Star Noodle

Before Sheldon Simeon took home the title of Top Chef, he was the executive chef of Star Noodle. I'm not sure if the place was as popular before or after his win, but it has 2679 reviews on Yelp averaging 4 stars now. That's pretty stellar.  In any case, multiple friends have tried this place in the wake of his win and have told me it is not worth a visit.  I was gonna skip the place all together, but The Keeper heard great things and wanted to give it a shot. 

We ordered a hefty round of appetizers/small plates to start.  I wonder who was the mastermind behind that move...

Star Kim Chee napa cabbage, garlic, ginger
Of course The Keeper is gonna have her opinion about the kimchi (being Korean), which she prefers less pickled.  The Flatulent Snorer and I like it more ripe, but definitely not bubbling.  I actually quite enjoyed the kimchi, not too sour, sweet, salty, stinky.  Pretty tasty, but can obviously be skipped.

Ahi Avo lemon pressed olive oil, sambas, usukuchi 
Here we go again.  I'm not even going to comment anymore.

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Twenty Eight

So I first tried Top Chef finalist Shirley Chung's cooking at her pop up at The Playground 2.0.  I liked most of the food we had there, especially her hand cut noodles.  It was a pricey meal to say the least, but I like to support new talent and understand that sometimes you are paying, not just for the food, but the experience as well.  We all, Teety and Soprano Man included, have been patiently awaiting the opening of her very own restaurant in the strangest of locations, Irvine, California.  It's not in the hippest or happening part of Irvine either.  It's surrounded by offices and businesses.  I guess Shirley is trying to cater to the working crowd?  We convened here on a Friday night, but the restaurant was frankly dead.  BAD sign right?

Twice Cooked Pork Belly Buns steamed then fried, red braised pork belly, condensed milk
Soprano Man and I started out at the bar while we waited for Teety.  I was imagining the open faced white steamed buns with some thick yummy slabs of pork belly sandwiched in between, Momofuku style.  These were the actually buns like at dim sum, but deep fried which was a different twist.  The filling had an anise aroma which was another twist.  I also was not familiar with dipping these savory buns in condensed milk so I passed.  I think when dough is fried, the result should be something light and fluffy but these were too dense.  They weren't bad, but not good enough to order again.

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Top Chef Shirley Chung Pop Up @ The Playground 2.0

I love Top Chef.  I love watching the food, the drama, the judges and contestants talking smack.  Unlike many of the other reality shows that churn out winners that don't amount to much after the ephemeral hoopla of the win passes through the minds of fans and viewers, many Top Chef winners have gone on to establish a strong presence in the culinary world, opening their own restaurants and garnering many awards. Shirley Chung did not win this last season of Top Chef, though many, including myself, thought she was a very strong contender and maybe should have won.  She herself even admitted that she "messed up" in the finale, but overall she was very thankful for the experience on the show because it really helped her "find herself."

In any case, it set her down a path to opening her own restaurant in little ole Irvine, California called "Twenty Eight" (the age she started cooking).  Why Irvine? I wouldn't really call this city an up and coming foodie town, so I'm just as confused as you.  It would have been a good question to ask Shirley, but between showing up late (like 5-10 minutes, apparently the rest of the diners who were white and had at least 20-30 years+ on me, didn't get the memo about Asian time) and Shirley's effusive excitement, it was just a flurry of eating, snapping pictures, and trying to catch every word of her explanations and background stories for each dish.

For the whopping price of $200, we were offered a 9 course tasting menu paired with drinks and inclusive of tip.  The hefty price tag might explain why the crowd was a bit more geriatric than one would expect for such a foodie event.  Really, who could throw down that kinda change?  Apparently Teety, myself, and 15 other old people!  Soprano Man had to work, *tear face*

So we didn't get the prime seats in the middle of the counter, but we still got plenty of love and attention from Shirley and and Jason Quinn (far right, chef/owner of The Playground).

Crispy Chicken Skin + Knee devil egg aioli

I'm not a huge fan of eggs, usually in breakfast format, and I'm gonna have to throw deviled eggs in that bag too.  Cooked egg yolks has such an unpalatable flavor to me since childhood.  I'll eat deviled eggs but I'll never fully love them.  Surprisingly this wasn't too yolky and was a nice complement to the crispy skin and cartilaginous knee.  A solid way to start, even for the anti-eggies.

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