Disneyland’s Pixar Fest Experience on Labor Day

September 4, 2018Fia La Rose Leave a comment

This is how the boyfriend and I spent my valued Labor Day Monday: visiting Disneyland Resort at its regular 1st hour of opening, then delving into Disney’s California Adventure with a sugar high before spontaneously lunching at the Park.

Since Disney’s Pixar Fest partied its last day on Labor Day, we 1st celebrated and indulged during breakfast hours with:

The Pixar Pier Frosty Parfait served in non-dairy Lemon soft serve and an icy swirl of Blue Raspberry. Taste-wise the lemon alone was all that’s needed for the flavorful moment, while the blue raspberry simply looked rather stunning.

The boyfriend couldn’t stop being curious about the Jack-Jack Cookie Num Num located right behind the entrance of the Incredicoaster. Sized bigger than the palm of my 5-Footer hand, I was glad I did not pass and say “no” for my partner to buy and bite into this luscious, soft, crumbly “deep dish” chocolate chip cookie. Had I not prematurely finished my iced coffee, I would have easily stomached this morsel before we eventually moved onto the Disneyland Park side.

While gratefully seating at Cafe Orleans at the 11 o’clock hour, I imbibed on the 1/2 pomegranate lemonade, 1/2 iced tea beverage before I lavishly engorged on Pixar Fest’s 3-Course Meal from the aforementioned restaurant.

Thanks to this Specialty Cheese Flight, my drink was included for the course. Based on the arrangement we figured that the complements would be Fourme D’Ambert blue cheese and dried apricots; Bucheron Goat Cheese and dried cranberries; and P’tit Basque Sheep Milk Cheese and dried figs. The best combination we nibbled on was baa-sking with the fancy fruit — who figured — with hints of candied walnut and/or silky honeycomb.

The familiar-looking, colorful Shrimp Ratatouille Byaldi helped digest my previous intake of that sugar-laden cookie due to its rich tomato base and tender slices of roasted zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, and of course the notably red one.

Finally dessert was Berry-Stuffed Beignets a la mode topped with sweet Brie drizzle and mascarpone ice cream. Feeling that I over-maximized the amount of sugar I consumed that day, I frankly took 2 bites of this mildly sweet sensation before I hurriedly pushed this cup to my significant other.

We wrapped up our Disneyland Resort visit after lunch to go onward with other shenanigans, but that Labor Day morning was well spent both from our wallets and our #fiamonventures time. Pixar Fest, it was a cordial pleasure to enjoy and have fun with!

#disneyland #pixarfest #laborday2018 #anaheim #disneylandfood

Pizza and Beyond at Mountain Mike’s Pizza

June 28, 2018Fia La Rose Leave a comment

My appetite towered over Mountain Mike’s Pizza during Memorial Day Weekend at Lake Forest, CA, which is Irvine’s next door neighbor.

My boyfriend and his brother tagged along with me, unknowingly what we would be facing: a buffet full of salad, carbs, protein, and fat — or a mountainous array of items. It turned out that we appreciatively received the latter with a lovely side of salad (in unlimited portions) from the self-serve salad bar.

While waiting for the main course to be baked, we noshed on our customized veggies from the salad bar and imbibed on our drinks from a likewise self-serve soda station. The 1st indulgence to arrive was the warm Garlic Cheese Sticks topped with zingy jalapeno. That entire, irresistibly scrumptious plate of it would have been a sole meal had I not encountered the pizza or the upcoming poultry.

Our main source of meat came from these sinful yet juicy and equally tasty Hot Wings that are more enormously sized than a typical platter. But suddenly, the Snowy Alps pizza took its full course into our hungry sights and eager bellies.

At 14 inches this pie was already a hunk, piled magnanimously with garlic white sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and scallions. Our tummies were able to hang into at least 1 delicious, lofty slice, noting the adamant creaminess from both the cheese and the garlic white sauce. If this portion seems too entry-level for a voracious family, the whopping 20″ Mountain size may easily cling well.

Of course the dessert interval had to come by. The Dessert Pizza was terrifically soft with a just a fabulous, fragrant touch of cinnamon. I honestly salivated just by typing about this fascinating spice.

Although we conquered half of the bountiful lunch, the remaining became effortlessly devoured as leftovers, which then brings onto the next climb: burning these high calories. But observing the wowed look on the brothers’ eyes while lunching together (which has recently occurred more often than before) was worthwhile of the weekend indulgence.

***Monumental thank you to Powerhouse Communications and Raj from Mountain Mike’s in Lake Forest for the abundant lunch feat***

Mountain Mike’s Pizza

22942 Ridge Rte Dr #100

Lake Forest, CA 92630

(949) 586-4141

mountainmikespizza.com

#mediatasting #foodblogger #foodphotographer #orangecounty #pizza

Springtime at Yogurtland: Review of the Spring Flavors

May 1, 2018Fia La Rose Leave a comment

Still in the midst of spring I tasted generous dollops of the 3 new Yogurtland flavors commemorating the blooming season.

These seasonal treats feature the eye-catching Soft Serve Sea Salt Caramel, the playful White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, and the fancifully tart Pear Hibiscus. From these 3 I’ll be recapping them individually, in which 1 of them would hopefully still linger past springtime.

Admiring a tart frozen yogurt in general, the sprightly Pear Hibiscus Tart brought in such a bright, overpowering tartness thanks to the subtleties of pear and hibiscus flower/extract. My boyfriend cannot stand tart frozen yogurt, so I nonchalantly finished the entire cupful of fruit plus calcium and Fruity Pebbles.

To be frank my boyfriend cleverly poured both the Sea Salt Caramel and White Chocolate — separately, not swirled together — during this rather impromptu dessert date. The latter flavor scored well with its lusciousness, gloating its essence with plops of cheesecake bites and white chocolate chips. However, the warm-colored, real-deal former impressed me; this definitely would be 1 of my fave flavors for non-tart frozen yogurt. I felt that it could almost disguise itself as typical soft serve ice cream, but it humbly carried itself as a frozen yogurt. As a side note: there are 2 distinct soft serve ice creams at Yogurtland, i.e. the Creamy Vanilla and Rich Chocolate.

Don’t just take my word about these 3 spring flavors. My favorite part about visiting Yogurtland is asking for sample cups before committing to a logarithmic amount of frozen yogurt customized your own way.

***Shout out to C-Squared PR for the sweet treats and the reignited infatuation of sea salt caramel!***

#yogurtland #desserts #mediatasting

The Yogurtland location I visited: 5972 Orangethorpe Ave, Buena Park, CA 90623

yogurt-land.com

Lazy Dog Cafe’s Spring 2018 Menu

March 29, 2018Fia La Rose Leave a comment

I had the greatest pleasure of eating and photo-shooting the newest Lazy Dog Cafe dishes for Spring 2018, which has 25 locations throughout the USA. These courses are available to order starting March 28, 2018.

More than sampling or most likely gorging on the featured foods, Co-Founder Gabriel Caliendo spent valuable time chatting and describing to us guests how these foods came into fruition and eventually be set for this season.

The items I’ve consumed (hugely or minutely) included:

The instantly addicting Onion Dip

The exciting Street Corn Wheels

The mellow Burrata + Heirloom Tomato Crisp flatbread

The invigorating Burrata + Roasted Beet Salad

The unexpectedly wholesome and delicious BBQ Veggie Burger, in which the patty is meshed with black beans and ancient grains

The deconstructed yet filling Veggie Burger Bowl (the chopped patty containing the same ingredients as the previous)

The delightful Grilled Lemon Chicken, hiding underneath this scrumptious cauliflower mash and tahini sauce on the side along with the sauteed green beans topped with unassuming almond-walnut crumble

The sinful Peach Raspberry Hand Pie, which was consumed the quickest out of all of the presented dishes

And the gluten-sensitive yet proudly tasty Lemon Cake, with almond flour as one of the main ingredients and surrounded by a velvety huckleberry moat

I could not forget mentioning some of the cocktails introduced to the menu, such as this virgin Watermelon Margarita. If I didn’t head straight to my day job right after, the virginity would have disappeared. The adult version has a punch of Azul Reposada Tequila.

But I took a small, curious sip of the Honey Thyme Old Fashioned, with this quality-oriented and smooth Buffalo Trace Bourbon which I became quite infatuated — since bourbon or its “father” whiskey normally does not fall under Fia’s favorite alcoholic drinks.

Yet when I sipped into something like a certain favorite cocktail of Fia’s, such as the Huckleberry Mule, the more temptation pinched me harder. Don’t worry, folks: I kicked it away.

Though temptation followed me back with this Pineapple Mojito, and yet again I kicked it further into the kitchen.

Frankly these foods and drinks satisfied my taste buds that I’m anticipating a revisit and happily introducing my good friends to these colorfully enticing items. Of course their fluffy fur children are welcome to join us.

*Huge thank you to C-Squared PR for this amazing #mediatasting at Lazy Dog Cafe

Lazy Dog Cafe

Various locations

Media tasting at the Brea location: 240 S State College Blvd, Brea, CA 92821

OC Restaurant Week’s 10-Year Anniversary

March 8, 2018Fia La Rose Leave a comment

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.