Haven Gastropub
190 South Glassell Street
Old Towne Orange, CA 92866

(714) 221-0680

@havengastropub

Cuisine: Gastropub, Californian

Cost: $$
Service: 
Ambiance:
Presentation: 
Flavor: 
Overall: 

What we ordered: Radicchio and frisée salad ($10), French onion soup ($6), Irish poundies ($12), roasted rainbow carrots ($8), O’Hara Celtic stout ($6).

It’s been a while since I posted a culinary review.  (A handful await in draft mode.)  But we had such a great St. Patrick’s Day experience at Haven Gastro Pub this eve, I couldn’t resist writing about our dining adventure.

@PadrePablo and I have been on an unofficial quest to try all of the local gastro pubs, including The Crow Bar, Vallhalla Table, and Side Door.  I’ve been more than satisfied with them all, since the food is creative, the portions just right, and prices rather reasonable.

What set tonight’s dining experience apart was the amazing bar service and the interaction we had with the executive chef Greg Daniels (@havengastrochef) – a protégé of Chef Pascal Olhat.

As soon as I flipped my iPhone out to take a picture of the Irish poundies, Chef Daniels suggested I use my flash, so of course to do his beautiful creation — against a dark pub setting — justice.  I was mortified, because as long as I’ve been taking pictures of everything I eat (since at least I had my first camera as a kid), I always make sure I do so out of view of the chef.

Caught red handed… and embarrassed… I stopped photo-documenting after the first two dishes. No matter about the photos, because any photo I could have taken would never have done the actual flavors justice.

The Radicchio and Frisée ruffage was intricately intertwined with chevre, cherry tomatoes, truffle vinaigrette, and topped with a perfectly poached egg.  This is an entrée salad that can easily be shared by four.  The two of us easily finished the plate off, though.

Our second course was a very traditional French Onion Soup, in a lionhead bowl with crostini and gruyere.  We enjoyed it to the last french-cut onion. Our French Onion soup standards are rather high, so to give it two-thumbs up means a lot.  The one thing that was missing for us was the crispiness of the cheese around the rim of the bowl.  There’s something about the chewiness of the gruyere in the soup contrasting with a crusty formage…

The Irish Poundies was a duet of lamb sausage patties with pea-dotted mash, topped with a fried egg, and accompanied by a demi-glace style gravy.  The mashed potato mixed with fresh peas dominated the plate visually, but was a subtle accompaniment to the flavorful lamb.  The egg added an extra layer of flavor to this “meat and potatoes” derivative.

Finally, the Roasted Rainbow Carrots were mini roots in browned butter and topped with shock-fried parsley and sea salt.  I’ve never liked carrots growing up.  Now that I’ve had these “grown-up” carrots, I’m not sure what it was about carrots that I ever hated… If you try one side dish, try this one.

The last two dishes were special for St. Patrick’s Day. All the menu items come coupled with beer pairing recommendations.  He enjoyed an smooth O’Hara’s Celtic stout with the Poundies.

Which leaves me wondering… are Poundies to patties as Bangers are to links?

What we must try over the next few visits: frito misto, roasted cauliflower, brussel sprouts, truffle fries, mac ‘n’ cheese, cassoulet, shepherd’s pie, bucatini carbonara, pot au feu, bacon ice cream, and foie gras cheesecake.

When we were done, Chef Daniels came by once again.  This time he asked us how we liked our roasted carrots… telling us about the farm from which they come.

Best of all, he said he plans to make it a staple on the late spring/early summer menu!

Go see and taste for yourself the visual and culinary orgasms that Haven has on plate.  And of course, on tap.

[If you're closer to L.A., sounds like there's a Haven coming to Pasadena soon!]

GOOD magazine asked readers to submit a healthy, delicious school lunch. Having just put together a grown-ups playground lunch for my sister-in-law’s baby shower, I took inspiration from a recipe my mother-in-law found.

My rendition of the ideal school lunch plays on the classic favorite – PB&J.

The sandwich is made of: whole grain bread, crunchy peanut butter, honey, jumbo raisin medley, sunflower seeds, shredded carrots and broccoli sprouts. The raisins and broccoli sprouts could be replaced with dried blueberries or cranberries and alfalfa sprouts or microgreens, respectively.

This is a great way to “hide” vegetables into a school lunch because the sprouts and shredded carrots easily get lost in the flavors of the peanut butter and honey. The honey and raisin medley together give a “jelly” flavor without all of the artificial sugars. I like the sunflower seeds for the bit of extra crunch.

To follow, is a parfait made of Fage greek yogurt, sliced local strawberries, and cranberry maple nut gluten-free granola. I like to think that if a meal looks visually appealing, it tastes that much better… so, I combined the dairy, fruit and grains into the parfait.

I chose an organic 100% grape juice to finish off the lunch. I think it would be nice for kids to have a choice of drinks including various fruit juices and a variety of milks (chocolate, soy, etc.).

Bon appetit!

I’ll be sure to share the contest’s winning lunch menu here.

Week of 01.24

Sunday – Chanko nabe @ Shinsengumi (for @PadrePablo‘s birthday).

Monday – Lobster quesadilla; mesclun salad w/ dates, green onions, lemon tarragon vinaigrette

Tuesday – Lobster fettucine w/ wild mushrooms; arugula salad w/ blueberries, walnuts, gorgonzola pear dressing

Wednesday – Friday – On your own

Saturday – TBD (PadrePablo’s birthday dinner)

We haven’t turned lobster-tarian.  We just landed containers full of lobster meat from a catered event, so we’re getting through it slowly.

It’s been nearly three years since I’ve put together a weekly specials list.  Now that I’m done with school and @PadrePablo is back home, I’m slowly gaining my cooking mojo back.

I started these over at ladykeli.com as a way to be more budget and health conscious.  We realized the busier we got, the easier it was to grab take-out or dine out for dinner.  The last few years have been a prime example of that.

So here we go…

Sunday – Jambalaya

Monday – Yellowtail and brie cheese spring roll; Matsutake rice; warm egg custard (chawanmushi)

Tuesday – Pork medallion; steamed broccoli; whipped chive potatoes

Wednesday – On your own

Thursday – Blue cheese soufflé; spinach salad w/ blueberries and pecans

Friday – Chicken quesadilla; chips and salsa

Saturday – Dinner @ Le Pain Quitodien in Claremont

I’ve officially retired my first attempt at a blog, ladykeli.com.  You can read my final entry here or below.

That’s not to say that I’m done blogging about food, recipes, restaurants, photographs, etc.  Everything has been migrated to this site (now renamed to Lost in Mastication), under the same categories.  In fact there are three restaurant reviews that are still in draft mode that I’ll publish officially here (The Brentwood, Café R&D, and Roscoe’s).  POW’s have migrated here too!

I’m officially retiring ladykeli.com.  Albeit I enjoy food, dining, entertaining and the likes still, I’ve decided that this iteration of Intrigue (v5) is done.  Part of it is because I’m done with being “ladykeli” – a nickname that came from being a part of “krews” and the import showoff scene in the 90s.

Lost in Mastication began after my travels to Italy with @Padrepablo and our friends, the Mucciaros.  I realized I had so much to say that I couldn’t quickly communicate to friends and family alike via Facebook, MySpace or Flickr back then.  In fact, the title was @Padrepablo’s idea, inspired of course from one of our favorite movies, Lost in Translation.

Through this effort I’ve learned a lot about new media, how to write for the Web, and even made some connections with old and new friends alike.

This isn’t to say I’m leaving the blogosphere!  If anything, I’m still here in full force at sherrymain.com (aka Intrigue v6.0), and blog about all things food, photo, social media, policy, and whatever else tickles my fancy.   In fact, I’ve imported all of my posts from here to over to the new blog.  And I can be followed regularly on Twitter @sherrymain.

Adieu.

Everything’s been a constant blur since about mid-2006, so I’m hoping that 2009 will be more defined than the past couple of years.

Some of what I hope to accomplish this year (in no particular order):

• Tweet and blog more (yes, that is possible)… and not just in quantity, but also in quality.  In the first 101 days for 2009, I hope to tackle @chrisbrogan‘s 100 blog topics to write about.
• Harness the power of social networking and social media.  Become more engaged so that I can learn, stay in the loop, and do more good.
• Start a business venture, and get it live and kicking.  Whether it be Dilettante Hostess or something else.  I’ve made a lot of good friends over the last few years that share similar interests, and I’d like to share such an experience with others.
• Pleasure reading.  With classes done, I hope to have time to read the long list of books that have accumulated over the last three years on my Amazon Wishlist.
• Accomplish an athletic feat.  Either a sprint triathlon or skiing blue runs.  And also find ways to engage my dog, Chibi, more in outdoor activities.
• Compile my recipes into a CC-licensed book.
• And much more that I am not thinking of at the moment….

In one sense, I would like 2009 to take it’s time so that I may accomplish all these things.  On the other hand, I can’t wait for 2010 to come because that means @Padrepablo will be done with school and we can pick up with our lives together again.

Back to blogging (and cooking) after a summer hiatus to finish my last b-school class.  Yeah!

• 1/4 French baguette
• 2 slices prosciutto di parma
• 2 slices smoked mozarella
• 5 large basil leaves
• Grilled asparagus (salt and pepper’d)
• Roasted red pepper
• Pesto

If I don’t have red peppers to roast, I have also used red pepper spread from Trader Joe’s which works well.

Spread pesto on top side and layer roasted red peppers on bottom half. Layer with prosciutto, smoked mozzarella, basil and asparagus.

The recipe made about 36 ounces of smoothie, so I also mixed some of it into the homemade yoghurt I have every morning — “fruit-on-the-bottm” yoghurt!

The rough ingredients, mixed in a blender:

• 1.5 cups lemon slush
• 2 cups blueberries
• 1/2 cup orange juice (Naked!)
• 2 T liquid soybean sugar

(My ad hoc slush recipe: Pour juice in a baking pan or shallow bowl, and scratch with fork to form slush, every hour or so until satisfied.)

• About 2 cups lemon juice
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup sugar

Bring to simmer 4 cups water and 1 cup sugar for a light syrup. Add lemon juice and let chill. Serve over ice!

This recipe tends to be on the tarter side — the way I like lemonade.

We also made Arnold Palmer by combining one portion iced Ceylon Orange Pekoe tea (loose leaf) with one portion of the lemonade.

Hands down best AP that I’ve ever had!

And of course the oranges gave us fresh squeezed OJ… no sugar added.