can't take credit for finding these gems. I wish I could. But, no, Andy overheard the vendor saying "red velvet gourmet ding dong" and he had his wallet out right away. The woman was kind enough to cut the ding dong into four pieces and then we all went to town on the thing. Imagine the moistest red velvet cake, with about an inch of the most amazing vanilla buttercream I have ever had in my life, wedged right in the middle. This buttercream was so damn good, it had the consistency of cheesecake. In fact, we thought it was cheesecake until the executive chef asked us how we liked his buttercream! Whaaa??? Yeah, man, your buttercream is CRAZY good!! Oh! I almost forgot: this whole cake was dipped in dark chocolate!! COME ON!! At one point, I looked over at Michael and he was staring off into space, as if he was having some kind of religious experience or something. Yeah, it was pretty much like that.


Oh, and after we were finished with this chocolate salon, we managed to partake in a dinner of Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. What a fabulous day!!!

The Dan Dan Truck!!

I think I may have a problem. I'm a little obsessed with food trucks. There's just something about them. The old school idea of the "Roach Coach", how they really don't look that safe or good, and are sometimes located in some shady-like places... that's a little exciting to me. Especially when I find some good ones, just because they aren't the high-class, frou frou restaurants that you would think would produce that kind of food.
Today I went to the Dan Dan Truck, where they were serving lunch right here in Irvine, CA. There were about 8 trucks located in this spot today and the Dan Dan Truck and the Dos Chinos Truck had the longest lines of glassy eyed foodies. I promptly threw myself in the Dan Dan line, which serves a small variety of Korean fusion fare. They do tacos, burritos, kimchi quesadillas (which I wanted, but was too stuffed to order after I ate), a bulgogi burger, and their "Dan Dan" sliders, which is what ordered: short ribs, spicy asian slaw, and spicy sauce, all stuffed in between soft Hawaiian rolls. Some of you may be wondering: But, Mary, you actually ate animal flesh?? Okay, yes, I did. And momentarily I was sad for the cow that gave it's life to produce my lunch. Then, after I bit into the sandwich, I promptly thanked that little cow for it's tasty parts. My Crohns will be pissed at me later, I'm sure of it. Call it Karma. But, I digress...

DELICIOUS!!! I mean, if that photo doesn't excite you, even just slightly, then we need to talk. I'm gonna try and hunt them down again for lunch or dinner in the near future and try that kimchi quesadillla... maybe I'll make it through the giant line at the Foodie Fest this Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed for me! :)

Crepes Bonaparte Food Truck!!

I'm a bit of a crepe snob. I'll admit it. I can't help it, though. I had a high school French teacher that actually made us learn how to make them (in class, I might add) and then she graded us on how they tasted and if they were thin enough! No kidding! So, when my food truck obsession became slightly heightened this afternoon, and I found out that the Crepes Bonaparte Truck was just a mere 10-minute drive to Santa Ana, CA today, I hopped in the car and cussed out every idiot on the I-5, just so I could taste the goodies on this truck.
If you live under a rock (or just don't watch the Food Network), Crepes Bonaparte has made quite a name for itself lately. It is one of the trucks on The Great Food Truck Race and haven't done too badly for themselves in the competition so far. Their menu consists of both Breakfast Crepes, Savory Crepes, Dessert Crepes, and Traditional Crepes (both savory and sweet). I have to admit that when I walked up to the truck, for whatever reason, I became a little overwhelmed by what to order. Seriously, everything sounded good. Well, and I was hungry.

So, after staring at the menu forever, I just asked the guy taking the orders what his favorites were. They were having a special (one savory crepe and one sweet crepe) for $8. He suggested the Caprese Crepe (chicken, mozzarella, tomato, and pesto) and the Fruity Dee-Lite Crepe (strawberries, bananas, and whipped cream). Right on, my friend! Bust those out!
Here's one of the thins I love about food trucks: gourmet food served to you in just around 5 minutes after ordering. Brilliant! They gave me my crepes and I actually took them back to my car, thinking I was going to take them home and enjoy them in them in the comfort of my air conditioned apartment. I opened the first container and thought I was crazy if I was going to wait another ten minutes to bust into that thing. I actually got out of my car, walked back to the food truck, and ate them both (well, half of each one) right there at the side of the truck. I think that made them happy. I know it made me happy!
This Caprese Crepe was the bomb! (I know it's not 1999 anymore, so I shouldn't be allowed to say that, but you know what I mean). I was surprised to see that it was shredded chicken, which was perfect in that crepe. I asked if the pesto was homemade (because it tasted like it was) and of course, it was. Very, very good!


Next: that fruit crepe. Umm.... I could have eaten about 5 of those damn things. SOOO good!!! The whipped cream on it was super rich and perfect with the tartness of the strawberries. As good as that crepe was, I was a little upset when I saw that I missed the Spicy Apple Bottoms Crepe, which is cooked cinnamon apples, caramel, and whipped cream. Next time, my friends. Next time.


So, here's the million dollar question for the self-proclaimed Crepe Snob: how was the actual crepe? The bread-y part? It was very good - not traditional in terms of the thin-ness of a French crepe - but very tasty. The savory crepe tasted like a regular crepe, but the sweet crepe tasted like it had cinnamon in the batter. All in all, I wasn't complaining. And, here's another thing I love about food trucks: they usually don't wuss out on the amount of food they give you. you asked for it, you get it! The portions were huge for the price of the crepe. And, let's not forget the taste!!
So if you happen to be near the Crepes Bonaparte Truck, check it out!! Oh, and if you love Nutella, you're in luck, they have giant jars lining the inside of the truck. Just in case they run out. Which I hope never happens while I'm in line. Bon appetite!!
http://crepesbonaparte.com/