Greer's OC

While Haven Gastropub in Old Towne Orange turns three, beer lovers can celebrate by tasting its latest foray of producing small-batch, house-crafted beers tonight from 6 to close. For the first time, Haven Gastropub is launching Haven Brewing in Orange County. It's natural progression for the first gastropub in Orange that takes bar food and beers seriously.  Guests can sample 10 signature beers from their micro-production all crafted at the brewery inside Haven Gastropub + Brewery in Old Pasadena.

Order 5-ounce tasters (priced $2-$4, depending on beer), and pair them with a special menu featuring items from Haven Gastropub, taco asylum and Burger Haven created by Executive Chef Greg Daniels.

During the tasting event, Haven Brewing will present all nine of its house-produced beers, including "Hello World," an American Pale Ale (6.3% ABV) that debuted in March 2012. Haven Brewmaster’s David Larsen will discuss the making of each house-crafted beer, and plans for distribution. Other beers available include upRYEsing ($2 taster); Hafen Hefe ($2 taster); Gross National Happiness ($2 taster); Diana Brown ($2 taster); Brewmaster's Breakfast ($2 taster); 100 Rubles ($3 taster or 10 oz pour for $6)
Sosigenes ($3 taster or 16 oz pour for $7); Brewmaster's Breakfast on Oak ($4 taster or 10 oz pour for $8); 100 Rubles on Oak ($4 taster or 10 oz pour for $8).

11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. Walk-ins welcome. 190 S. Glassell St. in Old Towne Orange. 714.221.0680. [url=http://www.havengastropub.com]http://www.havengastropub.com[/url]

Learn to Cook!

Chef Kim at Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale's South Coast Plaza can teach you how to cook with a healthy lifestyle in mind on Wednesday at 6 p.m., and you can enjoy the finished product too.

While focusing on delicious and healthy cooking techniques, Kim will share his knowledge of how to choose the freshest produce and prepare pasta, fish, and poultry dishes. 

The cooking demonstration will start with an amuse of compressed bitter melon. Then the first course will start with a grilled herb marinated branzino seaweed salad, kelp noodles, and crispy nori, paired with La Cana, Albarino, Riax Biaxis, Spain, 2011. The entrée will be a shallow poached Mary's Organic chicken breast quinoa, dried apricot, sautéed baby bok choy, balsamic tomato basil vinaigrette with Petalos Del Bierzos, Bierzo, Spain, 2009.

The side dishes will include ratatouille and fusilli; and dessert will end the meal with an eggless lime curd with aloe vera, gula melaka, and tofu gelato.

The demonstration and dinner costs $85 per person. For reservations call 714.352.2525 or email reservations@charliepalmer.com. Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale’s South Coast Plaza is at 3333 Bristol St. in Costa Mesa.
 

New Locations for the Habit

Since 1969, The Habit has been serving char-grilled burgers to generations of fans who appreciate their solid and tasty made to order burgers. Now the concept is expanding in Orange County with four new restaurants opening in Huntington Beach in mid- September, followed by San Clemente, Costa Mesa and Irvine. The Habit already has five locations in Orange County including Aliso Viejo, Anaheim Hills, Fullerton, Lake Forest, and Santa Ana.

The Habit offers more than most fast casual burger eateries, it serves a signature, open-flame-grilled Charburger, starting at just $2.95, and variety of menu items including five sandwiches, six entrée salads, sweet potato fries, onion rings and French fries, as well as handmade shakes, malts, sundaes and vanilla ice cream cones for just $1.  Favorite menu items include the Charburger with BBQ sauce and bacon, the hand-filleted albacore tuna sandwich with teriyaki glaze, the chicken Caesar salad, crispy onion rings and the delicious chicken club sandwich.

The Huntington Beach restaurant will be in the former Tommy Pastrami at Beach Boulevard near Talbert Street; San Clemente’s Habit will be at 638 Camino del los Mares, formerly a Carl’s Jr.; and in Costa Mesa, The Habit will be on Adams Avenue, near Harbor Boulevard. The Irvine location is not known yet.
For more information, visit [url=http://www.habitburger.com]http://www.habitburger.com[/url].