Fifty percent to 60 percent of what I eat never makes it to print. I write mostly about those discoveries that I enjoy and want to share. That’s the goal, after all. I spare the gnarly details of much of what I eat, even if most of what I reject isn’t exactly gross. I want to tell you where to eat, not where not to eat.
Every once in a while, though, I do eat something I wish I could give back — like the “barbecue” brisket at the newly opened Left Coast Brewing Co. in Irvine. This is the second outpost of Left Coast Brewing. The original resides in San Clemente. But this is the first location with a full kitchen and food menu, for which they’ve chosen barbecue as a theme. Barbecue should be the perfect complement to a great lineup of beers.
If only.
The beers are great. But trust me: Do not eat here. The barbecue is genuinely wretched. The menu states that the brisket is cooked for 72 hours, which is, I suppose, interesting. But cooked how? Sous vide? Boiled? It is certainly not barbecued. This is how I imagine 3-D printed meat might taste if the printer were running low on toner.
If it tastes of anything, the closest comparison might be amateur corned beef. But that’s too generous a comparison. It’s as if the beef has been floating in a hot tub for 72 hours until every ounce of flavor has been leached from it, leaving behind a sterilized spongy mass with the faint flavor of latex gloves. The fat on barbecued brisket should melt in your mouth, not bounce between your teeth like a rubber band. The meat’s weird texture allows it to be sliced like bacon. This is a crime against the entire universe of barbecue.
Opening a restaurant is hard, I know. Most new restaurants go through a period of recipe testing. I can’t imagine the recipes that must have been rejected before someone tasted this version and said, “Yes, that’s it. We have a winner!”
No amount of sauce, delicious or not, can save this travesty. It is easily the worst thing I’ve eaten this year.
On a positive note, the cornbread and the pickle were both delightful.
I rarely eat anything in Irvine. The food is as sterile, lifeless and ho-hum as the city. If you want good bbq here I suggest Felix's BBQ with soul. There are two locations. One in Oceanside and one in Lake Elsinore of all places. I keep trying to get the owner to consider opening one in Orange County but no go so far. We traveled down to Oceanside for a Bernie rally and happened upon this place. It was one of those fluke things that panned out. Everything I have tried has been delicious. Felix comes in every morning and bakes the desserts for the day and they are just as delicious and authentic as the rest of the menu. We don't go anywhere else for BBQ anymore. Nothing else compares and the 40-45 minute drive is worth every mile.
"This is how I imagine 3-D printed meat might taste if the printer were running low on toner."
The menu describes the meat as “72-hour brisket.”
OK.
Fifty percent to 60 percent of what I eat never makes it to print. I write mostly about those discoveries that I enjoy and want to share. That’s the goal, after all. I spare the gnarly details of much of what I eat, even if most of what I reject isn’t exactly gross. I want to tell you where to eat, not where not to eat.
Every once in a while, though, I do eat something I wish I could give back — like the “barbecue” brisket at the newly opened Left Coast Brewing Co. in Irvine. This is the second outpost of Left Coast Brewing. The original resides in San Clemente. But this is the first location with a full kitchen and food menu, for which they’ve chosen barbecue as a theme. Barbecue should be the perfect complement to a great lineup of beers.
If only.
The beers are great. But trust me: Do not eat here. The barbecue is genuinely wretched. The menu states that the brisket is cooked for 72 hours, which is, I suppose, interesting. But cooked how? Sous vide? Boiled? It is certainly not barbecued. This is how I imagine 3-D printed meat might taste if the printer were running low on toner.
If it tastes of anything, the closest comparison might be amateur corned beef. But that’s too generous a comparison. It’s as if the beef has been floating in a hot tub for 72 hours until every ounce of flavor has been leached from it, leaving behind a sterilized spongy mass with the faint flavor of latex gloves. The fat on barbecued brisket should melt in your mouth, not bounce between your teeth like a rubber band. The meat’s weird texture allows it to be sliced like bacon. This is a crime against the entire universe of barbecue.
Opening a restaurant is hard, I know. Most new restaurants go through a period of recipe testing. I can’t imagine the recipes that must have been rejected before someone tasted this version and said, “Yes, that’s it. We have a winner!”
No amount of sauce, delicious or not, can save this travesty. It is easily the worst thing I’ve eaten this year.
On a positive note, the cornbread and the pickle were both delightful.
But, to have three meals pre-arranged and have them be something I never would've cooked on my own
I think that's the attractive part. Not having to think about what to eat, plus some knowledge transfer in how to cook something in a slightly different, and sometimes surprising, way.
Meal kits seem to have run their course here. People talking about them being too rigid, portions being probably a bit too reasonable (no leftovers) and mostly, a LOT of packaging waste.
I can see how that might be true for some. With one dish we added more shrimp because that's how we like it.
Though the packaging isn't particularly problematic (no more than usual anyway). Veggies aren't wrapped. Just small spice containers and the meat in vacuum. Everything together in one plastic bag. Not optimal, but not excessive either.
Meal kits seem to have run their course here. People talking about them being too rigid, portions being probably a bit too reasonable (no leftovers) and mostly, a LOT of packaging waste.
We're still using SunBasket after having tried 3-4 others. I cringe when I see that it's stuff that isn't very expensive to buy individually. But, to have three meals pre-arranged and have them be something I never would've cooked on my own, and have a completely clean kitchen when I serve the meal (all waste goes in the recycler) - the two of us are still very happy with it. Options are "chef's choice", clean & lean, paleo, vegetarian, Mediterranean, vegan, pescatarian, diabetic-friendly.
If you want to give it a try, here's an invite link that saves you $40. Example choices:
This is a rather nice system. Ingredients with recipe delivered to your home. You do the cooking.
Meal kits seem to have run their course here. People talking about them being too rigid, portions being probably a bit too reasonable (no leftovers) and mostly, a LOT of packaging waste.
What JUST presently sells is plant-based meat substitutes, not laboratory-grown meat products (yet). It seems to me that the USCA is more concerned with clear labeling of food products than they are with "protecting their turf". I'm curious to give that JUST product (as it now exists) a try, and would likely try the "engineered" one when it became available.
did you see near the end of the video?
they're eating chicken nuggets outside and the sample specimen chicken was walking around the yard beside them
however there are political forces trying to interfere
Lab-Grown Meat Is Coming to Your Supermarket. Ranchers Are Fighting Back.
The U.S. Cattlemen's Association petitioned the USDA to declare that "meat" and "beef" exclude products not "slaughtered in the traditional manner."
JUST is one of a handful of tech companies working to disrupt the meat production industry.
While many of its competitors are pursuing better plant-based meat substitutes, JUST is pushing ahead with so-called "clean meat," or lab-grown animal tissue that requires no farming, no feeding of livestock, and no slaughterhouses. Only a single sample from a single animal that's duplicated endlessly.
JUST and companies like it are poised to disrupt the livestock industry. So established players are turning to the government to help protect their turf.
As far as I can tell, what JUST presently sells is plant-based meat substitutes, not laboratory-grown meat products (yet). It seems to me that the USCA is more concerned with clear labeling of food products in the future than they are with "protecting their turf". I'm curious to give that JUST product (as it now exists) a try, and would likely try the "engineered" one when it became available.
however there are political forces trying to interfere
Lab-Grown Meat Is Coming to Your Supermarket. Ranchers Are Fighting Back.
The U.S. Cattlemen's Association petitioned the USDA to declare that "meat" and "beef" exclude products not "slaughtered in the traditional manner."
.
Would you eat a hamburger or a chicken nugget made of meat grown in a laboratory?
Joshua Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of JUST, is betting that you will. The San Francisco-based company has been producing and selling non-animal versions of food, like mayonnaise, since 2013, and it's raised more than $310 million in venture capital.
Tetrick and his team have created products like Just Mayo by identifying plant-based alternatives to common animal products, like eggs, using a combination of lab experiments and machine-learning.
JUST is one of a handful of tech companies working to disrupt the meat production industry.
While many of its competitors are pursuing better plant-based meat substitutes, JUST is pushing ahead with so-called "clean meat," or lab-grown animal tissue that requires no farming, no feeding of livestock, and no slaughterhouses. Only a single sample from a single animal that's duplicated endlessly.
JUST and companies like it are poised to disrupt the livestock industry. So established players are turning to the government to help protect their turf.
