Adventures in Dining Out: Chipotle

I know, I know, what am I going to post about next, my dinner at Chili’s? You guys, yesterday was my very first trip to Chipotle. When it first came out I refused to because of it’s association with McDonalds… since I don’t eat at McDonalds I wasn’t going to eat a Chipotle. About a year ago I learned that McDonalds fully divested from Chipotle in 2006. This was also the time I discovered Chipotle's "food with integrity" philosophy. Granted they’re not completely organic or using all responsible meat, but I like that they are at least making an effort where most restaurants aren’t.

Chipotle is also a Gluten Free friendly restaurant and lists their ingredients and allergen information on their website.

I recently discovered a good family friend of mine is going to college 5 minutes from my office.


Becca and I have been trying to meet-up for lunch for a little over a month and we finally got our act together yesterday. Becca is also Gluten Free (celiac), she and her mother were the main reason I wasn’t totally bummed when I found out I was gluten intolerant. They make all kinds of yummy foods and our families have cooked for each other before, I’d already seen first hand how doable this is.

Soooo, yesterday my sister, Jen and I met Becca at the Chipotle near her school.

(Wow, type much Allison?)

I relate the way your order to ordering at Subway, but less complicated…

Less complicated because really there are only 4 things to choose from: Burrito, Bowl, Taco or Salad. You pick which one of these you want, then your meat (or lack there of) and toppings.

Becca ordered a chicken taco…


Jen ordered a steak salad…


and I also ordered a steak salad.


Let is be known that I did not want that much sour cream, but the lady behind the counter misunderstood my request for guacamole as a request for more sour cream.

Did I like it?


And, did I go back for dinner? Well, with a compliment like this, how could I not?


So, in one day I ate at two Chipotles… two different Chipotles. I have a steak and a chicken salad – one with way more sour cream than I needed and the other with way too much guacamole (I had to even it up). The customer service at both stores was excellent and very friendly :) I would definitely recommend Chipotle if you haven’t already tried it (meaning I’m not the last person to have never been to a Chipotle).

Is there a popular restaurant where you’ve never eaten?

Adventures in Dining Out: Kogi BBQ (Take 2)

My very first Adventures in Dining Out post was also my very first food truck experience. Almost exactly a year from my first meet-up with Kogi BBQ, I was finally able to meet-up again. A special Thanks to Twitter!


I saw this week yesterday morning and realized BOTH those locations were close to my office, BOTH! Luckily I was able to talk my co-worker into going, since she’s been wanting to try Kogi for awhile. We ended up getting there about 30 mins before the truck because it was running late, but that ended up working to our advantage because we were like 6th in line. Really, we should have been 2nd, but a group of people were rude and didn’t respect that some people had arrived before they had and rushed the truck. We only had to wait about 20 mins for our food, so it wasn’t a bid deal… last time we waited hours.


My co-worker and I decided to stick with the tacos for two reasons: 1) I remembered the tacos were amazing, and 2) the tacos are corn tortillas and not flour = no gluten*


I ordered two Korean Short Rib Tacos and one Korean Spicy Pork Taco. Seriously you guys, I had forgotten just how good Kogi BBQ is. I’m not trying to rub it in or anything, but Oh.My.God!


The meat is seasoned just right and the cabbage slaw they put on top is juicy and a little zingy. (Zingy is totally a word, by the way). They were a bit greasier than I remembered. They must fry the tortillas in a bit of oil before filling them. It was tasty, but greasy, that’s all I’m saying. My co-worker LOVED them as well.

*I say gluten free, but I honestly don’t know how gluten free this meal was. The safe bet in these cases is for me to order the corn tortillas. Chances are they are regular corn tortillas and contain no gluten. The thing I should pay more attention to is gluten found in sauces. Most likely the Korean Short Rib meat’s sauce has gluten containing soy sauce in it. As much as I LOVE all this Korean BBQ I think I’m going to have to start trying to make it as home with Gluten Free Soy Sauce because I didn’t feel so hot when I woke up this morning and I had a killer headache when I went to bed.

Adventures in Dining Out: True Food Kitchen, Newport Beach, CA

My sister was having an abnormally crappy week last week and she decided it would be a good idea to get away from her office for a bit and do something she wanted to do. Great idea, no? I think if you’re ever having a bad week at work it important to do things for yourself so you don’t let the work stuff ruin your attitude towards everything else. She suggested going to lunch and I was all for it because who doesn’t love getting lunch with their sister in the middle of the week?

We decided to try a new restaurant at Fashion Island, an outdoor mall near our offices, called True Food Kitchen. We’d attempted to have lunch here about a month ago, but the wait was crazy and we only had an hour. This time, we got there early enough and found a seat in the bar right away.

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According to their website, “At True Food Kitchen, we celebrate simplicity. We practice sustainability. We believe that simple, fresh, pure ingredients create the most memorable and satisfying meals. And while our healthy menu is packed with nutritious, good-for-you vegetables, whole grain and proteins, we never sacrifice flavor. You may not notice the difference. But it’s there.”

They also follow Dr. Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid™, which to be honest I’d never heard of before visiting their website. According to Dr. Weil: “Following an anti-inflammatory diet can help counteract the chronic inflammation that is a root cause of many serious diseases, including those that become more frequent as people age. It is a way of selecting and preparing foods based on science that can help people achieve and maintain optimum health over their lifetime.”

Plus, they have gluten free menu options – SCORE!

After examining the menu we decided on three things:

I ordered the Panang Curry…


The waitress smiled when I ordered this dish and told me it was her favorite. Don’t you just love that! I really love when a waitress (or waiter) will tell you what their favorite dish is where they work. Nothing bugs me more than when you ask what they would recommend and you get, “Well everything is really good.” Anyway, this was delicious. I don’t know how I’d forgotten how much I love coconut milk, but the combination of the coconut milk and curry was amazing. I ordered this again for lunch on Monday.

My sister ordered the Quinoa Tabbouleh salad…

Pretty, huh? This was our waitress’ other favorite dish and if I like beets it would probably be one of mine too. I had a few bites (even one with a bite of beet) and it was really tasty (minus the beet). The dressing was just the right amount of not too sweet.

We also ordered the tomato basil soup…


Well, my sister ordered the soup, but when it came there was so much food we decided to share it. Tomato soup is probably my favorite soup. My roommate in college and I would have it with grilled cheese all the time (hmmm, I wonder why I gained weight in college). Usually, I only like creamy tomato soups, but this was great without the cream. It was very fresh.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen a Tweet from me earlier this week about a planter I want for my patio.


The planter is from the front of True Foods Kitchen. They have about 3 or 4 of these planters out front full of fresh herbs and a couple vegetables. I love the idea and in this context, not only do I think it is a great design addition, but a fun way to show kids what things look like before they are in our food :)

Adventures in Dining Out: Barcelona On The Go & Dan Dan BBQ

Guess what guys? I eat at more food trucks! Shocking, I know. This past Wednesday, I ventured out in the questionable weather Southern California is experiencing right now, to make my favorite food truck meet-up.


Since I needed to get back to work to get some homework done on my lunch break, I had a game plan. Stop at Barcelona On The Go and get their salad of the day, then stop at Dan Dan BBQ and get a lettuce wrapped taco. In and out. GO!



First stop was Barcelona On The Go. The salad of the day was a "Duck Prosciutto, Goat Cheese & Orange Salad”.

I read that as duck ,comma, prosciutto, so I was a bit confused when I got the salad. At first glance I thought, “Oh that’s prosciutto wrapped around duck.” After further examination (putting it in my mouth) is discovered it was FAT! I was so disgusted.


To be fair the salad was really good (minus the fat, natch) but I would definitely recommend they take the fat off the duck prosciutto… YUCK! Also, last night Hubs & I went to another Food Truck Meet-up with some friends. My Friend, Felicia, ordered the sweet potato fries with lime salt and the top sirloin taco. She said the taco and fries were excellent… I stole some of the fries and I agree.

Next Dan Dan BBQ, of course. I love their little Karate dude :)


I read online that you could order any of their tacos as a lettuce wrap, SCORE! I can probably eat corn tortillas, but I don’t need the tortilla, so it’s nice to have the option. Plus, I love lettuce.

I decided to try the Spicy Pork lettuce wrap… and then felt silly paying for a $3 taco with my debit card. Note to self: bring cash to these things!


This taco was amazing! I ate everything out of the lettuce with a fork (because it’s easy to do CAD homework that way) and then found myself trying to find pieces of lettuce with the most spices leftover. The seasoning was amazing!

Have you discovered any Food Trucks in your area?

Adventures in Dining Out: Seabirds Truck

I have a problem, I’m addicted to the Wednesday’s food truck meet-up. I can’t not go. This week I was going to meet-up with fellow Weddingbee blogger Mrs Paisley, but she couldn’t make it. So, I tried to talk my co-worker into going again and she didn’t want to go… Didn’t want to go? It doesn’t compute. The trucks are there, you’re missing out! Anywhoodle, I went alone.

I knew the Seabirds truck was going to be there again and I wanted to try their Gluten Free (and soy free) Jerk Jackfruit Taco.

What is a Jackfruit? Don’t worry, I wondered the same thing. According to Seabirds' website:

"...jackfruit is a very large asian fruit. Its a funny looking thing, huge, prickly and green and grows from a tree’s trunk instead of its branches because it’s so heavy. Quite honestly, I have never tried a ripe jackfruit, so I couldn’t tell you what that tastes like. But we use green jackfruit (not fully ripened) and it is almost tasteless, which makes it a blank canvas to create our own flavor."

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Your probably wondering, so is it tasty? Yes, yes it is.


It almost had the consistency on chicken, but more plant like. Seabirds says, "flesh of the jackfruit closely resembles a pineapple in structure" and that really is the best way to describe it. However, it doesn’t taste anything like pineapple.

I really enjoyed these tacos and would totally recommend trying the Seabirds truck and the Jerk Jackfruit taco.

Another big reason I wanted to try the Seabirds truck is there philosophy. Seabirds’ is a completely organic and vegetarian truck. The produce they use is as local as they can find it. I love giving my business to a company with business practices I believe in. I wish more companies would make and effort to buy locally and organic.

Adventures in Dining Out: Whole Foods

Have a told you guys I’m back in school again? I think I did. But, did I tell you I have class 3 nights a week this session? I don’t think I did. I have class Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night. Meaning I have to lunch and dinner away from home those three nights, which was difficult enough when I could eat whatever I want. However, now that I’m not eating Gluten and other magical ingredients, it’s even more difficult… and costly.

Today I decided to try Whole Foods, there is one relatively close to my office and I figured they have prepared gluten free food, along with other goodies. I may be the last person to have never shopped at a Whole Foods. I’m not going to say I’ve never been to one, I have, but it was always for one thing. I’ve never gone and explored, you know? Plus, the closest Whole Foods is by my office, 30 minutes from my apt… get the idea.

I’m not going to go into everything I purchased. When I get a good list of Gluten Free products I’ve tried and like, I’ll do a post on those. This is about the delicious and reasonably priced pizza I bought for lunch AND dinner. YAY!

 
The pizza station in the food court type place made personal pizza’s with rice crust – SCORE! They also had a vegan soy-free cheese option, so I didn’t have to waste my one dairy or soy item for the week. I added also spinach and caramelized red onions.

Verdict: Really tasty! The crust was crisp and a little sweet. The “cheese” is surprisingly good, I bought a bag to take home. I ate half of this for lunch and I’m going to eat the other half in a few minutes before I head off to class. I could not be more excited about finding a cheese that is dairy free and soy free :)

Adventures in Dining Out: Crepes Bonaparte

This past Wednesday I headed over to the parking lot on the corner of Dupont and Teller for another Food Truck Brigade meet-up.

Wednesday was also the day I got my allergy test results back and I wasn’t quite sure if I was going to start my gluten free diet that day or not. Since I hadn’t eat yet, by the time lunch rolled around, I could start my new diet that day. However, I kinda wanted to cheat and start on Monday.

We walked around a checked out all the trucks that were there: Dan Dan BBQ, The Lime Truck, Barcelano On The Go, Dos Chinos, the same cupcake truck, a Chimichurri truck, and Crepes Bonaparte.


Crepes Bonaparte intrigued me the most and after I heard they made it pretty far on that Food Truck show (we don’t have cable so I never got to see it), I jumped on the bandwagon, so to speak, and hoped in line.

I felt a little guilty, but I figured I could start being Gluten Free on Thursday. That was until I read their menu…

I believe this was God’s was of saying, “Seriously Allison? Start today!” Sign taken, God. Thanks!

It wasn’t hard for me to decide what to order…


I’m on a serious Caprese salad kick right now and tomatoes are an “acceptable food”, YAY! Needless to say, I ordered the Caprese Savory Crepe. Gluten Free, of course.


They had a special: 1 Savory Crepe & 1 Nutella Crepe for $7.99, so I also ordered the Nutella Crepe in gluten free.


The problem with taking pictures of crepes is they are only mildly more exciting than a burrito. But tastier, if you ask me. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a crepe, but I really couldn’t tell they were gluten free.

My co-worker, Yolanda, and her husband also ordered from Crepes Bonaparte. Yolanda had the In Da Club (Bacon, Mozzarella, Avocado and tomato) without the tomato.


And her husband, Ruben, ordered the Southwestern Spice (Spicy Chipotle Chicken, Cheddar, Grilled Onion & Bell Pepper).


Yolanda wasn’t quite sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised and, Ruben could not stop raving about his crepe.

I’ve never had bad service as a Food Truck and found Crepes Bonaparte to be especially friendly.


I love that they had uniforms and dressed the part with the hats and scarf/ties.


Next week I’m meeting a fellow Weddingbee blogger, Mrs Paisley, and I secretly hope Crepes Bonaparte is there again :)

Adventures in Dining Out: The Lime Truck

This morning on Twitter one of the people I follow (OCMexFood) Tweeted about something I’d only read as a rumor…


Food Truck Brigade!?!? A couple months ago I saw something about a bunch of Food Trucks that met up in a parking lot near my office, but I thought it was just a one time thing. Guys, this is a WEEKLY occurrence. WEEKLY! Every Wednesday from 11:30-2!

I was able to talk my co-worker, Yolanda, into checking out today. She’d never eaten from a food truck and my only experience was with the delicious Kogi BBQ months ago. We were nervous we’d drive over there and no-one would be there or it’s be crazy like the time I met the Kogi BBQ truck.


There were a total of eight trucks there: Seabirds, The Lime Truck, Barcelona On The Go, Komodo, Calbi, Dan Dan BBQ, a cupcake truck, and 1 other truck I didn’t catch the name of.


The location is perfect, most trucks were all around an area of tree cover in the abandoned parking lot.


And a few others were lined up just outside the tree cover.

Yolanda and I decided to eat at The Lime Truck because the line was a bit longer (so it looked popular), in the shade, they accepted credit cards and the menu looked appealing.


Waiting in line we got to see everyone else walk away with their food. This made us even more hungry… meaning we ordered too much food when we got the front of the line.


Yolanda ordered the Pork Flat Iron Steak and I ordered the Lamb Sandwich… together we shared the Carnitas Fries.


Prime Pork Steak with maple apples on a mashed potato pancake: Smelled delicious and according to Yolanda tasted just as good as it smelled.


Carnitas Fries with chipotle-honey cabbage: They look out of control and they are. These definitely required a fork, but OMG chipotle-honey cabbage is tasty. The perfect blend on sweet and spicy.

Lamb Sandwich with fresh tzatziki – The lamb was ground and mixed with a wonderful blend of spices that cooled off well with the fresh tzatziki.

I’m really excited to head back next Wednesday and try out a different truck. I’ve heard Dan Dan BBQ has kimchi and I’ve always wanted to try that :)

P.S. All these photos were taken with my camera phone, so sorry if they're kinda crappy... really not much different than my normal pics though :-/

Adventures in Dining Out: The Oasis, Lake Travis, TX

If you have read already, this nest went to Texas last week. I hadn’t been in TX (except for flight layovers) since my family moved from Dallas to Laguna Niguel, CA when I was 7. There is a sense of pride Texans feel with their state that California just doesn’t share, and I could feel it the moment I got off the plane… it feels like the 4th of July to me. Now that I sound crazy lets move along to our dining experience on the beautiful Lake Travis.


When I told my mom we ended up in Texas, one place she recommended we go was The Oasis on Lake Travis. Hubs and I have been wanting to visit Austin for a couple months now, and The Oasis was a restaurant he found while researching the city, that he really wanted to see. With a recommendation from my Mom and promise of drinks on a patio, it wasn’t too hard to convince our traveling buddies to have lunch there on Friday afternoon.


The patios (yes there are WAY more than one) at The Oasis are, in my opinion, the only acceptable place to sit… I don’t care how hot it is outside. They are are all covered with these colorful umbrellas and a FANTASTIC view of Lake Travis!


Can I live here, PLEASE?

When we sat down our waiter was quick to bring out ice waters for all of us, along with fresh chips and salsa. It wasn’t the hottest day of our trip, but it was certainly hot outside and the water was definitely necessary.

Hubs and I own 1, yes ONE, plastic cup, so I was excited to discover we could keep could take these home. Plastic pool cup and Texas souvenir – Awesome!

For lunch 3 out of 4 of us went Tex-Mex. Jeremiah ordered the Oasis Super Burger…




According to Jer, queso on a burger or fries is only way to eat. The only draw back to queso poured on your burger is how slippery everything gets.

Tiffany ordered the Combo plate… I love how the “guacamole salad” is the standard shredded lettuce with tomatoes under guacamole you get at almost every Mexican restaurant in CA.

The enchilada sauce with Tex-Mex is different than the kind we get in CA. Like above with Tiff’s enchiladas and below with Hub’s Cheese Enchiladas, is the red chili sauce that is standard at home.



One the menu the Tex-Mex chili sauce was an option, which is lighter in color and has ground beef in it. This may sound like a dis, but it reminds me of Taco Bell’s been burrito sauce… which I find tasty, so it’s a good thing.

I ordered the Crawfish Enchiladas because really, where else am I’m going to get Crawfish Enchiladas?


Mmmmm, just looking at that sauce is making my mouth water. (I need to stop writing these posts right before I eat).

The food was good, but collectively I’d have to say our favorite thing was the Sangrita – Margarita with Sangria. Om nom nom!


Perfect on a hot day over looking the lake :)

Have you tried Tex-Mex and California (Baja) Mexican before? Which do you prefer?