Sunday, September 25, 2011

Gourmet Pizza Shoppe


 
Virginia and I decided to take a ride up to Redlands and visit The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe. Though I have been here before, this time I am going to write about it. The Gourmet Pizza Shoppe is a pretty unassuming place that looks like the inside belongs outside. It is kind of strange with one wall looking like the front of a building from a TV set. What it lacks for décor is surly makes up for in food. It is really hard to find decent pizza in the Inland Empire so this restaurant with unique and inventive pizza options is a breath of fresh air.

This time around I ordered the Brando which is cream cheese, pesto sauce, pepperoni, sausage, cashews, angel hair pasta, green onions & mozzarella cheese. I know you’re thinking “Cashews, angel hair pasta, and pizza, no way”! That is exactly what I was thinking in addition to being a little nervous about the lack of tomato sauce. Past history has shown that I have a hard time with non-traditional pizzas but I was up for the challenge. Below you will see the pizza in all its might. 

Check out that cheese and pasta on the edges!
The cheese was perfectly cooked to a crispy finish and the crust looked nice and crunchy. At first bite I completely understood the addition of the angel hair pasta. Though it was pre-cooked, the edges were crunchy because it baked in the pizza oven. This was such an interesting texture to go along with the other toppings. The entire combination was interesting with the cream cheese and the pesto contrasting and the crunchiness of the cheese, crust, and pasta. The meat was completely necessary because it added that wonderful savory element with the fattiness that bound the whole pizza together.

The last piece of the pie that I need to talk about is the addition of cashews. When you look at their menu you will notice that cashews pop up on a lot of their pizzas so they must know something that we all don’t. On this pizza, the cashews were a little strange but I find it odd to say that if I ordered the Brando again I would leave them on. Somehow some way, the cashews worked and they may have been the best part of the entire pizza. Salty and a little sweet cashews belong on this pizza..crazy. The only thing I would change would be to crush up the cashews a bit so they distributed more across the pizza but besides that this pizza was ingenious. I will find it hard to order something else the next time we go.

Next onto dessert and yes, they do make dessert pizzas! Virginia made the decision and chose to order the Sarah’s Surprise. This wonderful dessert pizza included vanilla cream cheese whip, graham crackers, chocolate chips, brown sugar, melted butter & jack cheese. Though there was an unfortunate lack of cashews on this pizza (I kid) it was not only the best dessert pizza I ever had it was one of the best desserts I have ever had. Never has dessert made me forget about dinner so quickly but wow this pizza was amazing! Take a look.

Sarah's Surprise in all of its graham cracker glory
Crispy and sweet with cooked graham crackers added to gooey melted chocolate AND hand held. Not only all of that but it was piping hot right out of the oven so it was reminiscent of a s’more right out of the campfire. I was just sad that we only ordered a seven inch pie because I could have eaten three of them by myself. The best part was that they added cheese to the pie. It really added something special to the dish and gave it the last kick that pushed it over the top to something you could truly call gourmet.

I would definitely recommend Gourmet Pizza to my friends and have many times. I only wish that it was closer to Riverside so I could go once a week! Go there and try the Brando and the Sarah’s Surprise or the Kiss and the Apple Annie or the Malibu Madness and the Einstein’s Glue; you really can’t go wrong.

Overall Review 9/10

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The White Rabbit Truck


At the food truck festival last week my fifth and final truck was the White Rabbit Truck. I was wondering to myself "Why does this name sound familiar". Well, when I got home and looked I realized that it happened to be a list item brought to you by Outrageous Food on the Food Network. The list item was the burrito and I am a little sad that I did not get it but, oh well, next time. Take a look at the menu below, pretty simple but pretty awesome.

I had a conversation with the nice girl at the register and she told me that her favorite was the Pork Sisig. With that recommendation I ordered the three sisig tacos but to my delight she told me that I could mix and match. Oh glory day! So, not only did I get the Pork Sisig (Below left), I ordered the Pork Tocino (Below center) and the Chicken Adobo (Below right). Though I am sad that I did not try the burrito I now get to talk about three of the items on this menu.



Let's start with the Pork Sisig. This was fried pork belly mixed with jalapenos and onions topped with a red cabbage slaw. The pork belly took on this beautiful red color and mixed so well with the jalapenos. A little spicy and full of huge flavor. The cabbage was crunchy and cold which mixed well with the richness of the pork belly. Truly a great taco but oddly not my favorite.

The second taco I tried was the chicken adobo because I wanted to break up the pork. Honestly, I was not expecting much from a chicken taco but boy was I wrong. The chicken was soft and super juicy which surprised me and it was both sweet and savory at the same time. Mmmm to adobo sauce! Just like the last taco the slaw added a cool crunch that really completed the ensemble. I was really pleased with this chicken and would eat that one again but, it too, was not my favorite.

The winner beyond a shadow of a doubt was the Pork Tacino which was cured pork, fried and wrapped in a taco all by itself. This was a truly bold presentation but if you read my other posts I believe that if you use high quality meat and cook it in an amazing way you really don't need anything else added to it. With this pork the White Rabbit Truck did just that. It was perfectly fried and super crispy and I got a burst of fried pork flavor with each individual bite. I was content just eating the pork with my fingers, even the taco shell took away from the pork itself. I really think that if they added anything to the dish it would have ruined it so I commend them with leaving it unaided. I even regretted adding siracha, but I guess I have to live with that. By far the best of the three and without a doubt the best thing I ate all day.

In my book the White Rabbit truck was definitely a winner and I am glad I got to taste three of their meat selections; each great in its own way with the Tacino edging out the pack. Next time I am in LA I will track it down and try the burrito and I suggest you do the same. For a food truck with to real ambiance to judge I give this a top rating and would not hesitate to recommend it to others. One cool thing to note is that they have a restaurant too so you can order quick from a truck or sit down and have a meal. Either way, I bet you will not be disappointed.

Overall Rating 10/10

Monday, September 5, 2011

Riverside Food Truck Festival



On Saturday we went to the first Riverside Food Truck Festival to try a bunch of exciting food trucks. We paid for VIP tickets so we could have access to the covered tent and the free drinks. This was a very good thing since it was unreasonably hot so my first suggestion for next year would be to hold it at a different time. The height of Riverside summer is not the best idea for an outdoor lunchtime event. In the end it made eating hot food (Which was what almost every truck served) an undesirable activity. This was made evident by the 20 minute line for the shaved ice truck. My second issue was that they ran out of all t-shirt sizes below XL almost immediately which pissed me off since I paid extra for a shirt. Aside from those two issues, the event was well put together and a lot of fun. With 50 food trucks and live music you can't really go wrong.


On to the trucks! Virginia and I managed to eat at five different trucks including one truck that happened to be on my list! Our first stop upon entry was the Waffles de Leige truck for a Leige waffle topped with ice cream. The special piece of a Leige waffle is that they import these sugar pearls from Belgium. The sugar pearls go inside the batter and melt as the waffle cooks. What you end up with is this chewy sweet caramilized flavor that is unlike any waffle you have ever eaten. I had been wanting to try one of these for a long time and it did not disappoint. Add on top some thick and creamy vanilla bean ice cream and it made for a delicious first dish. Thumbs up for the Liege waffle, ten times better than any other waffle I have ever had before. Rating 8/10.


Next Stop, the Nom Nom truck. I stopped off here to get a pork Bahn Mi, which is a traditional Vietnamese sandwich. For five dollars I was extremely disappointed. Why you ask? Take a look at the size of this sandwich and ask that again.



This sandwich was about half the size of the ones I get monthly from the restaurant down the street for $3. This would be OK if the amount and quality of meat was through the roof but it definitely was not. The onions alone doubled the amount of pork on that sandwich and they were about all I could taste. While the bread was good I will stick to Pho Saigon and call it a day. Rating 4/10.


After that we stopped by the tent to hang out and caught a set by the UCR Tyco student organization. Take a listen to the talent at UC Riverside:


While that was going on I went out to get Virginia a burger but was sidetracked by the Bun Truck.


I ordered a Kalbi bun which was sirloin, onions, mixed greens, and an aioli. The bun was accompanied by some wonderful duck fat fries topped with garlic and rosemary. I am so happy that I stopped here. The bun was chewy and full of flavor and the few bites of the sirloin was sweet and tasted like braised short ribs. While the bun was good, the fries stole the show. This was the first time I ate fries cooked in duck fat and it will not be the last, that's for sure. These fries were crunchy and hot even without ketchup (Though I really wanted ketchup). The garlic and and the rosemary were wonderful and had obviously been added right after the fries came out of the frier because they had adhered to the fries perfectly. Truly one of the best things I ate at this event. Overall 7/10.

 



After dropping that food off at the tent I went to Baby's Badass Burgers to get Virginia her burger.

Though I didn't get a picture of the girls on this truck I need to comment on their wardrobe. If you are in a food truck dressed like you are going out to a club it is pretty obvious that you are a novelty and not serious cooks. I don't just mean this for women it goes the same for men. Wear chef's clothes or at least some branded t-shirts that allow you to move and/or breathe. Seeing this I was nervous about the food but it was the only burger truck at the festival. Guess what, I was right....


The best thing on this dish was the buns but I could go to Ralphs right now and get a pack of them to make burgers ten times better at home. The meat, gross! Overcooked, low quality, and dry. I think they knew this but adding their "Special Sauce". Newsflash, it was thousand island dressing at best. They added a bunch of onions and mushrooms to salvage the dish but too little too late. Badass burgers or maybe just Bad. Overall 3/10.

The last place we ate at was the White Rabbit Truck and it appears that I saved the best for last but you are going to have to wait until my next post because it just happens to be a list place!



At the end of the day we got to listen to a Journey tribute band led by an American Idol finalist. All in all a really great day albeit a tad hot and I can't wait for next year!




Overall Rating: 9/10