Build-your-own fast casual restaurants have easily elbowed their way into our lives, meeting the needs of people who want to love what they decide to spend money on and not waste time. It isn't a surprise that pizza, one of America's favorite types of food, dominates this trend with several chains around giving guests the ability to top their own round of pie. Pizza:90 in Irvine and Riverside takes the concept a little further by employing the strength of a 900° oven to blast your pizza choice from just-layered to done in 90 seconds. We were invited in for a few slices and to check out what made this one stand out from other restaurants.


Pizza:90 first piqued my curiosity because of their ingredients. Though it is a fast casual concept that has guests coming in and out rapidly, they don't skimp on quality of the ingredients they have decided to use. Considering the price point, the restaurant gives diners a bang for their buck. Dough is mixed together daily in a tasty amalgam of extra-virgin olive oil, water, yeast, and 00 flour, the finest flour around. These batches are proofed for 13 hours before being worked with. I got to play with a little round of it myself, and the pliant dough had an exciting springiness to it as I worked out my week's stress playing with the thing. Just a tip if you're bringing kids here - you might be able to keep them distracted by getting a small portion for them to play with!

The dough is obviously cared for which is something you want as your base and food delivery vehicle. For just $8.99, you can "make it your way" by picking how you want your pizza to build whether it use San Marzano tomato sauce, fior-di-latte Mozzarella, or nutless pesto sauce for the base (red, white, and green pizzas, respectively). Next up, add your vegetables from their numerous choices including the likes of hot Calabria peppers, cherry tomatoes, jalapenos, artichokes, mushrooms, and more. Proteins span the gamut of anchovies to ground beef to pepperoni but what really interested us were the selections of Italian favorites as well such as pancetta, guanciale, and bresaola. It's obvious they care about bringing in true Italian products here. Cheese options include smoked Mozzarella, mozzarella di bufala (+$2), Pecorino, and even a housemade Kalamata olive goat cheese.

Once you've made all your choices, round it all out with some draft craft beers, wine, or imported Italian soft drinks. Personally, I needed to sip myself some blood orange goodness so the imported soda was my choice, and it was tasty.


Now, if you aren't up for making your own pizza, you can choose from their recommended combinations which is what we did. We tried the Four Cheese ($8.99 - fior-di-latte Mozzerealla, Fontina, shaved Parmigiano Reggiano, Blue cheese crumble), a thick pizza with plenty of umami loaded on top. The Carnivora ($8.99 - crushed San Marzano tomato sauce, fior-di-latte Mozzarella, Italian sausage, Soppressata salami, Genoa salami, guanciale, italian ham, Pecorino Romano) represented its name well but the entire smothering of the dough with meats did cause the pizza to get soggy. Because Neapolitan pizza is typically made thin, such heartiness can prove a problem; however, it is definitely made to satisfy the meat lover.

I personally enjoyed the lighter pizzas we got to try out: The Queen ($8.99 - crushed San Marzano tomato sauce, fior-di-latte Mozzerella, proscuitto di Parma, arugula, shaved Parmigiano Reggiano) and Pesto Geno ($8.99 - basil pesto sauce, fior-di-latte Mozzarella, proscuitto di Parma, shaved parmegiano reggiano, balsamic glaze), both of which were quite similar overall but with different bases. The Queen was my favorite as it was loaded with the fresh pepperiness of arugula and salty, savoriness of prosciutto. The crust was spot-on for this one, and the lack of heavy sauce kept it crunchy. The Pasta Geno garnered just about the same feedback in regards to its ingredients but the lack of red sauce made for an interesting substitute via pesto. We really enjoyed that part though the glaze made it a tad sweeter than preferred.


Pizza:90 also carries other food items. We tried their  Meatballs ($3.99) which were quite lovely and a delightfully umami-laden start to our meal. I also tasted the The Market salad ($5.99/$8.99 - baby spring mix, pear, apple, Blue cheese, toasted walnuts, and honey champagne dressing) which was surprisingly very filling and balanced well. It would have been even greater had adding chicken been an option and subsequently added - I'd definitely eat that for a lunch! They had other salads such as Caesar, Caprese, and a make your own option but the "The Market" one was the heftiest of the group.

To finish the meal, we bit our teeth into Pizza:90's S'mores Calzone ($5.45), wedges of pizza dough folded over and filled with Nutella, cookie butter, marshmallows, and more. These were delighfully satisfying "end of the day" bites without a doubt. If you are searching for other types of desserts, try their imported cannolis or tiramisu.


The Orange County restaurant location for Pizza:90 is in Irvine - find them at 5365 Alton Parkway, Suite 1, Irvine, CA 92604 and get your pizza pie in seconds! Another location resides in Riverside so you can be sure you can get it while traveling in that direction.

Photography by Duc Duong. More photos available on Facebook here.

Long Beach, Long Beach, Long Beach - you are a treasure chest of restaurants, plenty of which are in close proximity to another, making it difficult to decide on where to go when a nearby sign so temptingly calls out with, "Amazing food here!" That being the case, we've visited The Federal Bar several times before, starting in 2013, because it's guaranteed to be a fun time from the old bank and era decor to the craft beers to the hearty, satisfying food. However, with so many other joints popping up in Orange County over the years, it's been a while since our last visit so we jumped on the opportunity to see what's new on their lunch menu when an invitation came.


I wanted to take a peek at what they had in the realm of salads since that's usually what I crave for lunch. Of all the dishes we tasted, the Fried Brussels Salad ($11 - spinach, blackened shallots, roasted spiced pears, goat cheese, toasted almonds, and balsamic reduction) ended up being Duc's favorite as every component satisfied every bit of what he deems a solid plate. We really enjoyed the textural juxtaposition of wilted and crisp spinach as certain leaves were subject to the warmth of roasted Brussels sprouts and balsamic dressing. When it came to flavors, the dish played well by gliding from comforting sweet pears to fresh goat cheese to savory nuttiness to crunchy raw greens. With all of its components, this salad could definitely stand on its own for a full-blown meal.

If you'd rather lighten up during lunch but still grab a salad, perhaps their Feta Chicken Salad ($15 - romaine, chickpeas, cranberries, olives, Roma tomato, cucumber, red onion, Feta, and oregano lemon vinaigrette with naan) would fit your fancy. Think "chopped salad" in style but with extra sweetness via cranberries and saltiness from the cheese. We found the chicken to be a tad over-seasoned here which was slightly distracting from the rest of the ingredients; however, it was still a solid dish to dig your fork into.


If not salad, sandwiches and burgers are the other common go-tos during lunchtime, and The Federal Bar does a great job of nailing down what makes classics classics before throwing in their own flair to elevate the meal. One bite of the Turkey Club ($12 - smoked turkey, pepper bacon, spinach, tomato, mayo, and mustard served with house salad OR kettle chips; add $2 to substitute for fries) made us appreciatively nod at each other at a well-made sandwich. Stacked tall and proud, each half was bounteous in its ingredients and bold in flavor. We especially enjoyed the thick slabs of pepper bacon that added the right amount of saltiness and fattiness to the sandwich.

The other plate that deserves a nod is a burger done well - The Federal ($13 - garlic chips, smoked Cheddar, Bibb lettuce, black peppercorn aioli, and balsamic onion on a milk bun). It is smoky and very savory but also oozes with craveworthy, unctuous cheese and aioli. This bad boy comes served with a choice of house salad, house fries, or kettle chips but the choice is clear: if you're going to indulge, indulge. The crunchy, garlickly fries are a fantastic accompaniment to the heft of their burger.


The lunch menu at The Federal Bar is not shy of appetizers however. When you're out and need something shareable with your group, you might want to take a pick at the Short Rib Poutine ($15 - house fries, short rib, gravy, Mozzarella, and scallions; add a free-range egg for $2 more). It's nearly over-the-top to be honest but that's why it's not your full meal. Pull your fry away from all of the cheesiness and delve into the rich, smoky short rib that generously tops the whole dish. It certainly is not for the faint of heart, and we had a hard time working on it ourselves. Worth it though? You definitely need to love cheese and fries. Wait, who doesn't?

Look for The Federal Bar at 102 Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802 and let us know what you think!

Photography by Duc Duong. More photos available on Facebook here.

If you have lived in Orange County any number of years, you might be familiar with Benjies Deli which has been established in the Tustin/Santa Ana area since 1967 and is still family-run/owned to this day. The New York style deli now operated by Lloyd and Noriko Weinstein is known for traditional deli dishes such as their matzo ball soup, pastrami, latkes, triple-decker sandwiches and more. It also has been home to an bar/lounge called The Bamboo Lounge for a number of years but while the charm of an old-school New York style deli and restaurant can sustain itself through nostalgic romanticism alone, the needs and wants of weekly bar visitors will change over time. Enter Avenue K, the newly revamped bar at Benjies which pays homage to the restaurant's origins while keeping a fresh look.


Benjies' founder Stan Weinstein was born and raised in Brooklyn where he lived in an apartment on Avenue K, the same street where current owner Lloyd Weinstein grew up. As a nod to that origin and to modernize the New York feel, the bar has adopted this theme and proudly shows off old photos on the walls of the Brooklyn neighborhood.


We visited Avenue K during a friends and family pre-grand opening evening to see the renovations. The family had really pulled together (Lloyd's sister, Alisa, is now the general manager at Benjies and Avenue K) to give the previous Bamboo Lounge a facelift through their own manual work. Save for a few pieces of furniture, the remodel was done by hand by the Weinsteins themselves including the wood paneling on the walls and the arrangement of key pieces of furniture. They mounted monitors, installed lights, and much more in the weeks it took to redo the bar but that dedication really shone through in the fresh look of everything juxtaposed to the era-driven deli section. We could see it being a great change to the legacy of the restaurant and one that will welcome more people to understand what Benjies is all about.


If alcohol is on your mind after all of this backstory, fret not. Avenue K certainly carries some great drinks and satisfying bar food. We were especially fond of the Reuben Fritters ($7), delicious fried balls of pastrami and cheese. In fact, their bar menu has an emphasis on pastrami and seeing as that is one of their shining stars at the restaurant, we'd recommend you get in on those menu items (pastrami sliders, anyone?). For drinks, you can find yourself looking down the glass at a specialty cocktail or cheers-ing pints of local craft beers. Avenue K also has its own proprietary beer called "Avenue K" with a custom tap handle. Give it a try; it's a red ale brewed by Backstreet Brewery in Orange County that makes for easy drinking.

Find Avenue K in Benjies Deli located at 1828 N. Tustin Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92705 and let us know what you think. A big congratulations goes out to the Weinsteins for their renovations and their soon-to-come 50th anniversary!

Photography by Duc Duong. More photos available on Facebook here.

Brace yourselves for another warm summer in southern California, and head towards the beautiful Laguna Beach for a mixture of food and sunny fun. The beaches are already bustling these days as people flock to the sand, with many opting to stay ocean-side at one of multiple resorts in the area. Surf and Sand Resort is definitely experiencing their busy season now, and with a full-fledged bright summer menu, their resident restaurant, Splashes, is hustling under the direction of Executive Chef Ron Fougeray who brings creative combinations to the table. I got to take a few bites from the season's menu which highlights the great seafood we can get here in Orange County and pairs well with a glorious beach view.

People swinging over to Orange County from the east coast might have missed seeing delis commonly around but they could just look over to Tustin and Anaheim for a taste of that at Bronx Sandwich Company which attempts the style with a little bit of California influence. The menu emphasizes their hot pastrami and other typical New York deli fare, and they piled the Dietz & Watson deli ingredients on high between deliciously crusty-yet-fluffy bread by OC Baking Company. It seems like their communities have really taken to them as well, providing quality hefty sandwiches for lunch and dinner with some new breakfast selections offered too. We were invited in for lunch one day to check out all of the tastiness they had to offer.

Orange County loves its alcohol. I don't say this in any demeaning way; no, I just say it plainly because we do. We love it to the point that purists exist and often tout their expertise (or haughtiness?) to whomever will listen, mixologists run amok with creative disasters and miracles, classic cocktails done right are highly sought after, and sourcing can be a main focus for some restaurants. When Cafe Gratitude of Los Angeles decided to branch out and install an Orange County location, Gratitude, in Newport Beach, they knew our love and employed the innovative and enthusiastic mind of Beverage Director Jason Eisner to cultivate and grow that love even more. We got the chance to hear about the guiding factors for the bar program from Jason himself as well as went behind the bar to make an interesting cocktail with bartender Isle Anderson.

It seems that south county is starting to gain some traction these days as more restaurants are cropping up with stellar food. The team that brought Orange County the wonders of Vine in San Clemente opened doors to Ironwood on May 9th in Laguna Hills, featuring New American cuisine with highlights on seasonality and quality. The choice in name can tell you a little bit about what the owners value as they got "Ironwood" from the tree itself which is known for hardiness and being used for many culinary tools' handles. To honor this, the restaurant have put up two ironwood trees at the entrance to welcome diners to the new space. I got a look at the place just about a month after opening which has already proved to the owners that the community really needed them in that area.

Last year's 50th anniversary celebration at Five Crowns in Corona del Mar did not just end on December 31st. Interior and exterior renovations were part of the process and continued into 2016 for several months before finally unveiling themselves in whole recently. The project was a large collaboration by several well-known southern California businesses such as Hatch Design Group, YYES Design Studio, Robertson Hill Architecture, and Roger's Garden, and all of the work truly paid off in both maintaining the heritage of Five Crowns while updating everything to be contemporary. The renovations also included the addition of a new bar - Cooper's Bar in the Greenhouse - where a craft cocktail program lives. Not only has the restaurant itself gone through changes but the menu has also been scrutinized and improved upon.

The phrase itself seems so whimsically fun that you want to learn more. I had heard about Lark Artisan Market a few months ago but couldn't join them for their pop-up dinner then. Luckily, there was opportunity to attend Lark #19 by their invitation, and I was glad to have been a part. Lark Artisan Market itself is a pop-up concept that hosts dinner events with a featured chef at a featured location. It migrates from place to place because of this, and every single one of them is geared towards fostering a sense of community through active conversation, beautiful design and lifestyle, mindful food, and local thoughtfulness by supporting artisans and creators. This evening featured Chef Kyle Powers of Fork in the Road Catering and Tolosa Wines in a four-course wine pairing menu that had my mouth watering just from reading it online. By the way, the more you read, the more you might be tempted to join them on the next one!

What would you do if you had 25 acres of land to use in Orange County? Would you build up some houses and start diving into real estate? Would you start farming livestock and tending to the earth-planted crops you started? You could make quite the contribution to the local agriculture and community by doing so.

However, if you were really innovative, you could think outside of the box and do what the pioneering Chef Adam Navidi did. He built up Future Foods Farms in Brea as one of the largest aquaponic operations in the entire state. Though the produce harvested from the farm's greenhouses is used for commercial purposes in restaurants and catering, the intent behind this system of growing food is not for profit. Rather, Navidi is rapidly growing these organic crops using methods he has developed with the goal of helping make agriculture more sustainable and ubiquitous to the world. He wants to help fight hunger all over. We had to learn more about how his systems work towards that goal of eliminating starvation.

I can't deny it; I have a tea problem. Whenever I travel, I seek out loose leaf tea stores and buy a few varieties. Unless there is a particular leaf I want, I check out the unique blends each spot has put together just to understand their style. Despite being unable to leave my fascination of tea, I have yet to enjoy an afternoon tea service outside of my single experience in DC a few years ago. Therefore, when I learned that American Tea Room in Newport Beach was introducing their afternoon "Tea Service" a few weeks back, I was immediately interested. This program is a result of collaboration with Valerie Confections and presented on custom boards from The Wooden Palate. We were invited in one afternoon to give them a try, and there was certainly quite the spread.

2115 Holly Street, Austin, TX 78702 (Neighborhood: Holly)
Pricing - $$ | Dining - Casual, Dressy Casual | Cuisine - New American
www.launderetteaustin.com

We immediately agreed the moment we saw Launderette from the street - the only word to properly describe the place was "adorable." The classic old-timey diner feel permeated from the entrance through the entire interior and even in the mannerisms of the staff there. I got first wind of the restaurant from the rave reviews online for its food and environment but upon seeing their website and their online menu, I knew it was a must-visit for our Austin trip. Good thing we committed too; it ended up being our favorite meal there! Expect a lovely atmosphere and even lovelier food when you arrive.

Has it already been five years since the first Stacked restaurant opened in southern California to the joy of many? Congratulations to the regional brand which has found success in five different locations now! A full-service restaurant that focuses on putting choice into customers' hands, Stacked operates in a manner that suits the modern casual diner. Orders are plugged in by the customers themselves via iPad, and every single item can be customized based on one's taste buds. We were invited to check out Huntington Beach's outpost (which we had previously visited for a spring specials tasting) and the menu offered there. Need a casual spot for a large group of friends with varying food preferences? Stacked could be it for you.

217 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701 (Neighborhood: Downtown)
Pricing - $$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - BBQ
www.coopersbbqaustin.com

If you go to Texas, don't even try to get a consensus from the community there of where the best BBQ joint is. You'll get so many variations of suggestions that it will be overwhelming. What you want to know before you go down that rabbit hole is the style of BBQ you like because America has a wide range of barbecuing styles that hit on whichever flavor profile you can think of and Texas loves its barbecue. On our trip in Austin, we asked my cousin for his recommendations specifically based on our own preference for North Carolinian BBQ and its vinegar base. Immediately he pointed us in the direction of Cooper's, and we were quite glad we went!