Trinity Brewing, Colorado Springs CO

Again forgot to grab a pic on the way out, this is from Yelp:  http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/trinity-brewing-company-colorado-springs?select=TQP8Osw830Gue5VNYygMxw

I swear I don't only eat at breweries.  I've been to quite a few good places in Colorado.  It just seems that I only remember to take pictures at breweries.  I think beer makes me picture happy.  So my wife and I were wondering how to spend our pre-Valentine's day and I remembered that she had been telling me about a nice littler brewery on the west side of town that some co-workers had taken her to earlier in the year.  As it is Lent, and I've given up, well most of the things I really enjoy eating and drinking I thought I would give this a try.  Because when you give up drinking almost every beverage outside of water and fruit juice you get a strong desire for beverages with flavor, which is how I found myself at Trinity Brewing.

Located in what appeared to be a warehouse district turned strip mall, which makes sense as most of the little breweries around here started off in a warehouse, the place has been spruced up nicely.  A large outdoor sitting area was already filled, as it was a warm winter day an all people in the Springs will flock to any outdoor seating in the winter when the sun is out.  Large windows opened up into a busy indoor area, where my wife and I found a cool spot not too far from the kitchen.

After less than five minutes a server showed up and handed over some menus, of which the first five pages were filled with different types of beer, but also showing a decent sized food section.  As this was our first time here we had to order a beer, maybe two.  We finally settled on getting a flight of the breweries finest, 8 of their beers, and a small thing of cheese, not a bad deal for $20.  I ordered a Tuscan Chicken Melt, with a salad as I'd also given up french fries for the next 40 days, and my wife ordered a Brie BLT, also with a salad to show her solidarity for my suffering.  For an appetizer we got an order of Country Fried Bacon, not that we needed it, but I don't pass up bacon appetizers.

The beer came out first and we spent a fair amount of time deciding on our favorites.  My wife and I have similar taste in beer, light and fruity.  Our favorite was the Sunna, a Belgian Wit.  Our least favorite with the two IPA's and one double IPA's, which is why I was thrown out of San Diego. j/k  Out of the eight beers provided I like five of them, my second favorite being the Farmhouse Walloon, a Harvest Saison, whatever that means.  All I know is that I liked it.  Strangely enough I also really enjoyed the Awaken, a coffee flavored stout.  Strange because I can't stand coffee, but I like the taste of it in beer.  I had mixed feelings about Saison Man, as it started off good but finished up with a bit of a funky aftertaste.  Besides that everything, even the IPA's were pretty good.

After getting nice and inebriated the appetizer came out.  Five thick slices of bacon, "double dipped in buttermilk and seasoned flour, fried to a golden brown."  They were quite good, and I found myself dipping them in both the spicy blue, even though I'm not a big fan of blue cheese, and blueberry maple dipping sauce.  They even made the IPAs taste better.

As we were finishing up the flight our food came out.  Even tipsy as I was it wasn't the most amazing food ever, but it was damn good.  Definitely up there when compared to the overly greasy fare that is served at most breweries.  My chicken melt was the usual roasted chicken, cooked just right, crispy bacon, roasted tomatoes and melty smoked fontina cheese on a toasted rosemary-garlic bread and mixed greens.  I enjoyed it, and finished it off pretty quickly.  The side salad was also pretty good.  I stole a bit of my wife's Brie BLT, and found it good as well, though not quite as good as my food chicken.

I think the favorite part of my time at Trinity was the people.  Easy going and nice, the servers were able to answer any and all questions about the beer served.  There was no hint of beer snob in their tone, then again it wasn't like I asked them for a Miller Light, no telling how they would have responded to that.  It was my favorite type of beer drinking atmosphere, cool and relaxed.

I stumbled out of there with a smile on my face and a renewed appreciation for beer.  I'd definitely come back to Trinity, maybe on a busy Friday night, or after Lent to try the Golden Belgian Fries which my wife says is amazing, and maybe another order of Country Fried Bacon.

Trinity Brewing
1466 Garden of the Gods Road
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
(719) 634-0029
http://www.trinitybrew.com/

Farm House Cafe, University Heights, San Diego, CA

If you haven't guessed by now I don't usually have relaxing Sunday mornings very often, but I'm trying to change that.  So when a friend at work told me about a little place down the way from Adam's Avenue Grill that I just had to try, I did.  Which is how my wife and I ended up at the lovely Farm House Cafe sipping creative mimosas and having one of our best breakfasts experiences ever.

As usual it wasn't so much of a plan to go there as a recollection of a recommendation and just enough energy to drag myself and my wife out of bed.  We arrived relatively early for a Sunday, around 9:30 or 10 and snagged some seats outside.  The wait staff was super friendly, and after a bit of morning banter I threw caution to the wind and ordered a mimosa.  Never have I understood the appeal of ruining perfectly good or bad champagne with O.J., or vice versa, I was happy to see there were other options on the menu.  I settled on an amazing concoction with cucumber, basil, and champagne.  It was the perfect blend of flavors.  It had been forever since I'd had cucumber juice, and the basil added the right amount of complexity to my drink.  My wife ordered a similar concoction but hers came with a somewhat fruitier peach strawberry combination.  Still good but we both agreed that the cucumber/basil was the way to go.

A little after we had gotten our mimosas I was feeling pleasantly relaxed we ordered brunch.  I decided to get an omlet, which came with braised beef and red pepper puree, as well as a blue cheese Bechamel (a blue cheese cream sauce) Grilled Cheese.  My wife ordered the Frnech Toast, petit, so only three slices with a side of bacon, also three slices.  The my wife and I sipped our mimosas and pretended we were in France overlooking the Rein, complete with my feeble attempts at a French accent.  Hey, you can do what you want during your Sunday brunch, my wife and I will do what we want.

A short time later our food came out.  At first glance my omlet was not what I had been expecting.  It was more of a hodgepodge of egg and meat, next to a beautiful looking piece of crusted bread.  Then I took a bite.  It was one of the best things I've ever put into my mouth.  Even the meat, which I usually say I could make at home, well I probably could but I didn't and it tasted amazing.  The "omelet" was cooked to my favorite consistency of not overdone, and there was a delicious sauce you can barely see in the picture that added amazing flavor to everything.  The grilled cheese, at which I had been hesitant as I was not a die hard blue cheese fan, blew my mind.  It worked perfectly with the omelet.  By the time I was done I was sopping up the sauce with the remnants of the bread, and I had to resist the urge to lick the plate clean.

My wife said her dish was amazing as well, though a bit smaller than she expected.  I managed to snag a bite, small bite, of the French Toast and bacon.  The French Toast was sweet, but not too sweet.  The bacon had been cooked prefectly, not too crispy but not too limp either, though it wasn't the best I've ever had.  Just good filling bacon, and a good filling meal.  My wife took a bite of my food, and said I had won this round on what to order.

So we finished our meal, but I was feeling like I just needed a little more.  So we splurged on the selection of chocolates.  Apparently the Farm House Cafe has an in-house choclateer.  As you can see in the picture I couldn't wait for my wife to snap a pic before I tried one.  The chocolates ranged from white to dark, and the dark had a variety of flavors.  The most memorable, surprisingly, was a mint flavored dark chocolate, and it was so amazing because they used real mint, not some mint infused cream to flavor it.  If you are going I highly recommend you get some of their chocolate if it is available.

So with a smile on our faces, not to meniton a bit of chocolate at the corner of mine.  My wife and I left the Farm House Cafe.  Already planning the next time we would come back, and I promising not to speak in my terrible French accent.  Adieu.

Farm House Cafe
2121 Adams Ave
San Diego, CA 92116
(619) 269-9662
http://www.farmhousecafesd.com/

The Corner, Huntington Beach, Orange County, CA

 Ah, the moon overhead shown brightly over one of the Orange County's many strip malls as my wife and I exited the car.  It was date night and I was attired in a shirt with actual buttons on it.  My wife, as always, looked beautiful in jeans and black blouse.  We made our way to one of the few non-chain restaurants in Orange County.  A little place hidden in the depths of Huntington Beach that served small portions but with big taste.  We had decided to go out to... The Corner.


Housed in what was once a Chinese Restaurant, if you look up you will see the original red tiling along the ceiling, is a hip retreat from the mainstream.  In a slightly darkened room with no windows, is a series of tables and booths have been placed for maximum comfort and my guess to focus on the main attraction of the restaurant, the food.  The atmosphere was loud but friendly that night.  The waiter just having finished talking to the table over and receiving a few belly laughs.  My wife and I took a seat and only had to raise our voice a few decibles to hear one another.

The wait staff, we had a bearded waiter that could have doubled as an action star, came to our table with a smile and a laugh.  I was already in a good mood when he asked us if we want anything to drink.  As it is date night I break my usual taboo about ordering whiskey with ice and decided on a Whiskey Sour Julep.  My wife ordered a Dark and Stormy, which has rum, lime, and ginger beer, on the rocks.  My wife has a weakness for ginger beer.  Our drinks arrive and we decide to try a couple of meatball sliders while we peruse the menu.  They come out fast and are just as advertised, chunks of meat and cheese on a french roll.  They are also delicious.  We also get some bacon wrapped dates stuffed with blue cheese.  They are melt in your mouth good, and I don't even like blue cheese.

Best of all though was one of the special appetizers, poutine.  I don't see it in a lot of places but when I do I almost always order it.  This is usually a concoction of fries, cheese curds, and occasionally something other ingredient, a protein most of the time.  It came out in an oversized bowl and at first I didn't know quite what to do with it, but then I grabbed a potatoe skin, dipped it into the cheese sauce and luxuriated in the taste of pure unhealthy food.

My wife and I finally decided on our "Not Entrees" as the amount of food is not quite an appetizer and not quite an entree.  It is a great amount of food if you are not that hungry, or if you are like us and want to try a bit of everything.  I order the Block Cut New York Steak in a wine sauce reduction.  I'm curious to see if it is as good as the one I make at home.  Usually they are not, but with this place I decide to give them the benefit of the doubt.  My wife ordered the Korean BBQ Chicken.  They make a point of telling you it is "non-traditional" and when you see it you know why.


My wife and I engage in idle chatter as our food is prepared and I decide to get a Dark and Stormy for myself.  I normally don't do drink reviews and I'm not going to start now.  Let me just say if you come to The Corner you have to get one.  A few sips later our food came out.  My steak was cooked perfectly.  Medium Rare as I believe all red meat should be cooked.  The wine reduction was really good but the steak barely edged out something I would have been able to accomplish in my own kitchen.  Still it was tasty enough that I did not need a doggy bag at the end of the meal.  My wife's chicken was a very interesting mesh-mash of flavors.  I liked it.  The chicken was cooked perfectly but the whole lettuce wrap delivery left a bit to be desired by me.  My wife on the other hand really enjoyed it.  I will say that the cilantro-lime emulsion that came with it was so good I would have put it on just about anything.

Overall this place was an amazing find.  And with that... all credit for finding this place goes to my wife, and her monthly AAA Magazine, but Shhhh!  Don't tell anyone, as most of the hip places in Orange Country are quickly changed into chain eateries, or Starbucks.  I think it has something to do with the city charter.  I kid! Check this place out the next time you are in town.  I promise you will not be disappointed.



The Corner
8961 Adams Ave.
Huntington Beach, CA 92646
(714) 968-6800
http://thecornerhb.com/