Taco Bell Cantina just opened in Newport Beach, a tiny wedge of an eatery standing tall and proud next to Stag Bar on 22nd St. off W. Balboa Blvd. (Yes, it’s in the same location as the now-defunct Original Pizza and yes, its presence represents the encroaching maniacal claws of rampant consumerism on our small,…
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Morning’s fingers released their grip on the day and the early fog that had settled on the shore lifted, finally. It was bright outside, or brighter than it had been. I stood in a space large but inviting, decorated with white canopied tents that filled with wind and looked like sails along the water. A…
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The road to Big Bear, CA, for those who have never been, is a tale of paved un-expectation. What begins as a characterless, fifty-three lane freeway—rough estimate—soon turns to a thin, serpentine course that twines around rippling, green-pine landscape licked by slow-moving fog and then, sunshine. It’s so crazy beautiful to twist your way up…
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“5:30.” “In the morning?” “Yes. And everyone showed up.” I was sitting in the corner booth at Newport Beach’s latest bay-side dining experience, Lido Bottle Works, about to dive into an expertly seared halibut set before me moments before by Executive Chef Joel Harrington. From what I could already tell, the chef commands his kitchen with…
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