Reminder: SqueezeOC’s Top 2 poll to find the top two everythings in Orange County ends at 5 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday, Aug. 15)!

If you haven’t voted yet, please take a look at our list and choose your favorite. Categories include favorite sushi bar, pizza restaurants, beach dining, local bands, and golf courses.

If you don’t like our nominations, you can write in your choices too. Thanks!

Beard Papa ’s, the Japanese cream puff chain that ignited a frenzy in LA when it opened last year, has opened its first O.C. store at MainPlace Mall’s food court in Santa Ana.

The store opened Aug. 10. For its first week, Beard Papa’s will give free limited edition thermoses to the first 50 people who buy a dozen cream puffs each day. Customers who buy a 6-piece box will also get a Beard Papa’s key chain. There will also be a chance to win one of seven $100 gift cards (1 drawing per day).

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Show with interesting concept opening this weekend - “6 Degrees of Separation” at Brea Art Gallery. Gallery director Thomas Ciganko invited artist Kim Abeles to be in the show and invite another artist. Abeles chose Chris Sicat, who in turn chose Tao Urban, and so on.

Eleven artists are in the show. (Others are Christopher Michlig, Annette Weisser, Katrin Pesch, Julie Lequin, Catherin Ross, Adam Frelin, Jon Rajkovich, Matthew Gerring)

The free opening reception will be on Saturday, Aug. 11, 7-9 p.m. The exhibition continues through Sept. 21.

I’ve never actually heard of any of these artists, other than Kim Abeles, whom I like. I’m curious to see if the relationships between the people will be reflected in the art.

The latest outpost of a small BBQ chain called Joey’s Smokin’ B-B-Q opened Monday at the Tustin Market Place. It’s where Crescent City used to be, next to where Tower Records used to be. (Um, is that too many “used tos”? OK, Joey’s is next to Jamba Juice in a strip of restaurants named “Palm Cafes.”

The SqueezeOC office got takeout today and tried the baby back ribs - half rack with a Kansas City-style sweet sauce, half rack with more vinegary, Carolina-style “wet” sauce - as well as the grilled tri tip sandwich, BBQ pulled chicken sandwich, and various sides.

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Yesterday was the last day here for our quiet and efficient intern, Claire. She left this with our editor.

– Jit Fong

First, there was mochi, the traditional glutinous rice cake from Japan. Then mochi went kid-friendly with mochi ice cream. Now, there’s mochilato, mochi stuffed with gelato. Los Angeles mochi giant Mikawaya plans to open 200-plus mochilato stores to sell its new products. The first franchise has opened in Irvine.

Mochilato
14310 Culver Drive, Suite E, Irvine
(949) 559-1116
10 a.m.-midnight daily. Credit cards accepted. Free wi-fi.

(Pictured here: peaches and cream in front, hazelnut chocolate behind. Sorry, the hazelnut one is a little dented. I had put my fork to it and was just about to cut it when I remembered to take a photo.) Read the rest of this entry »

Started catching up with art shows this weekend. (Been busy with planning for vacation, being on vacation, and recovering from vacation). Alex Gross has a great show at Grand Central Art Center. If you look at the painting below carefully, you can see that the faces of the women represent different Asian art styles from various decades.
Irvine Fine Arts Center has invited artists to install interesting site-specific works at the center. Show is called, duh, “Site Specific.” I especially loved the small room filled with drawings, paintings, and a moving assembly line of harbor/ocean-inspired work by Kiel Johnson of Wilmington. (Extreme right photo.)

– Jit Fong

I was shocked when I opened my fifth bacon packet to find Carlton Farms Dry Cured Canadian Style Bacon. Canadian bacon - it’s practically ham! I was disappointed, but cheered up a bit when I thought maybe it would be a pleasant change from the previous greasy bacons.

Carlton Farms is located in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range. Info from accompanying literature:

“Their Canadian bacon comes from the boneless center cut pork loin (”regular” bacon is made from the pork belly). They dry cure the loin with a mixture of salt and sugar for fifteen days and then smoke it over alder and hickory hardwood chips for at least eight hours.”

“Carlton’s Canadian bacon is packed unsliced. John Duyn says that “if you can cut a cube of butter, you can cut a piece of Canadian bacon!”

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Don’t think I want to buy a home or get a loan from these people.

By the way, I called the number and was told by a chirpy woman at the other end that their real estate agents can make 85% instead of the usual 6% commission because of “lower overhead.”

I haven’t blogged about bacon for the past two months, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been eating it!

Bacon #4 is Burger’s Jowl Bacon from Missouri. Bacon can be made from various cuts of the pig: belly, middle of the back, shoulder and cheek. Jowl bacon comes from the cheek and is very fatty – a big change from Bacon #3, which was relatively lean (and heavily, overly flavored with cinnamon.)
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