Modern Luxury's Passport to Luxury Event!

Modern Luxury's Passport to Luxury Event is back and better than ever this month on Wednesday, September 25th! 

So often I hear complaints from other foodies about how expensive some food events are or how there's not enough other things to see and do at the events. If you share in this thinking, Modern Luxury Magazine's Passport to Luxury is the event for you! 

The first annual Passport to Luxury event will invite not just local culinary masters but also luxury brands and event enhancements to showcase signature dishes, products, services and trends! Guests will gather to experience a guided journey with each stop offering a taste of a different part of the world through bites, signature cocktail or products.  You'll also be able to vote for your favorite bite in the Chef's Challenge, with the WINNER being crowned at the end of the night! 

The event is being held at the beautiful Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach. If you've never visited this lovely nursery you're in for a treat as the location itself is a feast for the senses! 

This list of restaurants is quite impressive and includes:

A Restaurant Newport Beach | Andrea Ristorante | AnQi | Aqua Lounge| Cannery Seafood of the Pacific | Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse| Driftwood Kitchen | Edward Hill Bakery | Farmhouse at Roger's Gardens| Harley Laguna Beach | Harvest at The Ranch at Laguna Beach | Hendrix | Louie's by the Bay | Memphis Cafe | Oak Grill | Ocean at Main | Tres Muchachos fishNchips

There's also a bevy of drink and other partners including: 

Legends Spirits | Beam Suntory - Basil Hayden's | Peroni Italy | Lillet | Hydration Room | Compass | Black River Caviar | Lavender Lane Baking Co. | Protravel International Corona del Mar I High Gorgeous | Chervona Vodka

Tickets for this fabulous event are ONLY $40 pre-sale (til 9/24) and $45 at the door. Get your tix soon before it sells out:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/passport-to-luxury-orange-county-tickets-63792634487

Note: All guests must be 21+

Hope to see you there!!!

Golden Chef Series

The 2016 Golden Chef Series! 

Have you heard about the Golden Chef Series? It's a series of FREE chef demonstrations that showcase local OC Chefs and unfortunately, it's almost over!

There is only one demo left scheduled for Saturday, June 18th featuring Chef Josh LaQuet of Brio Tuscan Grille & 
Chef Alejandro Benes of  Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill.

The event is FREE and takes place near the big wheel at the Irvine Spectrum shopping center. If you'd like a VIP seat you can purchase one for $25 with the proceeds going to the Golden Rule Charity, a local Chefs' charity. Seating is limited to just 40 seats, however these demos encourage as many people as would like to attend as there is plenty of standing space to watch the demos. There will be TV screens and high top tables for all guests to enjoy the demos, as well as fresh fruit provided by Melissa's Produce free of charge.

I just went to the Demo this past Saturday featuring Chef Tony Trujillo from Cucina Enoteca and Casey Reinhardt from Casey's Cupcakes, and it was such a fun event with fabulous food!






Chef Trujillo was up first and walked us through his dish starting with your basic pasta making. He prepared a delicious sweet corn ricotta agnolotti w a side of salty speck and arugula on a bed of wonderful sorrel puree that just brought the dish together beautifully.

 It was so good that when they came around with seconds we gladly accepted them! It was even more delicious than it looks in the picture below!

The Sweet Corn Agnolotti from Cucina Enoteca

Here is the emcee extraordinaire, Wing Lam of Wahoo's personally handing out samples to the VIP section. 

One of the advantages of purchasing a $25 VIP seat is that you get to taste everything! Did I mention the $ goes to charity too?? :)

Casey Reinhardt

 Next up was Casey Reinhardt, owner of Casey's Cupcakes and winner of Cupcake Wars on The Foodnetwork.  Casey walked us through making her popular White Russian Cupcakes starting with the batter which she makes with the surprise ingredients of sour cream and mayonnaise! She then went on to show us how she makes the frosting and filling using real Bailey's Irish Cream! (YUM!)

She also demo'd for us how to fill and frost them, then she surprised us all in the VIP section with our very own cupcake, boxed and bagged for us to take home. They were also handed out to us by her adorable assistants (see below!)

The beautiful AND sinful White Russian Cupcakes from Casey's Cupcakes!

The cutie patootie Casey's girls handing out our treats!

 It was a really fun and educational afternoon! I highly recommend you attend the last demo on June 18th if you're able to... very worth your time! :)

The Golden Chef Series is presented by Fisher & Paykel and DCS is part of of the exciting line-up of pre-eventw fo the highly enaticipated Golden Foodie Awards. 

For more info: http://www.goldenfoodieawards.com/golden-chef-series.html

It's Spring and that means... Festival time!

Spring Food Festivals Galore!

So many food festivals so little time! Sure spring means flowers, and longer sunny days but if you’re a lover of food and libations then spring also means food/beer/wine festival time! Below is a list of upcoming festivals that are worth the price of admission IMHO! I’ll be adding different events in upcoming days… starting with the….

Taste of “    “ Events

Taste of events are a great way to sample a bunch of local restaurants in one swoop and for one price of admission – which depending on how hungry you are can be a great deal! They also usually involve live music, fun vendors and sometimes other fun entertainment.

Taste of Huntington Beach

Sunday, April 24^th , noon – 4pm  $70 per ticket

This is a super fun event with just about every restaurant in HB handing out their fare and lots of wine and beer samples. They also always have a great band playing and after a few drinks everyone is ready to boogie! Another thing unique to this event is the silent auction with some pretty fabulous donated gift baskets. One of the years I went I ended up winning 3 of them and all of them were worth more than I paid for them so be sure to take a look at ‘em!  Another nice thing about this event is that they let you bring in blankets/chairs so you don’t have to stand the whole time or fight with others for the limited tables/seating. The event takes place primarily on a grassy lawn so it’s perfect for sitting down in between bites/drinks to enjoy the music. It is $70 per ticket but you’ll definitely eat/drink at least this much plus the $ made goes to HB Children’s Library so it’s even partially tax deductible!

Taste of Orange

Sunday, May 1^st , 3-7pm  $40 per ticket

So, admittedly I’ve never been to this Taste event BUT I’ve heard great things AND I am planning to attend this year. The $40 ticket price only includes food – wine/beer is available to purchase but not included.   The list of restaurants participating is pretty varied from the Orange staple of Zito’s Pizza to the yet to open Pie Hole & Burger Parlor! This is also a charity event with proceeds going to the Assistance League of Orange - $20 of the ticket is tax deductible which is a nice added bonus!  

Taste of Anaheim

Thursday May 12^th, 5:30-9pm  $40 pre-sale/$45 at event

This event takes place at the Gardenwalk center and in the past has included a lot of the restaurants there as well as from Downtown Disney – which is not a bad thing as these two centers have some pretty great places to eat!  I attended a few years ago and it was a fun event and we left TOTALLY stuffed as there was no lack of food and the portions were very generous. I also liked that most of the restaurants had special coupons/deals they were handing out to entice you to dine there later – freebies are always a nice perk!  They also typically have live music which adds a nice vibe to the outdoor center.

Taste of the Nation

Sunday May 15^th , 3-6pm  $200 Gen Admission/$275 VIP

As the price and the name imply, this is the crème de la crème of taste events bringing together the BEST restaurants and chefs in not just the OC but from LA proper! Held at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach, the venue is just as spectacular as the food and wine. Yes, it’s expensive but if you’re an aficionado of fine dining then this event is worth the price of admission for you! Featured restaurants include Studio, Republique, Broken Spanish and several others. 

Taste of Brea

Thursday May 26^th, 5-9pm  $20 pre-sale/$25 at event

The Taste of Brea takes place in downtown Brea and they block off the street so it’s pedestrian friendly. The list of participating restaurants is pretty impressive and includes such great Brea eateries as Lillie Q’s, Taps Fish House & Bruno’s Trattoria! This sounds like a fun way to spend a spring evening and the price is pretty good for a Taste event!

Next post to come is all about the BEER FESTS! 

Fresh Toast

Orange County .... it's coming! OCWeekly's newest event, 

Fresh Toast

is happening 

Saturday, February 27th 

and will be featuring your favorite meal - brunch! Over 40 of OC's best restaurants will be dishing out some the best brunch bites in the OC! 

Taking place at Fresh Toast will also be the Bloody Battle! 

You don't want to miss this OC! 

Get your tickets soon before prices go up again AND before it sells out! 

Ticket link: http://ticketf.ly/225Fi1z