Pizza & Pinot Wednesdays, 4-8 p.m. every Wednesday, at Palm Terrace Restaurant and Lounge in The Island Hotel, Newport Beach. Four specialty pizzas and choice of six Pinot Noirs.

Champagne Tasting, 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, at Bacchus Secret Cellar, Irvine. Sample Moet and Chandon champagnes to pick the best bubbly to toast to the New Year.

Wine Tastings, 5-9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, at WineStyles, Irvine. Sample various wines and appetizers.

Singles Night Wine Tasting, 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14, at WineStyles, Irvine. Mingle with other singles and taste a flight of seven new wines.

Wine & Jazz, 8-11 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14, at CasaVino Wine Bar, Long Beach. Wine tasting and live Jazz music by The Steve Harris Jazz Collective.

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Shakes will only be $1.60 (all flavors available); an original Ruby Burger will only be $2.15.

The celebration will also include live music by the Stompy Jones Band and a swing dancing demonstration from 4-7 p.m. The first 100 people to stop by the diner on Dec. 7 will receive a Ruby’s Diner 25th Anniversary commemorative pin.

The specially priced menu will be served from 7 a.m.-10 p.m. and take out will be available from 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

- KELLI SKYE

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So the local economy is supposedly tanking, companies are downsizing … and yet, life is GOOD when you can spend an afternoon sipping wine and tasting great cheeses of all shapes, textures, flavors and colors.

On Sunday, I checked out the final day of the first annual American Cheesemaker Awards gathering, a literal nirvana for foodies at the Fairmont Hotel in Newport Beach.

Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 15-18, the epicurean event brought together top local and national chefs, taste experts and purveyors, and 25 cheesemakers from California, Idaho, Indiana, New York, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin showing off their excellent artisanal cheeses.

There was an official judging and awards dinner, and a series of “Cheese Academy” classes, open to the public, where the best of Orange County’s taste experts, like Napa Rose executive chef Andrew Sutton, Sapphire Pantry cheese monger Starr Cornwall and The Island Hotel’s executive chef Bill Bracken, offered tips and lessons on cooking with cheese and pairing it with other foods and wine.

But the ultimate reason to be there was to TASTE some 100 of these amazing cheeses. What an incredible feeling to pick up a wine glass, a small plate and napkin, and then walk into a huge tent to see table after table of cheddar, mozzarella, goat cheese, plus perfect pairing goodies from Bristol Farms’ bounty, from fig spread to olives to truffle butter (sinfully indulgent!).

My top discoveries:
1. Fiscalini Farmstead cheese from Modesto: specifically, the nutty, buttery, perfect San Joaquin Gold, which was “intended to be a fontina but developed into a unique cheese” as their literature put it; and the Vintage Bandaged Cheddar, a classic English style, aged 18 months for a lovely sharp taste that’s smooth on the finish.
I was especially enamored of cheesemaker Mariano Gonzalez, who took me over to a larger display of the bandage-wrapped cheddar and proudly explained that every day for two months, he turns the wrapped cheese upside down to stabilize the moisture and promote even growth of mold to create the rind underneath the cloth. “This is my baby,” Mariano said with a smile.
The “baby” actually loses weight as it ages and firms up, dropping from 60 pounds to about 55 pounds by the end of the 18 months.
Both cheeses won American Cheesemaker Awards, the San Joaquin Gold for “Best Hard Cow’s Milk Cheese,” the Vintage Bandaged for “Best Firm Cow’s Milk Cheese.”

2. Beecher’s cheese (pictured in the lead photo) is handmade at Pike Place Market in Seattle, one of my favorite places. Beecher’s signature Flagship (billed as “Wine’s best friend”) won the “Best Semi Hard Cow’s Milk Cheese” award. It’s hearty, nutty and would taste great in an omelette or simply with some crusty bread.

3. The Aged Cardona and Cocoa Cardona (aged and rubbed with that rich dark powder), goat cheeses from 105-year-old Carr Valley Cheese in Wisconsin. These are firmer cheeses, aged to taste closer to cheddar than the fresh Chevre usually associated with goat’s milk.

4. Grill cheese directly on a non-stick skillet for a mouth-watering treat — especially if it’s the creamy, mild but flavorful Jersey cow cheddar from the Ballard Family’s Idaho dairy. Steve Ballard showed us how simple it is, and Stacie served up the grilled pieces dipped in lemon, balsamic vinegar and other tasteful accompaniments.

The best news: you can find all of the above cheeses at Bristol Farms (in fact, apparently Carr Valley and Ballard inked deals with the gourmet grocery during the event).

And learning that there are domestic cheesemakers that can compete with the Europeans made me proud to be an American.

With Azmin Ghahreman, the enthusiastic, brilliant chef-owner of Sapphire Laguna & Pantry leading this cheese fest as event chairman, I knew the quality would be nothing but top-notch. But it was even better than expected, and many of the cheesemakers confirmed this, saying they didn’t know what to expect and ultimately were impressed with the attention to detail and quality of participants and crowd.

I’d say the only thing that verged on “cheesy” in its negative connotation were these cheese carvings:

… though, there definitely is some impressive craftsmanship, especially in the turkey!

For more on the American Cheesemaker Awards, including a full list of winners, go to the event web site.

For more on cheese and the best local cheese shops, check out this Party Gal column.

For the Orange County Register’s Monday news story on the event, click here.

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We’re letting YOU decide this year’s Best and Worst Halloween candy.

Vote within the categories below or add your own to the list.

The results will appear in the Life, Etc. section of the Orange County Register on Monday, Oct. 29 and online at www.squeezeoc.com.

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For 12 days you voted for your favorites in Music, Nightlife, Shopping, Recreation/ Leisure. Find the winners by clicking here.

And just for fun, we at SqueezeOC compiled our Top 2 Dubious Distinction Awards:

Tattoos we’re tired of:

1. Sparrows

2. Tribal bands

SqueezeOC covers that pissed people off:

1. Rockabilly (June 29, 2007)

A calm but clearly irate caller from Corona del Mar took issue with the “transgender … with a whip” on the cover. To hear the call, go the SqOC box, “Loves us or hates us?” on the MP3 player.

2. Handball (June 22, 2006).

Armpit hair – ‘nuff said.

Degen’s baked goods

1. Cinnamon rolls

2. Apple pie

Zylius’ best sound effects

1. Chewbacca yawn

2. Squeeze ball squirt

Directives from the boss

1. “Come smoke a hookah.”

2. “Hey Steve, just buy a mannequin off the Internet.”

Expensed items

1. Mannequin (Jenny, our beloved silent staff member)

2. Ball and chain (a replica, natch)

Covers that almost were

1. A giant potato (we actually bought a 2-pounder!) on a couch with a party hat for New Year’s issue

2. Fire eater for Hot issue

Photogenic SqueezeOC staffers

1. TIE: Devin and Courtney

Popular keywords at SqueezeOC.com

1. “Jessica Peralta”

2. “Restaurants”

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I was reminded of this at the opening party this week for the new Melting Pot restaurant in Brea, the third Orange County location (Irvine and San Clemente are the other sites).

I’ve always loved the traditional Swiss cheese fondue at Melting Pot (Grùyere and Emmenthaler Swiss cheeses blended with white wine, garlic, lemon and even a bit o’ nutmeg), but at this party, I was introduced to the Wisconsin Trio ( Fontina, Butterkäse and Buttermilk Bleu stirred up with white wine, scallions and a hint of sherry). Yeah, sure, you betcha - I’m a sworn cheesehead after tasting that luscious blend.

But when it comes to the chocolates, I can’t pick a favorite. All of them are blissful - the raspberry dark chocolate, the silky white chocolate swirled with Disaronno Amaretto, the Cookies ‘n CreamMarshmallow Dream … with big, fat strawberries to dunk in them.

Is your mouth watering yet? Go treat yourself to fun-due this weekend. The new Brea location is right in the happenin’ downtown, at 375 Birch St., across the promenade from Club 330. Take a date and you’ll get romantic for sure, with all those natural aphrodisiacs: cheese, chocolate and wine.

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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).

Excerpts from the press release:

Internationally known for their vanilla cream-filled treats, Beard Papa’s cream puffs consist of a two-layer shell. The inner shell is a choux pastry shell and the outer part is a piecrust. It is this specially-structured shell that makes Beard Papa’s cream puffs so unique. The crunchy puffs are baked fresh each day and filled with a special, secret recipe of whipped cream custard. The custard is created with handpicked vanilla beans from Madagascar, which can actually be seen in the custard filling. Customers clamor for these mouth-watering delicacies, which are sprinkled with powdered sugar and ready to eat immediately (puffs are free of preservatives).

Beard Papa is a fictional character that brands the Japanese pastry chain. Beard Papa’s operates in China, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and now in the United States with: 4 locations in New York City; 12 locations in California; 7 locations in Hawaii; 1 in Massachusetts and 1 location in New Jersey. Muginoho, Inc., the parent company of Beard Papa, opened its first U.S. store in New York in March 2004 and its first West Coast store in Hollywood in 2005. They are aggressively continuing to expand the Beard Papa’s chain with more locations in the United States within the next two years.

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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.

Early thoughts - Of all the items, I liked the ribs best. The meat was well cooked - tender and spicy. Not huge on the sauces. Though one sauce was supposed to be sweet and the other vinegary, they were more similar than different to me. Both were very sweet, with not much smokiness or punch. I enjoyed both, it’s just that I prefer the multitude of sauces at Smokin’ Mos.

The chicken in the sandwich was moist and flavorful, and I liked the soft bread. The tri tip was slightly tough though. Not bad, but I’ve had better. Overall, I would say Joey’s is pretty good, but not among my top 5 faves in Orange County, though that could change if I try more items on the menu.

Joey’s Smokin’ BBQ
2933 El Camino Real, Tustin (The Market Place)
(714) 544-4106
www.joeyssmokinbbq.com

Joey’s Smokin’ BBQ started in 2005 and is owned and operated by Joey Maggiore, LA Laker Luke Walton (there’s a Cajun burger named after him) and Director of Business Development Chris Walton.

There are other restaurants at Manhattan Beach, Carlsbad, Carmel Valley, and Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. According to the Web site, more are coming in Hunting Beach (sic - I think they mean Huntington Beach?), Mission Valley, Poway, Point Loma, Eastlake, Hollywood and Hermosa Beach.

Have you tried Joey’s Smokin’ BBQ yet? If so, please comment to let us know what you think.

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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.)

Irvine’s Mochilato opened on Wednesday Aug. 1. By chance, I drove past while looking for a coffee drink after visiting Irvine Fine Arts Center on Friday. If you’ve had mochi ice cream before, then you’ll know exactly what mochilato tastes like - same, but with slightly lighter ice cream in the center. Each little mochilato is $1.25. Tried the hazelnut and peaches and cream - pretty good. Gelato sans mochi is available, and a yogurt machine is coming in soon. There are big tables here and a patio so you can sit and enjoy your dessert. On my next visit, I’ll be sure to try the shaved ice, a dessert topped with gelato of your choice and an red bean paste. ($5.25 and up)

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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!”

The “bacon” came in one unsliced hunk. The accompanying recipe was for a breakfast pizza. We weren’t too excited about putting egg on a pizza though, so we decided to make a regular ham/pepper/mozzarella cheese pizza with tomato paste on Boboli crust instead. Sam sliced the Canadian bacon and gently fried it on the stovetop before putting it on the pizza.

The pizza turned out well. It’s pretty fool-proof if you think about it. The Canadian bacon was good, very lean, veering on tough. It wasn’t particularly flavorful. We felt it didn’t add a ton, like we could have used sausage or pepperoni, and the pizza would have probably been better.

We wondered if we overcooked the Canadian bacon. So days later, when I made a quiche with the bacon, I just cut it into cubes and threw it into the pie plate.

The quiche turned out fine, but the Canadian bacon seemed even denser and tougher than before. Maybe I should have cut it into even small pieces.

I’m over it. Next bacon, please.

Previous bacon posts:

• Bacon #4: Burger’s Jowl Bacon
• Bacon #2, Swiss Meat & Sausage Co. Honey Bacon, and Bacon #3, Father’s Hickory Smoked Cinnamon-Sugar Bacon.
• Bacon #1, Petit Jean Ham Ozark Hickory Smoked Bacon Ham I Am.
• Bacon of the month club welcome kit.

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