Event - True Food Kitchen Media Dinner

I have a giveaway for you readers! Well that's not the point of this post but I figured I'd bring it to your attention lest you miss out on this opportunity. More information is at the bottom. Anyhow, I was luckily invited to a tasting of True Food Kitchen's menu with highlights on popular food items and features of seasonal dishes (this was the one in Newport Beach). My thanks to Allison and the rest who had me and others there - it was my second time to True Food Kitchen and I was quite excited. We all shared a long table with communal bowls of varied crudites to pick at (hence the intro photo!).


Duc and I had actually gotten there before the place had set up the media preview table, so we were directed to start off at the bar. If you've never been to True Food Kitchen, it's quite the expansive space with several areas in which you could stake your claim - table seating, patio seating, bar seating, and special wine room seating. The bar offerings featured healthy drinks with some alcoholic additions. Duc had the Spontaneous Happiness (ginger & vanilla infused shochu, Thatcher's elderflower, and fresh lime), a bubbly, zesty drink with enough power to give you a kickstart to your day/evening. I went the non-alcoholic route and had a Medicine Man (sea buckthorn, pomegranate, cranberry, black tea, and soda) which was not joking around in calling itself an antioxidant blast.


Family-style appetizers for the table were their Thai shrimp dumplings (with basil, mint, and jalapeno), herb hummus (tomato, onion, & Feta), and edamame dumplings (with daikon sprouts and white truffle oil). The Thai shrimp dumplings were plump with their large pieces of shrimp and succulence. The herb hummus was fairly standard fare in terms of hummus as were the pieces of pita. My favorite was the dish of edamame dumplings though because they were creamy, smooth, and healthy - the daikon sprouts really added a nice, micro-crunch to each lovely morself and the dumpling "skin" was the perfect texture.


A round of two salads came our way afterward: the Farmer's Market (kale, Romaine, carrot, beet, broccoli, radish, avocado, Manchego cheese, and champagne vinaigrette) and the Harvest Chopped (squash, apple, pomegranate, walnut, goat cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette). Both salads were oh so plentiful in fresh ingredients but I found myself more happily munching on the latter due to its pomegranate pop and gorgeous goat cheese. The first one had several delightful elements in it contributed to by the sweetness of the beets, the buttery-ness of the avocado, and the savoriness from the Manchego. However, roasted squash in a salad with some crisp apples and crunchy walnuts made the Harvest Chopped a winner between the two in my eyes. Either way, great salads each.


Two examples of their entree offerings made their way to our table; they were the Panang Curry with Tofu (brown rice, potato, broccoli, ginger, carrot, mushroom, and coconut shellfish broth) and the Grilled Albacore Tuna Sliders (wasabi aioli, radish, avocado, and cucumber) paired with their Tuscan Kale Salad (lemon, Parmesan, and bread crumbs) and butternut squash. The curry was a real crowd pleaser as its slow burn seeped its way into our mouths only after we had coated our tongues in the milky, flavorful broth...and yet, the burn was welcome because it made us remember why exactly the spices were there. The sliders had thick slabs of well-seasoned grilled albacore that were complemented with the kick of wasabi aioli. Everyone seemed to also love the Tuscan kale salad, a simple dish that had enough of a personality to win us over.


When it seemed like we were all about to burst, the lively waiters swept up and out the dinner utensils and replaced the dinnerware with three different desserts - the Squash Pie (with coconut whipped cream), Flourless Chocolate Cake (72% cocoa, vanilla ice cream, and caramel), and Apple Crisp (with pecan maple ice cream). The coconut whipped cream proved to be a lovely way to top squash pie; it was subtle in flavor, yielding to the rich spiced pie that was quite similar to a pumpkin pie. The chocolate cake was surprisingly dense in flavor despite being fairly light in texture. Ice cream is always a great thing to pair with a baked dessert. As for the apple crisp, well...I had had it before and it was good then so most definitely good now with its crunchy granola and nut crust and the soft, cinnamony apple pieces.


If you aren't familiar with True Food Kitchen, it "is a healthy eatery with a menu designed in collaboration with Dr. Andrew Weil, True Food Kitchen Executive Chef Michael Stebner and restaurateur and owner of Fox Restaurant Concepts Sam Fox." For Newport Beach, a new Executive Chef, Matt Tobin, has entered the scene and continues delivering at that location in the True Food Kitchen way. The menu is vegetarian/vegan-friendly and full of local, seasonal good eats. You should drop by sometime...with (and even without) the help of a giveaway gift card!

I have two $25 gift cards to give away for True Food Kitchen. Winners will be by random pick and announced Thursday! Please include your full name in your comment. Good luck!

Ways to enter (1 entry allowed per method; three entries maximum per person):

1. Comment on this post on what food you would order
2. Comment on Facebook on who you would take with you
3. Comment on Twitter on which picture you liked best

Photography by Duc Duong. More photos available on Facebook.