I made this!
The decor is very appealing. Tan walls, black drapes, low lighting - very chic. We started off with glasses of Greg Norman Pinot Noir - yes, the Greg Norman. Very good wine made by a very good golfer!
Sharing is the name of the game tonight. I shared an appetizer and an entree because they sounded so good! As soon as they read the specials I was sold. The first is the Ahi Seared Tuna with Wasabi Cream. Very yum and very spicy wowza!! The entree was something so delicious words cannot describe my joy. The Halibut was resting in this delicious Habanerno and Cilantro Cream with Basalmic drizzled through out. It just worked. Fish cooked perfectly... dream.
Please excuse my terrible photos, I hate it when my camera produces spots! As you can see they removed the half walls from the middle of the restaurant. They did add a upper level around the perimeter which I thought was pretty cool.
The bread was great - warm and toasty. The butter soft, bonus points for that.
Off the menu I ordered the Salmon. It was cooked perfectly and a chimichurri sauce just took it to the next level. You are given a starch choice of baked potato, Mediterranean rice or Mashed. I chose mashed - a very hearty portion was served. Vegetables come with and they were cooked wonderfully. The Monte Carlo Chicken was the next entree and it tasted delicious as well. A perfectly moist chicken breast topped with a mushroom white wine sauce really worked.
Much thanks to Mike Howard for having one of the premier businesses in the County. 
The Holiday Beverages are in full force at Starbucks. I love creme brulee - it is my dessert of choice when we go out. So when I saw the the ad's for the Creme Brulee Latte at Starbuck's I was very excited. I had to drop my mom at the airport early Sunday morning so I figured this would be an excellent time to try one. Holy sweetness! This was a tad too sweet for my liking. It wasn't bad but I was sure glad I got the tall size, which is small in non Starbuck's talk. Was it a winner? Mehh, try it for your self and be the judge.
Isn't he just wicked cool?! I love him.
You walk in the restaurant and order at the counter and get a number. It was a cool day and so my Mom elected to stay inside the heated room. Most of the time it is enjoyable to sit outside, when the weather is nice.
Blah, blah, blah, blah! Disappointing clam chowder. Not a lot of flavor there. Pepper, Tabasco and Oyster crackers improved it greatly. There was enough clams, not too many poatoes - my pet peeve. But it just tasted like they used too much flour or cornstarch to thicken it. Paste like...
So this was the main event... the Cioppino. Mom and I tested it out as a potential Christmas Day meal - trying to make it easy since we will be out of town. Take out is always nice, we can all relax! We will not be having this cioppino, it tasted like a big bowl of unsalted tomato juice! Yikes. Not exactly Flavor Town, USA. The seafood was plenty, calamari a tad chewy but everything else was good. I have no idea how this cioppino beat anything Bobby Flay could make! Have you seen that episode on Throwdown?
You can find wonton wrappers in usually your pre-packaged salad section in your grocery store. At least that is where I found mine.
Canned Salmon. Sure, why not? I didn't have any crab on hand so the usual Crab Rangoons just went out the window and I had to improvise.
Chop up mushrooms and green onion pretty finely and saute in butter until brown. Yes, butter. Mix the cooked mushroom/green onion mixture with about half a block of and cream cheese into a bowl. Heck, go ahead and shred some Monterey Jack in there if you have it. Pretty easy. Hodge podge much? Lol.
I put the mixture into the middle of the wonton and sealed the edges with egg whites. Popped it a skillet of hot oil for about a minute on each side. Hot oil crisps these things up quickly. Let them rest on a paper towel for a minute or two and enjoy!
Deep Fried goodness. 
