Rose Cafe and Market

The Rose

Cafe & Market
220 Rose Ave, Venice

I walked in and immediately thought it looked like a cheery, artistic studio space for an artist or designer. This warehouse-like space has a narrow dining area lined with high medallion table-tops; the other half of the space contains the kitchen and a little store with trinkets and living items. The entire space is colorful. There is a lot of personality here much like San Francisco and Berkeley.

The cafe has a health-air about it and sustainability. I'd say that it relates most to Cafe Zinc here in Corona del Mar, except I like The Rose better. Service was prompt and listened intently to custom orders. They were friendly and the entire community was friendly. It's quite a strange place to find a cafe off of Rose Ave in Venice Beach, but I'm glad I was directed here! Can't wait to come again next time we're in town.

Low-Fat Berry Bran Muffin
Delicious. With blueberries, red berries, and strips of thin baked apple. Lovely. I would say this has a good balance between flour and bran to keep a smooth consistency. The berries are well strewn throughout, each bit you have will have a bit of berry in it. The bran is not overwhelming, nor does it create a tough texture like many bran muffins have. This one is soft and full of berry flavor that competes with the right amount of molasses to and grains to make a heavenly muffin. I believe the red berries are a type of cranberry. I think this was around $2. I enjoyed the muffin. It's one I can have half of in the morn and the other half in the afternoon. Borders on dessert because it has a sweetness to it, but still great for breakfast. I've seen the recipe for this too -- it's a classic and healthy.

Plain Yogurt and Rose's Famous Granola
Each is offered in a cup-size dish. This was enough to fill me up. The plain yogurt is beautiful, like a plump cloud. The granola is out of this world. I have to say this is the best cafe granola I've had. I'm embarrassed to say this has actually outdone Flour Bakery, Boston. I'd love to have this granola recipe. It has the perfect crunch. The oats are browned, toasted with a lovely bit of brown sugar/honey along with almonds, sunflower seeds, cranberries and raisins. I truly enjoyed this. I could just keep eating the Granola alone! This was perhaps $3.50. I ordered a tea as well.

Cheers:
My entire meal was just over $6. Not bad: Muffin, Granola and Yogurt, and Tea. This is a great place to enjoy an affordable and healthy meal. They deserve compensation with higher prices, but I'm thankful that they keep them low!

True Food Kitchen

True Food Kitchen

Fashion Island, Newport Beach

Sitting inside, you feel like you are in an atrium space with a garden-personality around you. Though there only a few indoor grass plants, the colors of green, grey, and yellow all come together to create the garden atmosphere. The place is fresh and airy. The seating is comfortable and the the restaurant is always packed! I was surprised to see a wait of 45 mins before noon, even. I would like to come back here and try more dishes, though in this economy I cannot afford to eat lunch here everyday. I was surprised to find out how tasty each of our dishes was. The chef does a good job of making healthy food taste good. The white dishes also make the food pop off of the plate.

The dishes are appropriate portions and there is a clean and alluring presentation with color, texture, and variety. The scents are magnificent and the food is tasty. It feels healthy in your stomach and tastes delicious. The service is friendly and prompt. I just wish some of the dessert prices were lower! $7 was too much for a petite flourless chocolate cake, though it was delicious. I've had the Kale Salad before; kale is not my vegetable, let's just say. I do want to try the Hummus platter next time. Everyone was ordering this and it looked colorful and tempting! I think it would make a nice appetizer. Here, there are no bread baskets or complimentary appetizers. I don't know why they don't have edamame or something, but people keep coming back so I'm sure they don't care to change that.

Natural Beef and Black Rice Stir Fry
Broccoli, Scallion, and Shitake Mushroom. [$15]
Sauteed in a light sauce. I opted for tabouleh instead of black rice, but I should have kept the black rice! The black rice is not heavy and pairs best. The beef is thin. This is not a heavy dish. The broccoli is lightly sauteed. The flavor from the onion was necessary and really gave the dish a kick. I liked the fact that the sauce/jus was not thick. It was light and I did not feel too full afterward. I would order this again, but I would like to try other dishes first!

My friend ordered the Organic Ricotta Ravioli which was lovely in appearance, having 5-6 ravioli balls covered in a thick pesto sauce. It looked heavy to me, but the plate was medium sized. In the center were the lightly sauteed mushrooms and tomatoes. The pesto smelled delicious and she enjoyed the meal.

Flourless Chocolate Cake
72% Cocoa, with Vanilla Ice cream and caramel.
Served in a nice, warm white bowl and topped with cocoa beans and a dollop of Vanilla ice cream. I did not care for the pool of caramel sauce at the bottom of the dish, but the torte itself was marvelous. I thought it would taste like flour, but surprisingly when I tasted it it was creamy, like a densely packed mousse. It does not look how it tastes. It is so smooth and rich. The cocoa percent is ideal for my taste buds -- I'm a red wine person so this was my kind of flavor for dark chocolate. It is not bitter in the least. This is a good choice for dessert, however, I think $7 is asking too much. The medallion of chocolate is small, slightly larger than an egg. This is not quite enough to satisfy two people for dessert, but it is rich and satisfying to the palette.

Cucina Alessa

Cucina Alessa
Huntington Beach - Newport Beach, CA

I can count on quite a few things from Alessandro: good wine, good food, good prices, and comfort. I always come here with good company and the experience is delightful for each of us. This atmosphere that Alessandro has set up with cuisine, service, and intimacy of a narrow dining room enhance the experience.

The banquettes are comfortable and there is ample light that shines through the windows that line an entire side of the restaurant. It can get a little loud in here at times, but during lunch hours on the weekdays you can expect to have an empty table around you and just to be able to delight in the afternoon, food, and conversation. You can't have a bad wine here either.

Scarbolo, Pinot Grigio: tastes of hazelnut. I enjoy this; it's light, but not like a typical pinot grigio at all. It is closer to medium-bodied wine or a sauvignon blanc.

I don't care for the bread basket... boring bread, but the pesto is tasty. The consistency of the pesto is on the liquid side.

Custom: Pappardelle pasta with meat sauce
The pasta was so good. The sauce has ground meat base, which was okay of course. This is not my favorite sauce of his. I would have liked this more with his famous vodka sauce. He also has a better bolognese creme sauce. Again, the pasta rocks. I didn't order it this way, dad did.

I ordered the Vegetarian Lunch Salad, with 2 meatballs. $9!

So good. It was no longer "vegetarian", but this is the way I liked it. The Meatballs are my favorite of Alessandro's recipes. I don't know what he puts in them, but they are a meal in themselves. You only need two or three to fill you up!

On the salad there is a light balsamic vinaigrette. The salad has a full body, the consistency and flavors are beautiful with asparagus and eggplant. Yum. Then there are some some thin-sliced grilled zucchini, also a few onions. Beautiful. When I had them top it with my favorite meatballs (2 was enough! they are so big), this sealed the deal. My dad's pasta looked delicious too. The pasta noodles were tasty, and I was surprised at how light they were. You can certainly tell the difference between homemade pasta and the store-bought stuff. This tastes healthier and lighter, and the flavors are richer.

Cheers!
The lunch menu is a steal! Everything under $10. Wines are 7.50-11.50.

Zov's Bistro

Zov's Bistro
Tustin, CA

Today, we ate in the conference room for a Social Media Network workshop and presentation. Zov greeted us with a warm smile and genuine conversation as always. I've never been to this location before. My first impression was, "Wow, this is a great place to sit outside on a nice day." The restaurant caters to 'good weather' seating. There is a green-house atmosphere at the front of the restaurant with panoramic light streaming in from all sides -- beautiful.

Fresh Fruit Tart
I enjoyed its clear hints of almond extract. The tart, a 1/2 inch high medallion of approx. 4" diameter was lovely. The blackberries on top were plump, hand-selected for the gods themselves. They were cozied by two sliced strawberries and a few blueberries, all of which were lightly drizzled in a sugar water. The layer between the fruit and the almond tart -- similar to a soft shortbread -- was a soft, milky cream like creme brulee. There was also a bit of sugar gel; I try to forget this part, and it's only a bit so it doesn't bother you. I would say the tart was a little much to devour on one's own after a meal, but if you split it into thirds with others you'll be fine; even a split in half will do. Oh, and there was kiwi on top. The tart is colorful and far more exciting than you're average French fair. I was surprised to see this on the Mediterranean menu. Beautiful work of art. Heavy to carry in the tummy, but fresh.

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Here was the first round of greeting from Zov's staff:
Black Currant Ice Tea and basic round Rustic Rolls.

The rolls were white rustic flour, but were a bit dry. Not much air, though they were presented European style with bubbles on the crust and a silk inside (more dense).

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Oven-Roased Chicken Salad,
with baby greens, asparagus, al-dente fingerling potatoes, apple-smoked bacon and sherry vinaigrette.

Sliced oven-roasted chicken breast with parsley on top of a bed of spinach and red lettuce greens. There were also baby Roma tomatoes involved. The dressing was light. I am not one to have a lot of dressing on a salad but this was a light amount that didn't drown the salad and was still healthy -- olive oil and vinegar based. There were petite fingerlings on the plate that turned to mush in your mouth. Perfect shape with ideal texture. Beautiful. The chicken was ideally cooked. Tender, but with a nice color to the outside, and no skin! The portion was perfect for a meal and I was surprised when they presented us with dessert afterward. I was already satisfied by the salad! Thus I took the fruit tart to go, as beautiful as it was.

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I'm always curious to see what new dishes Zov comes up with. Most of them are colorful. That's what I enjoy most about them. The bistro is certainly a the best option between the cafe and the restaurant. Go to the Bistro!