Greer's OC | The latest in Orange County fashion, dining, and trends.

Spiciest City

By Greer Wylder

August 29, 2014

We just discovered Spicy City in Anaheim Hills, an upscale Chinese restaurant with both American style Chinese foods and traditional Szechuan dishes to satisfy all tastes. The Anaheim Hills location was formerly Mandarin Taste and is now owned by Tony Xu who hails from Hunan, China. He's bringing a love for his mother’s cooking to Spicy City. He also has a location in Irvine on Culver Drive. Whether you want to stop by for a lunch buffet or order off the lunch and dinner menu, you can dine on Chinese favorites such as egg rolls, hot and sour soup, Kung…

Posh and Delicious Indian Cuisine

By Greer Wylder

August 20, 2014

The award-winning Tamarind of London at Crystal Cove Promenade isn’t just the most visually stunning contemporary Indian restaurant in OC, it’s also the sister restaurant to the Michelin ranked flagship location in London. And thanks to their wildly talented Executive Chef Imran Ali, a leader in the Modern Indian Cuisine movement who visits India every year to meditate and charge his culinary creativity, the menu offerings are delectable, some are vegetarian, vegan, gluten and dairy free. Even Los Angeles Times’ restaurant critic, Jonathan Gold named it the “Best Indian Food” of 2013 in Southern California. Chef Imran’s journeys inspire his…

Elevated Mexican Cuisine in OC

By Greer Wylder

August 20, 2014

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…

From Naples to Newport

By Greer Wylder

July 29, 2014

Pizza eateries are continuing to pop up in Orange County. On Friday, Blaze opened in Mission Viejo and Fresh Brothers Pizza opened in Newport Beach and Settebello just opened at Crystal Cove Promenade in Newport Beach. Named after a revered card in an Italian card game, Settebello could easily be one of the best looking Italian restaurants in Orange County, with its stunning indoor/outdoor space designed by Marshall Projects (who also designed LA hotspots Gjelina and Hinoki and The Bird.) The open-air space boasts a greenhouse like bar area, olive trees, classic Italian black and white films projected on a…

Fireside Tavern’s Fresh Summer Menu

By Greer Wylder

June 30, 2014

Acclaimed Chef Scott Brandon at Fireside Tavern, in the newly renovated Crowne Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa, just unveiled a new summer menu for lunch and dinner that’s all about fresh seasonal ingredients. At the classic American tavern with a modern feel, you can enjoy Chef Brandon's new lunch menu items such as Asparagus on Toast (roasted jumbo asparagus with extra virgin olive oil and lemon zest, served on grilled Rockenwagner raisin-walnut bread spread with Bellwether Farm’s ricotta cheese and topped with a soft poached organic egg and shaved Manchego cheese); Heirloom Tomato Bisque (prepared fresh in-house, a rich tomato…