Great Taste Magazine

by Lachelle Brown Nov/Dec 2008 Issue

For the past 16 years, Shannon K. Jones has been and continues to be, the ringing heartbeat of the well-known Scott’s Seafood Restaurant. From restaurant server to now awarded, General Manager, Shannon is nothing less than spectacular! “I really feel like I’ve grown up here, that it is my home.” With her naturally warm and welcoming demeanor, Shannon expresses her love for Scott’s and for the industry. Strongly supported by the owners, past management and fellow staff members, Shannon explored her interests and developed her natural place within the Scott’s family; “It was fun and it was new. I got to build it and take different avenues,” describing her once role in Guest Relations, promoting and expanding Scott’s with neighboring restaurants, hotels, convention centers, and most importantly, the restaurant’s clientele.

Hearing of her life philosophy, it is not hard to see why and how Shannon came to create the success Read more »

Doris Kwon of Newport Coast tasted victory when she won the Z’Tejas Charity Dessert Contest with her Bittersweet Chocolate Chile Créme de Pot, which reigned supreme over more than 20 other entries! The contest was a part of the Z’Tejas 3-week annual Chile Fest, Read more »

Thursday, October 23rd, STRIKE celebrated its’ Nationwide 70th Birthday Fiesta! Guests enjoyed hours of delightful cocktails, cuisine, and of course, bowling. Located in famous NY, Bowlmor Lanes has been making it’s mark since 1938; hosting countless professional bowling competitions, world leaders, celebrities, and rock stars. In 1997, Tom Shannon, took Bowlmor Lanes in to a new direction–creating a new style, new look, new feel, and new form of entertainment to the sport of bowling, crossing together fun with flare. Read more »

(Newport Beach, CA October 21, 2008) In a surprise upset, the winner of Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar’s Culinary Competition was the youngest and least experienced of the six culinary student finalists. Kevin Bui, 19, of Cypress and a freshman in Cypress College’s Hotel Restaurant Culinary Arts program, walked off the with the $5,000 first prize.In second place winning $3,000 was Corona del Mar resident Patrick DiGiacomo, 53, a student at Laguna Culinary Arts. Caitlin Knoop, 20, of San Clemente and enrolled in Orange Coast College’s Culinary Arts program, came in third, winning $2,000. Read more »

-Chef Jason Pena has departed Specialty Restaurant Group and has taken the reigns at Waterfalls at the Atrium Hotel.

-Chef Thomas Ryan has relocated. He resigned his position with Pelican Grill and has taken over the helm Read more »

School is now in session! With children, teenagers, and young adults all sounding to the sound of the bell, both students and parents are running rampant, squeezing in more then the day’s hours allow. What suffers greatly? Our bodies, of course. To help pamper our health in ways that fit our wildly active life styles, Great Taste looked to helpful information to know and ways to help…

Released within the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans by the federal government, a healthy diet is listed in detail. Of course, the guidelines call for eating more fruits and vegetables (two and a half cups of veggies and two cups of fruit for people on a 2,000-calorie-a-day-diet)  to help fuel the system while maintaining a healthy balance. More suggestions called to the table are entree salads, vegetarian entrees, fruit and vegetable side dishes that you can create at home as well as order when dining out. Read more »

Newport Beach-based Culinary Adventures - operator of numerous chic restaurants throughout Southern California - has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing drastic downturns in revenue. Wilhelm’s Chop House (formerly French 75) closed Thursday at the Marketplace in Irvine, and the company is set to close two other eateries in Los Angeles. Read more »

Since 1981, Wine Spectator magazine has been recognizing restaurants around the world with their Restaurant Award program. 2008’s winners have recently been announced, and not surprisingly, there are a wealth of local eateries that have received rewards! The highly regarded wine magazine awards chosen restaurants with one of three designations. The Award of Excellence is given to establishments that offer a well-chosen selection of quality producers, along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. Read more »

Yard House Restaurants recently launched the first Yard House Bar & Grill, a new concept from the group, in Chino Hills.  Steele Platt, Founder and CEO of Yard House Restaurants, took the time to answer the following questions from Great Taste about the exciting new venture. Read on to learn all about the process of creating and launching Yard House Bar & Grill! 

What sparked the idea to develop a ”neighborhood” Yard House?
There are smaller markets that cannot support a 10,000-14,000 square foot Yard House - so a smaller size Yard House was envisioned to give the establishment more of a neighborhood feel. A minimum size ended up being 6,300 square feet, which kept all of the essential Yard House components intact; the 360˚ bar, the keg room, oversized booths, our display kitchen, and the patio. We also wanted a Yard House that would be the same each time we built it - a Yard House Bar & Grill is designed to be build strictly on pad sites, and not inline spaces like the original Yard House. It is positioned to be the upscale casual choice over Chili’s, Friday’s and Outback in the casual dining segment.

How long has this new concept been in the works?
The concept began developing approximately four years ago.

Has the financial/economic state of the country influenced any decisions made about the new restaurant, either in the initial or the evolving development? Read more »

By Chef Gabriel Caliendo, CEC

I remember rolling around late at night, thinking about whether I had asked for 220 volt outlets for our large mixer and Robot Coupe, or if there should be a fryer next to the grill, making it easier for the fries to get to the burgers, or if I would need two cooks to work any particular station. It’s not really where things started, but it is my hazy reality of the months before we opened the doors at the first Lazy Dog Cafe. While creating a menu, scheduling labor and designing a kitchen can be fairly easy to accomplish in an existing restaurant, bringing a menu to life, training cooks to perform and execute willingly and placing three dimensional pieces of equipment in just the right places are very difficult to do from a sheet of paper (especially those sketched out on bed stands in the middle of the night). Read more »

There is an Orange County Restaurant Association in the formation stage and we want to know what you think about that. Please click comment at the bottom of this posting and answer the following questions or, leave any comments you wish. If you want to remain anonymous just let us know. Read more »

Pop Quiz: When was the last time you drank water from a sealed, plastic bottle? It wouldn’t be surprising if you were doing so right this very second while reading this page. Now, when was the last time you enjoyed a refreshing glass of water from the tap of your kitchen sink?

Isn’t it strange that something so accessible, easy to use and practically free has become virtually outdated? Read more »