Subject: Desserts

• I Scream, You Scream

  November 4, 1999

• Wine & Ice Cream Tasting

  When I first heard about the unusual pairing of wine and ice cream, honestly it sounded like a stomach ache waiting to happen. Then again, I'm one of those people who likes to try weird and possibly gross food, so I decided to check it out. The four-course tasting was held at the Wine Gallery in Corona Del Mar, and I have to say it was a little weird, but not gross at all. The pairings were complex and absolutely delicious. I snagged one of the menus, in case any of you have adventurous p

  August 31, 2007

• New Zealand Natural Ice Cream Opens in Orange

  A new ice cream shop from New Zealand opened its first U.S. store at the Stadium Promenade in Orange. Appropriately, it's called New Zealand Natural Ice Cream. And though the ice cream may be made from "fresh dairy cream from cows that feed on the green unpolluted pastures of New Zealand", its press release couldn't have sounded more artificial. It reads like a celebutant-nudging, hype-craving, Hollywood-name-dropping act of desperation. Judge for yourself: "New Zealand Natural ice cream h

  September 15, 2008

• The New University on the Yogurtland and Golden Spoon Battle

  Leave it up to my alma mater's paper, The New University, to do front line reporting on the frozen yogurt battle raging across the street from the school. When the gauntlet was dropped on September 26th -- that's when the University Town Center outlet of Yogurtland opened yards away from Golden Spoon -- they were there, interviewing the two sides. One has been a fixture at the University Town Center since 1987. The other, the upstart, is part of the empire that has so far managed to hold

  October 15, 2008

• Just Desserts

  August 17, 2006

• New Ice Cream Flavors: I Like Where This is Going

  On the Chowhound boards a few years ago, I remember someone asking for tips on where to find green tea ice cream.  We pointed him to the frozen dessert section of 99 Ranch or Mitsuwa. This weekend, I found it green tea ice cream at Vons.  Let me repeat:  AT VONS!!! What's even more amazing was that it wasn't Magnolia, Mashti Malone, or even Fubuki (which is the only brand that I knew of that made green tea ice cream) -- this was Safeway Select, the store brand! Surely there's no better indi

  December 22, 2008

• Every Diet Needs A Little Jiggle Room: Cold Stone Creamery Launches JELL-O-Inspired Flavors

  Tastemaster Ray Karam, surely the luckiest bastard in the whole world (his job is to eat ice-cream all day long), has created two limited-edition flavors based on the gelatinous dessert pots. They're available from today through July 28 at all locations. According to reports, "The new JELL-O pudding ice cream even resists melting, turning into pudding when left at room temperature." As if it will ever last that long, when both varieties sounding so good.There's Butterscotch Velvet (Butterscotch

  June 3, 2009

• OC's Best Chocolate Maker to Give Truffle-Making Course This Sunday

  Courtney Dudman Donley of C Salt Gourmet fame (OC Weekly's Best Chocolate 2008!) will be doing what the headline says this coming Sunday at 2 p.m. at @space Gallery in SanTana. Wish I could tell ustedes it's for free, but $20 to create yum-yums just in time for Valentine's Day is quite the bargain in these times. Added bonus: during the same event, a great OC vegan baker by the name of Luscious Organic Desserts will lecture on and offer free samples of her, well, luscious organic desserts. I've

  February 4, 2009

• Begorra! SusieCakes and Sprinkles Mark St Paddy's Day With Themed Cupcakes

  It's never too early to start celebrating St Patrick's Day--especially when the revelry comes in the form of cupcakes. SusieCakes and Sprinkles, the OC's most famous cupcakeries, are marking March 17th with themed varieties. SusieCakes, which has a range of specials and offers during the whole of March, will be making its whoopee pies with green vanilla buttercream, and decorating its red velvet, vanilla, chocolate and chocolate mint cakes with green jimmies and shamrocks, while Sprinkles is bak

  March 3, 2009

• Cupcakes, I Can't Quit You Baby

  Yes, I know I have a serious and perhaps life-threatening addiction to cupcakes--I've actually noted Sprinkles' upcoming Brown Sugar Praline flavor in my diary--but I'm clearly not the only one. Just as there's an unstoppable number of cupcakes stores opening all over the country, there are also dozens of dedicated blogs. Among my favorites is St Louis-based food writer Stefani Pollack, who has turned baking cupcakes into an obsession, charting the results on her website, the Cupcake Project. Th

  March 13, 2009

• Churro Station To Open Franchises in Santa Ana and Anaheim

  Move over cupcakes. Step aside frozen yogurt. There will be a new dessert in town. And his name is churro. He's been deep-fried, covered in sugar and cinnamon, and franchised by an outfit called Churro Station. The chain -- started by a woman who rightly realized that there were no churro franchises -- first debuted in 2003 in San Rafael (which, by the way, is pronouced "San Rah-Fell" by locals).Since then, they've slowly moved eastward.  There are stores in Vegas, Phoenix, Miami and Fort

  March 19, 2009

• [Hole in the Wall] Eat/Chow/Love

  February 5, 2009

• Walk Tall

  December 25, 2008

• Addicted to Banana Cream Pies, Among Other Things, at Jongewaard's Bake 'n' Broil in Long Beach

  August 21, 2008

• [This Hole-In-the-Wall Life] Paleta Paradise at La Flor de Mexico

  July 3, 2008

• [This Hole-In-the-Wall Life] Znow Job at Znow's Ice Cream in Huntington Beach

  June 12, 2008

• Bee Gone

  May 8, 2008

• Mmm . . . Vittles

  Hardtack, biscuits & gravy, salt pork, beef jerky, burritos, falafel, & banh mi—you know, cowboy  food

  September 20, 2007

• The Sweet Art

  At Cafe Blanc, Tomi Harase makes desserts worthy of a gallery

  August 16, 2007

• Phil Shane Slept Here

  Patsys Mission Viejo pub gives you crabs

  January 25, 2007

• Hey, You!

  Cold Comfort

  May 31, 2007

• Pasta Pasts and Futures

  Georgina and Tony keep the old guard alive at Rufinos Ristorante Italiano

  March 29, 2007

• Ice Box Memories

  August 17, 2000

• Tweaking Tried-and-True

  October 5, 2006

• A Sweet Life's Work

  The Ritzs Jean-Francois Lehuede leaves em wanting more

  August 17, 2006

• An Ode to Chocolate Cream Pie

  August 17, 2006

• We All Scream for Ice Cream

  August 17, 2006

• Hey There, Cupcake!

  August 17, 2006

• Franco's Italian Restaurant

  September 22, 2005

• This Week in Ice Cream and Other Frozen Delights

  August 18, 2005

• Delicias de Mexico

  June 16, 2005

• Ice Dreams

  May 20, 2004

• The Emperor of Ice Cream

  May 20, 2004

• Nice Dish!

  January 31, 2002

• Orange

  September 27, 2001

• Feel Not Sorry for the People of Anaheim Hills

  September 13, 2001

• Frittata Pans Be Damned! Treat Mom Right With Our Guide To The Best Mother's Day Menus in OC

  Flipping through Real Simple last night, I caught a glimpse of what could be the most insulting ad ever.Sure, the visuals were mouthwatering--an enticing asparagus frittata, cooked to perfection and waiting for a fork to sink into it--but it was the text that nearly made me choke:"Mom deserves the best... Surprise her with our revolutionary new nonstick frittata pan".A black mark against Williams-Sonoma for running this sexist, throwback ad. Seriously, have we not moved on from the 1950s?I say s

  May 6, 2009

• New Gelato Shop To Open At Diamond Jamboree

  Edwin GoeiWhat's this? A new frozen dessert shop at Diamond Jamboree? And it's not another Pinkberry or Yogurtland clone? Finally, we discover that there is an entrepreneur out there who realized that the market is oversaturated with froyo and undersupplied with gelato.And if there's any frozen desserts were are more in need of, it's gelato. For reasons unknown to me, the milk-based Italian ice cream seems to be an endangered species around these parts. It's as rare as a platypus. When thi

  May 20, 2009

• Cheesecake-Stuffed Beignets At Scott's Seafood

  Admittedly, most people go to Scott's for the seafood. It's in the name, after all. But I had to wait right till the end of a meal there recently to be wowed. The dishes up to that point were good, just overpriced and underwhelming. And then came those beignets. There's a reason they don't call them plain ole donuts. Imagine three of them on a plate, lightly dusted with sugar, interspersed with chopped strawberries and drizzled with strawberry sauce. Now imagine biting into them and finding chee

  June 9, 2009

• A Bridge to the Americas

  October 16, 2008

• Haagen-Dazs' Fleur de Sel Caramel Is Surely The Best Ice Cream Flavor Ever?

  A self-confessed ice cream addict, I love seeking out new varieties, especially during National Ice Cream Month (July). I'm lucky enough to live near Hans' Homemade Ice Cream in Santa Ana, which takes care of any cravings for the real deal, but if I'm struck by the midnight munchies, store-bought has to suffice.Although I'm still annoyed with Häagen-Dazs for reducing the size of their pints, I have to put my hands up and acknowledge that their Fleur de Sel Caramel flavor, from their Reserve col

  July 3, 2009

• Top 5 Frozen Yogurt Flavors I'd Like To See

  Since new yogurt stores seem to keep popping up like an unstoppable, virulent disease (See my earlier post here on the phenomenon), there's really one thing left to do: request more flavors.  Not that there's a lack of creativity out there.  Some, like Yogurtland, seem to have a hard-working flavor alchemist on staff. I saw bananas fosters and tiramisu the other day. Both delicious.  But here are 5 flavors I haven't seen but would like to see coming out of those spouts. Surely, one of t

  July 27, 2009

• UPDATE: Ice Cream and Cakey Cake Ad: Love it or Hate it?

  Am I the only one who finds the Baskin-Robbins "Ice Cream and Cakey Cake" commercial strangely addictive? From the terminally bonkers song, a snippet of "Ice Cream and Cake" by the Buckwheat Boyz (I'm not making this up), to the ridiculous plastic dinosaurs, the whole thing is hilarious. And cheap. They must've had change left over from $100, considering the only "stars" are six ice cream cakes (from $9.99 each) and a bunch of plastic figures.And in a world where ads are getting longer and

  August 13, 2009

• UPDATED: Paellaphiles Take Note: Lucca's Going All Spanish This Sunday

  ​The cuisine of France may be dominating the culinary news this week, thanks to Julie & Julia, but those of us who love its neighboring country might want to make a beeline for Lucca in Irvine. On Sunday, August 9, the Italian restaurant/deli will be dishing up a four-course Spanish dinner (served family-style on the patio), including paella and rare Spanish wines. The cost is $40 per person. Reservations are recommended.Owner Cathy Elliott is planning more geographical showcases (always o

  September 3, 2009

• SusieCakes' Apple Festival Starts Tomorrow, With Freebie for the Teachers' Pets

  ​Throughout September, as well as featuring goodies such as apple pie with a crumble topping and caramel apple cheesecake, the cupcakery (with a branch in Newport Beach) is offering a complimentary applesauce cupcake with cream cheese frosting for any students in pre-school through 6th grade who bring in an A-graded assignment. They can also enter a competition to win cupcakes for the whole class, which is bound to make them really popular, even with the snobs and bullies.Now if that's not an

  August 31, 2009

• The Sushi's The Real Deal At Wasa, But The Entrées Are Dull

  Had a great meal at Wasa Sushi at the Bluffs, Newport Beach, on Saturday night. The mall location is pretty uninspiring, as is the shouty 'WE'RE OPEN' sign in the window, but once you're inside the diminutive space it's a different story.The sushi excels, but the main courses lack inspiration. Put it this way: salmon teriyaki is about the most interesting choice on the short list. Very good it is too--a great-quality slab of fish, served over green beans and surrounded by an elaborate swirl of s

  July 13, 2009

• Dessert of the Week: Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding at Opah Restaurant & Bar

  ​The chocolate croissant bread pudding at Opah Restaurant & Bar in Irvine earns the honor of being our first Dessert of the Week pick. This delicious creation is served with a bourbon creme anglaise sauce that will blow your mind. Top it off with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, fresh fruit and a dusting of powdered sugar. Every bite of this dessert fills your mouth with warm, melting milk chocolate. The temperature contrast with the ice cream adds dimension, and there's even a bit

  October 22, 2009

• Dessert of the Week: Crazy Bananas at Cafe Tu Tu Tango

    After looking over the dessert menu at Cafe Tu Tu Tango, the choice seemed pretty clear for the Dessert of the Week: Crazy Bananas. With a description that included sliced bananas, vanilla bean ice cream, walnuts, sopapillas (think tortilla chip meets churro), whipped cream, and a caramel sauce infused with Drambuie and Scotch, this dessert stands out. But of course, what was forgotten when it reached the table? The sauce! Truly a letdown. Although Crazy Bananas held its ow

  November 5, 2009

• Rick Warren Likes Farrell's--Does Farrell's Really Want that Endorsement?

  Will Farrell's soon seel a Purpose-Driven Sundae?​Apparently, Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour was a pretty big deal in its day, but I wouldn't know--the only ice cream we could afford when I was a kiddie was Otter Pops. But some Orange Countians have been eagerly anticipating its return at the Shops of Mission Viejo, one being Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren. He was at its opening, wanting to meet owner Bob Farrell because the first date Purpose-Driven® Rick ever went on with his wife was at

  November 9, 2009

• Dessert of the Week: S'mores Sundae at The Crow Bar

  ​The Crow Bar and Kitchen in Corona Del Mar has reinterpreted s'mores, a staple of any campfire, by taking the graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate, and creating a sundae. The Crow Bar's S'mores Sundae, our Dessert of the Week, has all of the essential ingredients, but chef Scott Brandon has amped things up. Made with toasted marshmallow semifreddo (a semi-frozen gelato and whipped cream mixture), homemade graham crackers, Belgian chocolate sauce, and Maldon sea salt, this is not

  November 19, 2009