The octopus and pork belly salad from Aveo Table and Bar was a good pairing. One of the most refreshing bites that day was the hamachi mango jalapeno sorbet by Florent Marneau of Marche Moderne. The fresh fish with the kick of the cold mango sorbet really cooled me off a bit. Chef Pablo at The Dock surprised us with his salmon caviar bite with cucumber. Ceviche at A+O Kitchen came in a pull apart tin and the insides were so delicious with their tortilla chips. I know a lot of my favorites were seafood inspired, but my favorite bit of the day was the spinach cavatelli from Andrea Ristorante of the Pelican Hill Resort. The cavatelli was cooked perfectly and the saltiness from the sausage was a perfect pairing.
The Newport Beach Wine and Food Festival is such a great even in the heart of Newport Beach. I am excited to see what they will have next year!
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Jimmy’s Famous American Tavern, JFAT for short is one of those establishments turning out solid cuisine for a slightly higher price point. With the rapidly eastward growing city of Brea, JFAT is a nice addition to Village at La Floresta. Joining heavyweights like Mendocino Farms, Slapfish, Urban Plates, and Whole Foods, JFAT fits right in. We were lucky enough to get hosted by JFAT and had a chance to try some of their dishes. We also took home a bottle of their chipotle ketchup. No joke, this stuff is really delicious. I’d call it more of a BBQ sauce than a ketchup, and the sauce actually has a nice kick to it. It isn’t too sweet or smokey like a BBQ sauce, and it has some reminiscence of a ketchup. The kick from the chipotle peppers is really pronounced and is good with almost everything they have.
The Santa Fe Caesar salad was interestingly delicious. I usually like traditional caesars (with sardines and all), but the addition of the grilled corn gave a nice texture. Contrastingly, the avocados gave a nice creaminess. The southwestern flavors really punched up this salad. One thing I would change is the salad presentation. The dressing was on the bottom of the whole stock of Romaine and there wasn’t a lot of it. Either a half cut of the Romaine or more drizzle of the dressing on top and bottom would have helped.
This burger was massive and the flavors worked amazingly. The patty was cooked to a perfect medium. The bacon and onion rings gave a nice smokiness and depth of flavor — Shout out to the Double Western! The best part of this burger was that Anaheim chili. The pepper gave a nice flavor throughout the burger and balanced it out nicely. Honestly, we took some time finishing up other dishes and of course, taking pictures. Even so, the fries were crispy and the burger was juicy after sitting there for some time. 
The flatbread was quite a treat. The sweetness and saltiness really played well together. The pear and black fig jam made this “pizza” subtly sweet. The sharp blue cheese was needed as it made each bite creamy and funky. My favorite, the prosciutto was nice and salty to flavor the whole thing. The addition of arugula gave a nice rounded flavor to the whole dish.
Could this have been my favorite dish of at JFAT? The buttermilk fried chicken was last of our meal, but not the least. I’d like to have had actual bone in chicken pieces as the filets were kind of boring. What saved this dish was the garlic mashed potatoes and the addition of thyme gravy. The thyme gravy flavored the whole dish perfectly. In hind sight, the dish was missing something — I guess at the time, I didn’t know what it was. I think a nice dab of Louisiana hot sauce would have been a perfect pairing to bring everything together.
My experience at JFAT was an awesome one. The decor was a nice mix of old American tavern with modern accents. The staff was wonderful and the food was spectacular. JFAT is definitely the premiere eatery in the Village at La Floresta center. Their happy hour menu also seems to be something that everyone can enjoy. Their menu changes seasonally, so we definitely would be coming back to see what they have in store. 
