Visiting Southern California

An overcast run along the Santa Monica boardwalk

I have often considered myself a California girl. I wasn't born there, but Southern California is a place I visited frequently growing up, before my family called it home. And after attending high school in south Orange County, I moved to Westwood to attend my dream school and my parents' alma mater, UCLA. Going to school in a big city gave me ample opportunity to explore, including dining at restaurants across the culinary spectrum. Los Angeles serves up everything from the neighborhood doughnut shop to hole-in-the-wall bar to the critically acclaimed restaurants of top chefs. And because of the diversity of the city itself, you can take a culinary tour of the world without ever leaving the the Southland. In fact, it was during my senior year at UCLA that the idea for Chasing Crumbs was born out of these experiences and my love of writing.

In the past month I returned to my beloved Southern California twice, first to spend time with my grandmother and parents in Newport Beach and then again to visit some of my closest friends in Santa Monica. And as is often the case, I discovered some new gems that I am excited to share.

Two-scoop upside-down cone, Salt & Straw

Salt & Straw
Ever since I heard Salt & Straw was expanding to L.A., it moved to the top of my list for an upcoming visit. The vaunted Portland ice cream shop is known for out-the-door lines and collaborating with local farmers, chefs and artisans on flavors that range from the traditional to what some might call bizarre. Take the menu at the the new Larchmont shop, which includes California-inspired avocado and strawberry sherbet, tomato water and ojai olive oil sherbet and black olive brittle and goat cheese ice cream.

So, when I met my friend Brittany for the afternoon, I told her that the only thing I planned was an ice cream trip. Luckily she's accustomed to and flexible enough to follow along with all my foodie whims. True to form, there was a line out the door at the L.A. Salt & Straw, but it took us little time at all to reach the counter to sample some flavors before ordering double scoops.

I could've walked away with far more than two scoops because every other flavor screamed "try me." When I return, not if, I think I'll be ordering the sampler, which allows you to get smaller scoops of four flavors. My first scoop was the seasonal California peaches with lemon crumble, basically my favorite dessert turned into ice cream. Fresh peaches were caramelized with brown sugar to create a thick jam running through the vanilla ice cream studded with lemon cobbler. For my second, I wanted something that would be a good pairing and opted for the sea salt with caramel ribbons. The ice cream uses a house-made burnt caramel and salt from Mark Bitterman's Portland salt shop. It's one of Salt & Straw's signature flavors and I can see why it's their most popular. It's definitely my favorite of all the salted caramel ice creams I've tried.

Sidecar Doughnuts
Sidecar is not your ordinary doughnut shop in Costa Mesa. I first tried a bite of their wonderful treats in the cinnamon apple donuts ice cream at Salt & Straw and couldn't resist a detour to try sidecar doughnuts from the source. Sidecar specializes in doughnuts made with fresh ingredients and fried in small batches. I opted to try two of the monthly doughnuts. Huckleberries are a favorite of mine (it's probably my northwest roots), so I had to try the huckleberry cake doughnut. It wasn't too heavy, and studded with plenty of sweet whole berries. Malasadas are a treat that are hard to find, so when I spotted a malasada with apple jam, I had to give it a try. It was airy with just the right amount of filling, and a light dusting of sugar on top. All in all, it made for a perfect afternoon treat.

Seasonal blackberry and bourbon cocktail, SideDoor 

SideDoor
SideDoor is nestled inside one of my favorite restaurants, Five Crowns in Newport Beach, known for great prime rib and charming inn setting. The bar at Five Crowns was long styled like a traditional English pub, but in 2009 the bar was reopened as an English-style gastropub with it's own entrance and menu.The menu focuses on seasonal ingredients, small plates, cheese and charcuterie and artisanal cocktails. However, you'll still find some signature Five Crowns dishes re-envisioned on the SideDoor menu.

I went with my Mom, Nana and I went to SideDoor on a Monday evening and it was packed. Lively conversation flowed through the relaxed atmosphere of the pub. We opted to get a few items to share among the three of us. I enjoyed the smoked bacon and addition of egg in the wedge salad. We watched as the chef at the charcuterie stand assembled our french onion press. As it sounds, it was essentially eating french onion soup in sandwich form, and it was delicious. The onions burst with flavor and balanced perfectly with the sourness of the fresh bread. And of course, one couldn't ignore prime rib, so we ordered the prime rib chili cheese fries, a popular choice at tables around us as well. The chili was rich with generous amounts of prime rib and the fries perfectly crispy underneath. After all that food, I still couldn't turn down dessert. The espresso creme anglaise that accompanied their doughnuts was perfection, in fact I took home the leftover sauce to add to my coffee because I didn't want to waste one drop of it.

A long weekend in NYC

A few weeks back, I took a long weekend to visit one of my closest friends, Leigh Anne, in New York City. Last spring, she picked up and moved across the country to follow her Big Apple dreams. I'll admit I mourned the loss of my devoted brunch buddy, but it was quickly outweighed by my happiness for my friend and her exciting opportunity as well as the anticipation of a visit to New York over the summer. I was thankful for having seen much of the tourist side of the city in a previous trip, so we could spend the weekend catching up and leisurely exploring.

Luckily Leigh Anne shares my sense of adventure and love of food, so much of the four days was spent in search of food. Between a local and a devoted foodie, we had an endless list of places we were hoping to fit in.

Fort Defiance

Of course, we visited Chelsea Market, and made a stop Fat Witch. S'mores in a brownie, what can I say, it's an excellent combination. For happy hour, we dared a walk through Midtown on a Friday night so we could try Southern Hospitality, a bar and restaurant owned by Justin Timberlake that stays true to his southern roots. Leigh Anne and I felt so at home at Spitzer's, a gastropub in the Lower East Side. Communal tables, craft beer and a lively atmosphere -- it's the kind of place we could spend hours in, and have been known to do. As soon as we read 40 beers on tap, we were sold. We made the trek to Red Hook with Becca, our friend who happens to be Leigh Anne's roommate, for brunch at Fort Defiance. It was a quaint restaurant that was worth the trek, with hearty portions, seasonal ingredients and tablecloths that reminded us of the southwest.

Becca, Leigh Anne and I ventured to The Standard hotel's Biergarten at the High Line for drinks with Leigh Anne's friends and I tried the Berliner Weiss, a regional German wheat bear that's fruity and a little sour.  It's funny that it took a trip across the country to step inside The Standard, when I used to drive past the one in Hollywood on a weekly basis. On the way home, we got a sweet tooth and that meant a stop at Magnolia Bakery, made popular by Sex and the City, was in order. I couldn't not try the cupcakes, since I've spent my adulthood venturing to Sprinkles. I enjoyed the Banana Cupcake, which had a light, more banana-muffin-like flavor with a sweet caramel frosting. There were also stops for coffee, of course. We are journalists by trade after all. And, we got a chance to try the ever-popular Shake Shack burger, and compare it to In-N-Out and the numerous other "road-side" burger stands. The consensus was it was a good burger, and each has it's own perks. And of course, what trip to New York would be complete without a slice of pizza.

     

Fried Chicken and Cheddar Waffle from Buttermilk Channel with a view of the

 skyline from Brooklyn Bridge Park (left), DBGB Kitchen and Bar, and

Cookies and Cream and Salted Carmel from Blue Marble Ice Cream

But among our many stops, there were a few standouts and I am so excited to share my three to try for New York City.

DBGB Kitchen and Bar 
Daniel Boulud's restaurant in the Bowery has been on top of my list of places to try in New York for quite some time and I was excited to enjoy a night out with Leigh Anne and Becca during my visit. I originally saw DBGB featured on a Food Network show, and the French bistro meets American tavern concept intrigued me. The menu features a variety of house-made sausages from around the globe, traditional entrees like duck and steak frites and inspired gourmet burgers. I mulled over the menu for a good 20 minutes, but in the end went with the first item that caught my eye. The Piggie is a beef burger topped with pulled pork, jalapeno mayonnaise and a mustard slaw. And I was not disappointed. Each bite was thoughtfully layered, but the flavor profile not overly complex. Beyond our satisfying meals, the main dining room took inspiration from the history of the Bowery as a restaurant supply district. The walls were lined with shelving stocked with dry goods, table wares and copper pots from other acclaimed chefs. It felt almost if you were dining in an enormous, walk-in pantry albeit more chic than industrial.

Doughnut Plant
Who doesn't love doughnuts? I have favorite bakeries or ice cream shops in nearly every city I've visited, and Doughnut Plant is now sitting at the top of my New York list. Leigh Anne shares my love of this sweet treat. In fact we had a favorite bar in Phoenix with doughnuts on their dessert menu that quickly became an after-work favorite. So after a red-eye flight and a quick stop to drop off my luggage, we ventured to Chelsea to get a late breakfast. With all the seasonal and unique flavors, I probably could have ordered a half dozen doughnuts. Luckily I had some self restraint and settled for two featuring my favorite fruits. The peach cake doughnut had a great crumb texture. My favorite though was the vanilla bean yeast doughnut with blackberry filling. It had a perfect ratio of vanilla in the dough and sweetness in the berry filling, so that neither overpowered the other. Doughnut Plant's filled doughnuts are square with a hole in the center like traditional doughnuts. It's absolute genius because now there is filling in every bite! There is no reason to wonder why Doughnut Plant is celebrating it's 20th anniversary, they know doughnuts and it shows. While the wait wasn't long, there was a constant flow of people coming and going as we sat and enjoyed our doughnuts.

Smorgasburg
Smorgasburg was quite possibly my favorite part of my entire weekend in New York City. It's a weekly food market with vendors from restaurants and local food proveyors across the city. We ventured to the Brooklyn Bridge Park location on Sunday morning so we could enjoy the views of Manhattan as we enjoyed our snacks. There options were abundant, ranging across many cuisines, but I had my eyes set on trying Blue Marble Ice Cream. But first I opted for something more savory, on Becca's recommmendation, from Buttermilk Channel. We got one of my favorites, buttermilk chicken on a cheddar waffle. Simple, but done well. I enjoyed it so much that on my next trip to the Big apple, I plan to make a stop at their restaurant in Brooklyn. After, I stopped to get a two-scoop cone at Blue Marble to enjoy as we wandered the length of Brooklyn Bridge Park from the piers to the Brooklyn Bridge. I opted for a perhaps strange combination so I could try both of the featured flavors, cookies & cream and salted caramel. Artisan ice cream is really worth the cost, it just tastes so much better! It was the perfect treat for a summer afternoon.

Where to eat in Orange County

Five Crowns

For an evening out:-- Sabatino's Sausage Company -- Another one of my favorites, located in Lido Shipyard in Newport Beach. They are well known for their homemade Italian sausage that has goat cheese in the center. I've tried many of their dishes, and never found something I didn't like ... but I never go there without getting sausage, even if it means ordering a side. You can also get fresh sausage to take home and cook yourself.
http://www.sabatinoschicagosausage.com

--Five Crowns -- Owned by Lawry's and located in Corona del Mar, Five Crowns is styled to look like an Olde English restaurant. They are known for their prime rib, which comes complete with a popover and side dish of your choice. What I really love though about the restaurant the ambiance and its character, with the feeling of an inn, including many small rooms, its greenhouse and small garden.
http://www.lawrysonline.com/fivecrowns_gen_info.asp

-- Mangia Bene -- This italian restaurant in south Orange County has so many things going for it. It has a great neighborhood vibe - it is always filled with people and the staff is very friendly. I would recommend pretty much anything on the menu, having tried most of it.
http://www.mangiabeneeatwell.com/

Take it to go:
-- Ruby's Sandwich Saloon -- The best sandwiches I've had anywhere. They make sandwiches to order, with your choice of meat, cheese, bread and vegetables. Be careful going at lunch hour though or call your order in, because there is always a line.

-- Los Primo's Cantina -- This little tacqueria is my absolute favorite mexican restaurant because its extremely authentic mexican food. Their tamales are amazing, they make taquitos fresh when you order them, and they are known for their Mr. Serious burrito, which ends up being close to 2 pounds by the time they add everything to it.

-- Newport Rib Company -- While I enjoy eating in their restaurants equally as much, sometimes its just more convenient to get some ribs to take home for dinner. Plus they have party packs, the pig pack and hog pack, available when you order take-out that are perfect for sharing amongst a whole family that give a sample of their popular barbeque foods.
http://www.ribcompany.com/

For the view:
-- Las Brisas -- Located on one of the cliffs in Laguna Beach, their patio is the perfect place to go for appetizers and a drink. With a view of the ocean, it makes for a great place to go watch a nice sunset with some friends.
http://www.lasbrisaslagunabeach.com/

-- Orange County Mining Company -- Situated on a hill in Orange, the large panoramic windows in the saloon overlook most of north Orange County making for a spectacular view. Plus they have great happy hour specials.
http://www.orangecountyminingco.com/

-- Ruby's Balboa Pier -- The original Ruby's location situated at the end of one of Newport Beach's two piers, Ruby's is a great place to go for a lunch whether you are spending a day at the beach or want the beach experience without actually touching the ocean and the sand.
http://www.rubys.com/

And of course you cannot talk about food in Orange County without mentioning Balboa Bars, which are ice cream dipped in chocolate and sundae toppings. Now while you can find them around the area, I only go to one of the two shops on Balboa Island. Both have equally good balboa bars and frozen bananas; they just vary in what toppings you can choose from.
-- Dad's Donuts
-- Sugar 'n Spice