First up is the Pork Chop Giganti from Frankie's New York Italian Restaurant in Santa Clarita, CA:
Grilled double cut chop with a sweet vinegar pepper sauce
As beautiful as this thing looked, I was monumentally disappointed with the bland tastelessness of the meat. If it wasn't for the sauce this would have been the equivalent of an unseasoned overcooked piece of baked chicken. The restaurant itself also seemed kind of confused with its identity; it was a small building with half of it being a bar and the other half going for fine dining. However, the noise from the bar and the mediocrity of the food just made this place a mess. I do appreciate the picture, though.
So the festival...I've always kind of wondered why the studio didn't have their cafe open on the weekend days of the festival. But whatever. Instead there was a food truck dubbed as Chef Brian's Comfort Truck which I think operates all over Los Angeles. Anyway, here's what I got to stuff my face:
Fried chicken sandwich with spinach, sautéd onions, and some fruit-like sauce
I was really impressed with this sandwich. Premium price, sure, but the chicken was really moist and the onions were cooked perfectly (I hate onions, for the record). The sauce, which I think was some sort of cranberry-type fruit thing, enhanced the flavor. Considering that you wouldn't pair quality with food trucks, this was a great surprise.
For dinner we all went out to New Moon, a Chinese restaurant in Santa Clarita, CA. We had, I think, three chicken dishes, beef, pork, pork rice, steamed rice, fried rice, soup, appetizers...well, just look:
A little bit of everything
But what was most memorable for me:
A tart
Oh man was that tart good. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and kiwis on top of a cream filling over a pie crust. So. Darn. Good. Oh yeah, and there was this:
Chocolate covered fortune cookie
So that was the weekend grub. Thanks for checkin' it out, I'll holla.