Is TRADE, Irvine’s Newest Food Hall, an Improvement Over the Food Court It Replaced?

Fourth Street Market is a food hall not unlike most of the other new food halls in OC, honestly. But to me, it felt the most like a Singapore hawker center, where the stalls are actually single dish specialists focused on making that one thing...

If you encountered the Shwack Cantina at, say in Terminal B at John Wayne, you'd probably think its surf theme insincere—a parody of itself, much like what the airport's Hobie Sand Bar currently is. But here in San Clemente, the Shwack Beach...

SOCIAL (its CAPS, not ours) is not unlike every other new American restaurant I've seen open around these parts. Dish cloths are used as napkins. The burger is in the $10-to-$15 range. Fries are turned into poutine, and all of it is washed down by...

Heston Blumenthal—the three-Michelin-starred British chef—has a very elaborate recipe for fish and chips. To make the chips, he doesn’t just double-fry; he also cooks them three times. First, he boils the hand-cut potatoes. Then he dries and cools...

Mountain of mofongo, with shrimp. Photo by Edwin Goei At my count, there are, at best, seven Cuban restaurants spread out over Orange County. This is, after all, California, not Florida. We have no equivalent to Miami’s Calle Ocho, no dedicated...