OC Restaurant Week’s 10-Year Anniversary

For a solid decade Orange County Restaurant Week unleashed on Sunday, March 4. Over 100 restaurants dared to showcase their pre-fixe course menu items as their way to commemorate this 7-day eating spectacle.

The day before Sunday brought in OC Restaurant Week’s Launch Party inside the Marriott Irvine Spectrum. My boyfriend and I appreciatively attended the VIP 1st hour, which we savored minute by minute for just that 1 hour right before leaving for a family member’s baby shower.

That seemingly short visitation resulted in feeling physiologically full and gluttonously satisfied from the myriad bites and samples from 20 (of about 25) different vendors, including these personal favorites of mine:

The Veggie Puff Pastry from Skyloft in Laguna Beach

The Esquite from Puesto in Irvine

The fantastic Artichoke Beignets, Seared Salmon Filet, and Salted Caramel Pudding from Del Frisco’s Grille (also) in Irvine

The Jalapeno Mac & Cheese from JT Schmidt’s in Tustin

The consistently delicious Buffalo Cauliflower from Tackle Box in Corona Del Mar

And the scrumptious Fresh Atlantic Salmon Filet from Sundried Tomato (that, like last year’s event, have seemed to consistently wowed my palate) in southern San Juan Capistrano

Other vendors not necessarily presenting their food items strictly for OCRW but contently participating for the event included Blackmarket Bakery, Melissa’s Produce (which by the way has supplied their fresh produce to several restaurants representing OCRW), and San Pellegrino.

These morsels certainly left such a lasting fullness in my tummy that I felt guilty of barely consuming the foods served at that family member’s baby shower. Most of those samples indeed brought out the flavors needed to wow guests when ordering from the OCRW menu in these participating eateries.

In spite of munching indulgently from various vendors within one hour I am eager to dine particularly at this Costa Mesa restaurant before catching the new Cirque Du Soleil show. Thank you, OC Restaurant Week, for the incredibly fun and super eventful VIP launch party to celebrate your 10 years! And special thank you to my boyfriend, Simon, for assisting me to photograph some of the items posted in this entry.