Charlie Palmer

Playground in Santa Ana Now Has a Cocktail Menu!

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know we love Playground in downtown Santa Ana--great food, convivial atmosphere, and every draft beer is $5 all the time. But there's always been something missing, some spark in libations director Jarred Dooley's eyes at every meeting of the Orange ... More >>

Getting Our Slapfish Brunch On In Huntington Beach

When someone mentions the word brunch, we immediately say, "Where?!" It is our meal of meals, the bacon atop our mac and cheese. Brunch can be a Vegas AYCE extraordinaire, or a highbrow prix fixe served at Cafe Hipster. The interpretation may vary, but one thing remains consistent: eggs. Glorious eg ... More >>

On The Line: Dean Kim of OC Baking Company, Part Two

"I don't consider myself old in any way, but I'm old school now. Even Dee (Nguyen), Mike (Rossi) . . .we're old."One of the best things about interviewing a well-connected baker is the exchange of information. Dean reminds us that the community of chefs is full of friends and customers. Can you beli ... More >>

PART ONE: OC Weekly Best Of Readers Poll 2012: The Good, the Bad, and the WTF?

Today is the release of our annual Best Of issue, our fantabulous guide to all things wonderful about this infernal land. For the purposes of ustedes, you only care about the food section, and you can peruse it here. But what's always interesting to us is the Readers Poll: will our faithful fans be ... More >>

No. 13: Any Octopus Dish at Broadway By Amar Santana

The first time I ever went to Broadway by Amar Santana was on a double date with Gustavo and his chica. I mostly wanted to drink, and I ordered something or other off the menu without really thinking too hard about it.Then the enormous, far-too-large-for-the-tiny-table plate was placed in front of ... More >>

Game of Burgers: Burger Barons, Round One

We've got no shortage of places in Orange County that specialize in burgers and only burgers. They're not diners (not enough blue hair and orthopedic shoes on the waitstaff), they're not fast food (not at these prices), and they're not gastropubs (which have non-burger foods). The question is, are t ... More >>

PigOut 1.0 Coming August 5, to Feature a Bunch of Local Chefs Butchering Pigs

When 15 accomplished chefs are given carte blanche to serve swine, you know it's time to make a reservation. Chef Amar Santana of Broadway and Bobby Navarro of 100eats100days.com fully intend to make your visit memorable, all while raising funds for culinary scholarships. The inaugural PigOut 1.0 is ... More >>

Anepalco's Cafe Has Le Mexique

Danny Godinez's second restaurant serves Mexican meals in the French style

Jason Quinn Will Meet You at the Playground

Inside the hyperkinetic career of the novice chef-turned-cooking star

South County's Foodie Emergence, Steamed Hams and More!

What the Stick a Fork In It bloggers learned about food in Orange County in 2011

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Eat Here, Not There: Burger Combo

​For this installment of Eat Here, Not There, I revisit Mick's Karma Bar in Irvine, which is owned by Michael and Megan Schepers, who also own Kitima Thai next door. I came back for the burger combo that so impressed me back in March, and found that it is as good a deal now as it was back then. Bu ... More >>

Restaurant Roll Call for September 2011

​Let's get down to it, shall we? Here's our monthly roll call of what we like to dub "open and shut cases". This list compiles what we've observed over a month that saw the momentous opening of Batali's long awaited Mozza in Newport Beach and Broadway by Charlie Palmer protege, Amar Santana.See th ... More >>

Report (and Photos) From Last Night's Dos Lime Pop-Up

Meg Strouse/OC WeeklyCrispy-skin salmon with orange couscous, watermelon, mango and tomatillo sauce.​See Meg Strouse's slideshow of last night's Dos Lime dinner here!We've never understood what led Jason Quinn and Hop Phan to open food trucks, other than lower startup costs, but whatever the motiv ... More >>

Jason Quinn of Lime Truck and Hop Phan of Dos Chinos to Host Pop-Up Restaurant at Shark Club Sept. 19!

Jason Quinn: Ready to go 2, 4, 6 on y'all!​Earlier this year, Aron Habiger of the Crosby hosted Dee Nguyen of Break of Dawn for a pop-up night that had the SanTana restaurant slammed. We Forkers welcomed the occasion, not just because we all lover Habiger and Nguyen, but because it also heralded t ... More >>

The Higher Standard of Review for Expensive Burgers

Dave Lieberman​Two weeks or so ago, Jeff Overley at the Orange County Register wrote a poll for their Food Frenzy blog about whether gourmet burger joints are a rip-off. Overley knows his stuff, and he's got his feet on the ground when it comes to value received for money paid. When something is e ... More >>

Inaugural Costa Mesa Restaurant Week to Be Held This Month

​Add Costa Mesa to the ever-growing roster of cities that have decided, "Hey, this restaurant week thing is a pretty lucrative way to get customers to spend money they otherwise wouldn't on a typical week!" It joins Irvine, Fullerton and Newport Beach as a city not content to wait until those OC R ... More >>

Interview with a Great Food Truck Race Contestant's...Dad

Photo by Christopher VictorioThe Lime Truck's Jason Quinn​As I wrote earlier this week, two of OC's luxe loncheras are contestants on the second season of The Great Food Truck Race, which is being filmed at this very moment. Although The Lime Truck and Seabirds are contractually prohibited by The ... More >>

On the Line: Danny Godinez of Anepalco's Cafe, Part Uno

Photo by Todd BarnesGodinez putting the finishing strokes on his bomb-ass huevos divorciados​I must admit I wasn't blown away the first time I visited Anepalco's Cafe in Orange--found the chilaquiles a bit too exotic. But I'm always man enough to admit when I was wrong, and I've more than made up ... More >>

Your Essential OC Happy Hour Guide

Where to go for the best deals and drinks

Jason Quinn of The Lime Truck, Part One

Photo by Christopher VictorioJason Quinn and Daniel Shemtob​When I say that The Lime Truck is the youngest of OC's new age food trucks, I mean it. It's as green to the scene as their bright lime paint job. As you read this post, the truck would've been on the road roughly a month. The two guys beh ... More >>

Greg Daniels of Haven Gastropub, Part 2

If you missed the first part of our interview with Greg Daniels, executive chef and partner at Haven Gastropub, you can find it here. If you've missed the fantastic "spaghetti", the burger par excellence and the great beer, you can find that just south of the Orange Circle. Meanwhile, back to the qu ... More >>

[Year In Review] Of Taco Trucks and Votes That Suck: 2009 On Our Stick a Fork In It Food Blog

Don't Let Crustacean's Glitzy Reputation Scare You Away From AnQi

On the Line: Executive Chef James Hamamori of Hamamori

​An early pioneer of the sushi conveyor belt concept in New York, James Hamamori worked at Asakuma in Los Angeles before teaming up with entrepreneur Bronnie Lee and opening the first of several Wasa Sushi outlets. Hamamori, located in the satellite wing of South Coast Plaza, followed in December ... More >>

On the Line: Amar Santana of Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale's

​This week we grilled Amar Santana, Executive Chef at Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale's, South Coast Plaza. As well as cooking, the Dominican Republic-born chef also teaches regular kitchen technique classes at the restaurant (for information, check the website).Here, he talks about his love of por ... More >>

O.C. Restaurants With No Corkage Fees

I got the following e-mail from a reader named Dorn: I know you are not an alcohol drinker, but I suspect many of your foodie fans love wine. I would love to see a topic covered on OC restaurants that do not charge a corkage fee. Considering that most restaurants mark-up their wines 200% - 300 ... More >>