Twisted Vine - Fullerton, California

Address: 127 W Commonwealth Ave, Fullerton, CA 92832

Items Ordered:

• Baked brie sourdough bowl - **must order**
• Grilled turkey panini w/ brie, sundried tomatoes, mustard, mayo, and pesto
• Beef empanadas served with a creamy chipotle sauce
• Jumbo lump crab cakes w/ bacon & served w/ creole honey mustard
• Nutella panini w/ bananas & strawberries
• Stuffed french toast empanadas served w/ a strawberry champagne compote

I can't believe I haven't blogged about Twisted Vine yet. Their baked brie bowl is one of the most amazing things I've ever stuffed in my face (or eaten in a very slow and ladylike manner...I'll let your imagination decide). Besides that, the beef empanadas are deliciously savory, and you can't go wrong with nutella anything. There's always been ample sitting room, friendly employees, plus a wide selection of wines at a reasonable price. What I'm saying is...go there now! It might be crazy (at 8 in the morning), but if you do, don't forget to call me maybe?

--y

L.A. Wine Fest Food Trucks - Los Angeles, CA

Address: 5300 Melrose Ave (Raleigh Studios) Hollywood, CA (Jun 9-10, 2012)

Items Ordered:

• Dogtown Dogs - CA dog: avocado, arugula, basil aioli, tomato & fried onions; cheesy tots
• No Tomatoes! - chicken tikka masala
• Tainamite - papaya salad w/ shrimp; sweet potato fries
• Sweet Wheels Dessert Truck - ricotta puffs w/ tangerine cream

I love wine. I love food more. I love them both exponentially better together on a nice sunny day in L.A. Thus, the L.A. Wine Fest was destined to be a success! Some of my favorite wines were the 2010 Napa Chardonnay from Frank Family Wines, the 2006 Redwood Valley Syrah from Frey Organic Winery, the Gewürztraminer from Pyrenees Vineyard & Cellars, and the Honey Pie from Cielo Estate Winery--now I'll never forget next time I'm at BevMo scratching my head in the middle of an aisle. 

With that said, it's much too dangerous to drink on an empty stomach (or without chocolate, cheese, or friends for that matter) so luckily there were plenty of food trucks abound to help soak up the alcohol. I really loved the papaya salad with delicious grilled, bursty shrimps from Tainamite, and their sweet potato fries didn't disappoint either. My second favorite was definitely the ricotta puffs that weren't too greasy and the accompanying scrumptious tangerine cream. Dogtown dogs was standard American food fare so I wasn't too impressed, and unfortunately the chicken was kind of dry in the tikka masala from the No Tomatoes! truck AND the sauce was perhaps too tangy? I'll stick w/ Mayura restaurant in Culver City for my chicken tikka masala fix.

Overall, the L.A. Wine Fest a was great experience, and I hope to see you double fisting there in 2013! :)

--y