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Elevated Mexican Cuisine in OC

08.20.14

Taco Maria, the one time famed taco food truck that easily served the best tacos in Orange County and beyond (we’ll never forget the roasted pumpkin tacos), has been on a metamorphosis ever since it opened its first brick and mortar restaurant at SoCo in Costa Mesa last August.

With a Chef/Owner like Carlos Salgado, whose culinary career included working at Coi in San Francisco, and opening Michelin starred restaurant Commis in Oakland, he was destined to expand his culinary genius beyond tacos. It’s been a year of Chef Selgado preparing his self-proclaimed “Chicano cuisine” influenced by Mexican and American cultures and always brilliant.

We’re talking dishes such as shrimp tacos in a squid ink tortilla; a sopa de chicharrón with asparagus, spring garlic, pork skin, meyer lemon and cream, and the likes of guinea hen, stuffing and mole.

The latest update at Taco Maria is that they’ve extended hours and are offering more than the four-course chef’s menu, there’s an a la carte dinner menu on Tuesday and Wednesday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. and a brunch service on Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

The a la carte dinner menu includes tacos and small plates, and the original four-course prix fixe menu will continue to be offered Thursday – Saturday.

On the new a la carte dinner menu, you can can expect dishes like Torreados: charred padron peppers, almond, chile, lemon, and pork powder; Gazpacho with spot prawn, early girl tomato, Persian cucumber, and Baja olive oil; Aguachile: Pacific albacore, watermelon, avocado, serrano, and citrus; and more. The taco selection, all served on housemade tortillas, will include Jardineros with shiitake mushroom chorizo, crispy potato, and queso fundido; Mole de Pollo: Jidori chicken, ancho-almond mole, queso fresco, and onion pickle; and Carnitas with Berkshire pork belly, onion pickle, and salda de aguacate; and more.

The new brunch menu offerings includes Mollettes with  grilled sourdough, black beans, queso fresco, roasted tomato, huitlacoche butter; or  Melones Con Chile with summer melons, yogurt, honey, chile, lime, salt; and Chacales with Anson Mills heirloom grits, roasted figs, vanilla butter; or Ricotta Pancakes with Andy’s Orchard peaches, ricotta, lemon thyme maple.

There are also Chilaquiles with crispy tortilla, chile cascabel, queso fresco, fried egg (with chicken confit or mushroom chorizo) or Huevos Rancheros and hanger steak, early girl tomato, cattle beans, poached egg. Three courses cost $32.

Side dishes include grilled bacon with piloncillo; or crispy potatoes, roasted onions, chile, queso.

Open 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday; open 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday. Open 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

3313 Hyland Ave. in Costa Mesa. 714.538.8444.

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Hearts of Montage

08.20.14

You can help save three lives by donating blood at the Hearts of Montage Red Cross Blood Drive on Thursday, August 21 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Grand Ballroom III at Montage Laguna Beach.

Donors just bring a photo ID and you can sample fresh fruit and delicious cookies prepared by the pastry chefs at Montage Laguna Beach. Valet parking will be complimentary for all donors. There are three ways to sign up for the blood drive: sign up online at RedCrossBlood.org, sponsor code MontageLB; email Laura Rudd at laura.rudd@redcross.org or call Hearts of Montage at 949.715.6208.

Participants will receive a coupon for 2 tickets to the Long Beach Laugh Factory (2 drink minimum) and 50% off selected games for the San Diego Padres.

Montage Laguna Beach is at 30801 S. Coast Highway in Laguna Beach.

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