Cafe Grill, Fountain Valley CA

I found out about Café Grill because the food critics from OC Register raved about it and wanted to try it for myself.  I have to say that my feelings are a little more mixed than I like them to be.  Don’t let the scrumptious looking pictures fool you, there were some really high points and are worth checking out and then were some dishes that had great potential but fell short.

  

Butternut squash ravioli:  It does not help that this was served first because this set the bar high.  You can just tell the the ravioli was assembled that day simply because the ravioli did not look perfect and that the squash and the ravioli itself tasted so fresh.  It comes topped with a balsamic sauce, chives and tarragon and everything went together so well.

Potato pancakes:  Unfortunately this was one of those that fell flat.  I don’t know if it was because I was there at 2 in the afternoon and was getting the last of the servings, but that shouldn’t be an excuse.  You could tell that these were not freshly fried and had been sitting under a warmer.  You know that dry potato texture you get when fries have been sitting out a little too long.  Yeah, kind of like that.  Plus I found the flavor lacking, I had to add quite a bit of salt.

Wild Boar Sausage sandwich:  Back to our high point, this also contained grilled onions and whole grain mustard.  Everything about this sandwich was very good and especially the sausage itself packed so much flavor with a perfect amount of grilled char to go with it.  Unfortunately this was not my lunch so I only had a couple, but man I wished I had ordered this.

  

Parsnip Soup:  I found this interesting because I’ve never had parsnip before and have nothing to compare it to.  I would not rate this bad, just interesting.  The best way I can describe it is a cross between and turnip and a potato soup.

Chicken and Brie sandwich: I don’t have brie often on a sandwich but I liked how it went with the chicken and plus it was nice to have a sandwich with a cheese I’m not used to having on there.  Unfortunately the chicken was bland and lacking in flavor once again.  If it would have had more seasoning, even maybe a splash of lemon, I would have liked this more.  Plus the mayo was very stingy.  Being generous on the mayo could have helped this out too.

Chocolate Profiteroles: Basically cream puffs covered in chocolate sauce.  I’m so glad I ordered this because this did help make up for other blahs.  It seemed like the chocolate sauce was a dark chocolate because it had that slight bitterness, which was great because I love dark chocolate.  I think it was good to make the chocolate dark because the sweetness of the cream needed to be contrasted with that tiny bit of bitterness from the chocolate.  Whatever the chef did here, did an excellent job.  If there weren’t other people in the restaurant, I would have gladly licked the sauce off the plate.

Rating: 3.5/5 Forks

Cost: $$, about $20-25 per person.

I would have rated this place higher had I happen to only ordered the things that were great.  However, I did have to rate it lower than I would have liked to because it’s always a goal of mine to try a new place and sample as many dishes as possible, which was what I did.  As I said, the high points were very high but unfortunately 2/5 dishes fell short which made me bring the score down.  The dishes that were done well are worth checking out.

Dining In with Dessert First: Hawaiian Bread Pudding

So what do you do when you’ve bought a Costco pack of King’s Hawaiian rolls and realized you actually don’t need 100 rolls for your ham sandwiches and are in the process of turning rock hard… bread pudding!


8-10 stale Hawaiian rolls
2 tablespoons melted butter
3 eggs beaten
1 1/4 cup vanilla soy milk
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon: cinnamon and vanilla extract
Pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Break Hawaiian rolls in to pieces into a loaf pan.  Drizzle melted butter over bread and sprinkle chocolate chips.  Mix eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg in a bowl and beat well until sugar dissolves.  Pour egg mixture over bread and allow to soak for a few minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.
ENJOY

Slaters 50/50, Anaheim Hills CA

Now what does the 50/50 stand for in Slater’s 50/50 you ask?  Why I’ll tell you. It’s burger patties that are 50% ground beef and 50% ground bacon.  You heard me, 50% BACON!  You might say, now that’s just wrong, but that’s what makes it even more exciting.  Come prepared with an appetite, because you will definitely need it.  You can order burgers here two ways, either try one of their signature burgers or create your own off of the “design it” menu.  The Design it menu consists of seven different burger patties, including veggie and turkey, in three sizes and your choice of over 60 different toppings.  Unfortunately we didn’t go for appetizers as we knew that we wouldn’t be able to handle it if we weren’t starving.  This visit, we went the signature route and wanted try what they are known for first.

This is the Flamin’ Hot burger with a spicy beef patty, pepper jack cheese, fried onion strings, chipotle mayo, and a roasted green chili.  The burger is a 50/50 patty at 2/3 lbs AFTER cooking.  I personally, can tolerate it if more heat were added, but it still has a kick that even the more capsaicin (the active ingredient in peppers) sensitive ones can handle.  I really love the flavor the roasted green chili adds, because it made the burger feel more organic, although it probably isn’t.  Quite frankly I don’t know why I haven’t seen more burger places add roasted chilies on their burgers but they should.

The burger that Slater’s is best known for besides the 50/50 patty itself, the peanut butter and jelly burger on a  1/3 lb. 50/50 patty topped with bacon.  Oh yes my friend, you read this right.  I was so happy I did my internet research because it paid off.  As odd as it sounds, the salty and sweet flavors are very complimentary.  The salty and sweet comes from the the bacon and jelly obviously, and the rich and creaminess of the peanut butter help bring everything together.  The two boys sitting with me thought I was crazy when I ordered this but I assure you, I converted them into believers.  My only regret is that I didn’t order this with a glass of milk. 

Rating: 5/5 Napkins

Budget: $-$$, Can be as inexpensive as under $10 if you just stick to a burger, and believe me you’ll be satisfied, to up to $20 if you get appetizers and/or how complex you want your “design it” burger to be.

www.slaters5050.com

Boiling Crab, Garden Grove CA

First, to the person who introduced me to possibly the death of me, thanks JO JO! :)   Dedicated to shellfish ranging from oysters, crab, craw fish, and lobster, I’ve had a loved one willing to risk his shellfish allergies for the sake of awesomeness.  Not that I’m saying you should do it if you’re risking anaphylactic shock, but you would be dying in the best seasonings butter can hold.  The way it works is that you have your choices of shellfish, then you select your seasonings: Rajun Cajun, lemon pepper, garlic butter, or the whole She-Bang (a combination of all three).  Then you select your degree of spiciness.  For first timers, go with mild because it does pack a good sized kick. Lastly, do yourself a favor and and just order the whole She-bang.  After you’ve ordered, they throw everything in a bag and serve it to you just like that, and you eat right out of the bag.  Your table cloth is butcher paper and you’ll get a bib.  Your only utensils are your hands and a crab cracker.  So get down and dirty and don’t get a manicure until after.

Here is the fried shrimp and cajun fries basket.  Everything was seasoned well  and the shrimp was not overdone and chewy at all.  It does the job, but this is not what you came for.

Now we’re talking, king crab legs!  Cooked perfectly and even better when you take out the meat and throw back into the whole She-bang.  I can hardly describe how flavorful the whole She-bang butter sauce is.  You really taste all the different seasonings and I love that they throw in big chunks of garlic because the garlic  absorbs all that flavor.  I could even eat the garlic by itself.

A pound of shrimp with an order of corn and red potatoes.  Yes, you will have to work for your food but the rewards make it worth it.  I recommend de-shelling at least half of your shrimp first and then throwing it back in the sauce so it intensifies the flavor.  Also, the great thing about the corn and potatoes is that the sauce and the seasonings get in every nook and cranny, making the veggies just as addicting as the meat.
Rating: 5/5 Lipitors
Budget: $$, probably spending about $20-30 per person.
Tips:  1) Don’t wear your pristine clothes and have a Tide Pen ready.  If you don’t realize until hours later that you’re full of butter spots, get Soil Love from Stater Bros. as a pre-treatment before you throw it the washer.
2) Take your left over sauce home and smother it on veggies, especially mashed potatoes.
3) Be prepared, your bowels are probably not used to this much grease and butter.  I’ll let you figure out the rest.  But I’ve never let anything like that deter me as long as I’m not suffering the symptoms of dehydration :)

Dining In: Dinner is served with sauce

Unfortunately, loving food is not always economical.  Also, my skills as a chef at home are not very complex and quite frankly it’s difficult to take the time to cook dinner.  So after some experimenting and searching on the internet, I have a few dinner suggestions that help the wallet and the clock.  I didn’t intend for everything to have sauce on top but it just happened that way.

 

Peppercorn Steak sauce: comes in a dried mix packet and can be found in most grocery stores.  All you have to do is season any steak with salt and pepper, then cook to your preference and pour the sauce on top.  Here, I used rib eye cooked medium.  The sauce is thick in consistency and is nice and rich from the butter you add.  It’s a nice change from regular steak sauce, not that I mind steak sauce at all but its good if you want to mix it up.  It’s also great over potatoes.

 
In a separate meal, I roasted yams and red onion inspired by “Roasted Vegetables” recipe by Saundra on allrecipes.com.  The original has more veggies that you can use but I stuck with two because that’s all that I had on hand at home.  I peeled and cubed one large yam and sliced up one red onion.  The sauce is 1/4 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons balsamic, 1/2 tablespoon of dried thyme and 1 tablespoon dried rosemary.  Pour the sauce over the veggies in a mixing bowl and mix by hand.  The lay the veggies over a baking sheet and bake for about 30 mins or until fork tender in 475 degrees.  Lastly, salt and pepper to taste. 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Roasted-Vegetables/Detail.aspx

For my main, I used McCormick’s Garlic, Herb and Wine marinate on chicken.  Like the peppercorn sauce, it comes in a dried mix packet.  After you mix up the marinade, I put aside a couple tablespoons so that I can top the chicken with a little extra.  The directions calls for the meat to marinade for only 15 mins, but I did it for two hours to give the chicken more flavor.  This marinate has a lot of great flavor and you can really taste the wine component even though it was dehydrated at one point.
Tip: sear both sides of the chicken on high heat for three minutes each and then bake in the oven at 350 degrees until it reaches an internal temp of 170.


This is one my favorite dinners to make at home, “Heavenly Halibut” by chellebell on allrecipes.com. I have made this at least a dozen times, I actually don’t cook that often, so for me that is a lot.  The sauce is a mayo, parmesan cheese, green onion sauce that goes over the halibut.  The mayo gives it its creamy richness and the parmesan gives the cheesy salty bite.   The only tip I have is to double the recipe so that you have plenty of extra for broccoli, which goes perfectly.  I’ve also tried the sauce on carrots.  Let me spare you the time by saying don’t do it!  With the broccoli, first I steam it, then season it with salt and pepper.  Then I place the broccoli under the broiler and pour the sauce on top so that it melts.  I really do think you can make a broccoli gratin with the same sauce, although I haven’t tried it yet.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Heavenly-Halibut/Detail.aspx

President Thai – Pasadena, CA

I love it when I see a great place like being called family owned.  The menu itself features many of the typical Thai and Asian influenced dishes, but there is something about this place makes the food stand out.  I have no idea what it is, but I bet it has to do with love.  Come here with a group of friends because their portions family style.  And make sure you don’t have a three hour comedy show while its 90 degrees at night afterwards, otherwise you’ll be scrambling to find a Target so you can buy a cooler.  Also, make sure they are willing to give you ice from their soda dispenser, so that you don’t let your $30 worth of leftovers spoil.

Calamari with a sesame plum sauce – I love that the breading was extra crispy and had sesame seeds actually in it.  Definitely one of the better calamari dishes I’ve had.  The sauce just really makes it better because you don’t see calamari served with plum sauce much,  it’s usually marinara or sweet and sour sauce. 

 

Stuffed chicken wings – Chicken wings stuffed with noodles, cabbage, mushrooms, and other veggies.  The panko breading was also so good and deep fried to a perfect golden brown.  However I did have issues with the chicken skin because it was chewy and seemed wrong just to attempt to eat.  I was hoping that the skin would crisp up even a little since the whole thing is deep fried.  But aside from that, the chicken itself, the stuffing and the breading were great.  Just separate the skin and you’ll be fine.

Crab fried rice – This dish was ALMOST there.  No issues with all the ingredients such as the eggs, bean sprouts, crab, and other vegetables.  The problem is that the rice itself was on the dry side.  However I was able to fix that by adding their house cilantro sauce, as you will see in the next entrée. The whole rice dish became pretty fantastic I was able to see what the hype was about.  I would say it was probably even better with the cilantro sauce.

Charbroiled beef – Now here is where is starts to get legendary.  The beef has got to be marinated in a soy sauce vinegar marinade because it was so flavorful and the beef was cooked perfectly.  Not at all over done or dry.  The cilantro sauce was even great with it, but quite honestly the meat was also great on its own.

Pad thai – You can’t go to a Thai place and not order pad thai.  I didn’t find any ingredients out of the ordinary, but this is the best pad thai I’ve had to date.  The sauce has to have some sort of special ingredient that only family knows because it tastes just a tad sweeter than most, but its that tiny extra sweetness that makes it perfect.

 

Pad see ew – With beef and broccoli, I felt same here too.  Just by looking at it, there is nothing out of the ordinary, but its the best pad see ew I’ve ever had.  The way the black bean sauce incorporates and is soaked up by the noodles, just packs it with incredible flavor.

Rating: 4/5 Forks

Budget: $$, about $20 per person.

I heart the Kogi Truck

If you’ve never heard of the Kogi truck, then you must have been living under a rock.  A Korean-Mexican fusion taco truck that brings the taco truck to a much tastier level.  Entrees include, but not limited to, tacos, hot dogs, burritos, quesadillas, and sliders consisting of Korean BBQ and other Asian flavored meats and ingredients.  Check out their schedule and their website at www.kogibbq.com.  I highly recommend getting there a half hour early and bring cash.  And try not to order the entire menu because believe, you’re going to be tempted.  But also trust me when I say that you won’t have enough room for it unless you take it home.  Entrees range from $2-$5.  I also high recommend bringing your own drinks because the canned soda will really drive up the cost.  You can easily spend $15-$20 on the entrees alone without even realizing it.

The Kogi Dog -  A hot dog topped with their chili soy vinaigrette salad and house red sauce.  I don’t think this will become one of my go-to entrees buts its still worth trying.

Kim chi quesadilla -  I should warn you, in reading other peoples experiences with the kim chi quesadilla, people either really enjoyed it or just didn’t at all.  I was one of those that did.  You wouldn’t think that cheese and fermented napa cabbage would go together but it actually works out surprisingly well.  You may not like it if you haven’t gotten used to the acquired kim chi taste, but it’s worth giving a try if you have.  It is topped with their red sauce and has sesame seeds, and is a little tangy and a little spicy but not overbearingly spicy.  Make sure you bring your Tide pen because this especially gets messy.  That Tide pen has saved me on more than one occasion.

The Kogi sliders are by far my most favorite item on their menu.  The meat is Korean BBQ with shredded cheese, chili-soy salad and sesame mayo.  The buns are buttered and toasted and everything together is just oh so heavenly.  The anticipation is brutal but the rewards are priceless to your tummy.

Our Kogi feast.  Don’t worry, it’s not all for me, although that would be fantastic.  Sorry I didn’t get a better picture of the chocolate cake in the middle, but that’s because I dug into it so fast I forgot to get a close up.  Anyways, that’s their Chocolate Tres Leches.  A super moist chocolate cake that’s topped with peanut brittle, toffee, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cocoa pebbles.  The diddle has tapioca milk that oozes once you open it up, which is probably why they keep it in the aluminum up.  As they describe on the website “you can totally make out with it in a dark corned shamelessly,” which when my other forgot to get me a fork, I did.  I ate it right out of the cup and wasn’t ashamed to do it in front of four other people. 

Rating: 4.5/ 5 Bites

Budget: $-$$, probably spending in the teens depending on how desperate you are to try everything.

Tip:  Bring your own drinks because drinks ,if you buy it from them, it will easily drive up the cost and its just canned soda.

AnQi – Costa Mesa

An Asian fusion restaurant located at South Coast Plaza and has been featured on Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.”  AnQi is a higher-end restaurant that deserves to be reserved for a special occasion.  When my friends and I ate here, I heard many good things about the main entrees such the lobster, the filet mignon, and the pork chops, but my other half and I decided to go the tapas route and I’m so glad I did.  The tapas menu consist of hot and cold dishes ranging from $8-12 each.  Overall, this is one of those dining experience that makes you not want to eat “regular” food again.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but for those of you that cherish your fine dining experiences, you know what I mean.

Salt and pepper calamari with a jalapeno and sundried tomato aioli was something that I ordered that I was most familiar with, yet the aioli was what made it unique in a great way.  The calamari was fried, breaded and seasoned well have no complaints about it.  However, it is the aioli that takes if from good to great.  I love that aside from the sundried tomato, the aioli had jalapeno in it but it was  a  mild flavor with a small hint of heat that gives it a kick but does not make it overwhelmingly spicy. 

 

 

This is filet mignon summer rolls rolled with lettuce, rice noodles inside and topped with a creamy wasabi sauce.  The filet mignon was raw but quality of the meat was so superb that it practically melts in your mouth.  I am normally afraid of wasabi, but this cream sauce again has that wasabi kick and does not make it spicy and adds such a perfect compliment.

Ah, the famous garlic noodles and was featured on the Food Network.  The garlic definitely makes its presence known but at the same time is surprisingly light in the sense that it is not overbearing  like that aftertaste that stays in your mouth so that everything you eat after that tastes like garlic.  It is highly addicting and if I had only one dish to order off the menu, this would be it and is worth visiting AnQi alone. 

The wagyu beef carpaccio came in at a very close second place to the garlic noodles for me.  It is topped with scallions, and lemony cream sauce and sea salt.  I must warn you that my other half thought this was on the saltier side and I can certainly see that, but I absolutely loved it and can usually have fairly salty things with no complaints.  Once again, I was just amazed at the quality of meat and how well seasoned it was.  Even though my friends missed out when I offered for them to try it, I was ultimately glad they didn’t want to try raw meat because that just meant more for me.  I don’t want to encourage rudeness, but if your friends don’t ask to try, don’t offer :)

Triple chocolate peanut butter parfait with carmelized bananas consisted of chocolate genoise, which is similar to sponge cake, chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache, and peanut butter nougat.  This dessert is very rich and decadent and is great to have a couple bites of, but honestly I thought it was just a tad too rich and found that I had to make more effort than usual to finish this off.  Hopefully it was just a bad sweet tooth day, because I find this unusual for me.

I sampled some of my friend’s banana fritters with vanilla ice cream and thought it was so good that I had to order a second dessert so that I wouldn’t eat all of hers.  It comes out served from the fryer and I love how the heat from the fryer makes the bananas soft but not mushy and I love how this is served with ice cream.  The fritters are great on its own but the ice cream completes this.  Surprisingly, I thought the portion was generous, so don’t be selfish on this one and make your friends love you even more and compensate from not sharing your wagyu carpaccio.

Note: pictures were taken with the awesomeness of a camera my other half has.

Dining In: Trader Joe’s – Island Soyaki

Found at Trader Joe’s obviously, soyaki is an Asian marinade similar to teriyaki that can be used on chicken or salmon to satisfy a craving for simple home Asian cooking. I personally prefer to use it on salmon more because I feel the flavor of the sauce does better with salmon. The bottle says you can marinade for an hour but I would recommend giving if a couple hours so that you make sure it goes through the meat. I also recommend not allowing it to marinade overnight otherwise it becomes overbearing. Cook in a pan on low-medium heat so as to not burn the sugar in the marinade and top with green onions.

Dessert First: Donut Holes at Dave N Busters

DNB’s is mainly known for being an arcade for adults because of the bar in the middle, but they also sell food. The food really is typically nothing special other than predictable American drunk food with appetizers, sandwiches, pasta, and steaks, but does fulfill the purpose of satisfying your drunk cravings. But you’ll find a pleasant surprise in the dessert menu in the form of donut holes. These donut holes are not the traditional ones that you find in the mom and pop donut shops where they use regular donut batter. The kind DNB’s use is the donut cake batter, which are the more dense donuts. A serving comes with white and chocolate donuts where the white donuts are coated with powdered sugar and the chocolate coated with a chocolate sugar mix. They also come with chocolate and raspberry dipping sauce. If I weren’t surrounded by people or did not have much of dignity, then I would take a shot of the chocolate sauce. However I am willing to dip my finger when everyone was done. This is definitely a must for the sweet tooth.  One serving is about $6 and is perfect sharing with two other people, or not at all depending on how selfish you want to be.

Dining In: Happy Labor Day

This post is dedicated to home cooking equipped with meat, dessert, and drink. My meat portion is Asian rubbed flank steak.  This recipe is inspired from a recipe in Cooking Light magazine but I have since the lost actual recipe so I’ve had to improvise.

8 parts brown sugar
2 parts Kosher salt
2 parts garlic powder
1 -2 part(s) cayenne pepper, depending on how spicy you want it
1 part black pepper
1 part ginger powder
Sesame oil
Optional sesame seeds and green onion to top after cooking

Mix the ingredients except oil and optional toppers in order to make a dry rub. Coat flank steak with oil then with dry rub. Place in a pan at least an inch deep and bake in oven at 375 degrees until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees for medium, slightly pink on the inside. When you take the steak out, there should be some au jus that bakes off the meat, pour out then set aside. Allow the meat the rest before slicing. Cut steak against the grain, and then place the slices back in the au jus so it absorbs more flavor. Top with sesame seeds and green onion.  Sadly I forgot the green onion but the steak itself it still awesome and your guests will rave.

For a simple dessert, slice up butter pound cake and top with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. This was inspired by Costco and their sample hour. Obviously I got the pound cake from Costco, but be warned the packages come in a set of three cakes. I love this because it’s so easy, and everyone will love it.

For drinks, or more specifically for the lightweights in your family, I recommend Framboise Raspberry Beer. You can find it at Trader Joe’s or BevMo. This was my first fruit beer and I love it. I don’t feel like I get that bloated feeling and it tastes great. There’s not a lot of alcohol content but you’ll get the edge taken off.  Happy home cooking!

Happy Hour: Garlic Jo’s – All night Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Might as well continue the garlic theme and go with Garlic Jo’s, since it’s taking us back home.  It’s just at Newport on PCH.  The happy hour menu consists of appetizers and tapas type style plates.  Prices usually range from about $3-$6, not including drinks.  Everything that I post is awesome.

Garlic cheese bread that’s so addicting.  Try not to eat too much of it before the rest of the food otherwise you’ll get full fast and kick yourself in the pants for not saving room for the other dishes you have to try.

Cream cheese jalapeno wontons with a cream sauce and chili mango sauce.  I really like the jalapeno because this is the only place I know that puts jalapeno and is key to setting it apart from amongst the hundreds of places that serve cream cheese wontons the same plain old boring way.

Baby spinach salad with diced tomatoes, bacon garlic chips, with miso dressing.  The miso dressing is really light and flavorful.  If I weren’t around people I would take a shot of it.  Just try not pick off all the bacon before you finish salad. 

The Vampire Killer is roasted whole garlic cloves and anchovy in olive oil topped with parsley and parmesan cheese.  The second picture is when it’s spread on a baguette.  I love roasted whole garlic cloves because aside from the garlic flavor itself, there’s a mild sweetness that comes through when it’s roasted.

Salmon tacos with the salmon lightly breaded and deep fried with lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, a cream sauce on a flour tortilla and a side of a chili sauce.  The cream sauce and breading of the fish makes the texture and the taco itself different from other fish tacos and brings to a higher level, so it doesn’t feel like tacos from a fast food joint.  It feels more gourmet.

The star of the show, garlic pizza.  On a flat bread with gouda and mild cheddar cheese with slice garlic and topped with garlic and parlsey with a side of three different sauces ranging to mild to spicy, which is my opinion with not that spicy but is still good.  This pizza really amazed me because I never thought a pizza without any sauce on the pizza itself would be good.  Instead the absence of sauce allows the simplicity and strength of the flavors allows it to speak for itself.

This is Erik the bartender and he works on Wednesday nights.  Don’t worry, I got his permission to post him.  He is super nice and great to talk to.  You tell him you’re friends with Christine and the In-N-Out group.  I say In-N-Out because some the the most important people in my life work for INO. 

UPDATE:  Garlic Jo’s no long has happy hour :( LAME!  But it is still worth it if you go for dinner.

Garlic Festival: To Die For… Because you will

 

Freshly picked corn THAT day, or so it says, with garlic butter.  Garlic butter aside, the freshness of the corn is what truly makes this special.  I’ve always had frozen corn or corn from a grocery store, with who knows how long its been sitting, but never I thought anything of it.  But once you’ve had corn as fresh as this, you can really taste the difference.  The corn is perfectly sweet but not too sweet, and each bite is crisp but not like raw crisp.

Butter garlic bread, and let me tell you they loaded up the butter.  I actually got to see them making this and let me tell you it made me want to find a cardiologist.  They literally toast it then dunk it in bins full of melted herbed garlic butter.  Don’t bother ripping a piece in half because the butter will just drip off when you squeeze it.  Be prepared to sacrifice some cardiac vessels but it’s totally worth it.

I would say the star of the festival, shrimp scampi :) :) :) What’s even worse/ better, depending on how you look at it, is that dipping the garlic butter bread in the excess scampi sauce is absolutely to die for.  There something about it that oddly enough made it unique and something unlike any scampi I’ve ever eaten, yet there was also something so familiar.  I was fortunate enough to catch a demonstration of this being made and I will tell you two secret ingredients that sets this scampi apart from the rest: clam juice, and lobster butter.  The clam juice is what made it unique, yet familiar at the same time.  Not only that, but I didn’t even know lobster butter existed!  Everything about the scampi was pure genius.  If you’re allergic to shellfish, take a preemptive Zyrtec, and Claritin together, and if you go into shock anyways, you’ll pass away at your happiest moments.