{"id":4278,"date":"2013-09-08T22:42:20","date_gmt":"2013-09-09T05:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/?p=4278"},"modified":"2017-05-23T11:34:27","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T18:34:27","slug":"ztejas-southwestern-grill-costa-mesa-chile-fest-media-tasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/?p=4278","title":{"rendered":"Z’Tejas Southwestern Grill @ Costa Mesa – Chile Fest Media Tasting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Z’Tejas Southwestern Grill at South Coast Plaza is launching its annual Chile Fest<\/strong>, an homage to the famous Hatch, New Mexico festival,\u00a0Sept 3 – Sept 16 and $1 from each entr\u00e9e off the special menu will benefit the Blind Children\u2019s Learning Center. Executive Chef Daniel Stevens says the idea behind Chile Fest is to celebrate the versatile role the fruit (its internal, edible seeds qualify it as a fruit rather than a vegetable)\u00a0plays in the culinary world. \u00a0Each menu item on the Chile Fest menu including desserts and cocktails contain a variety of Chile pepper.\u00a0 I had the extreme pleasure to be invited for a media preview last week.<\/p>\n

\"1014831_10151638686577557_1294888210_o\"<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re delighted to team up with the Blind Children\u2019s Learning Center<\/strong> to launch this greatly anticipated annual event,\u201d said General Manager Matthew Scroggins.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cChef Danny has assembled a strong menu that is sure to appeal to those who appreciate all range of Chile peppers, strong bold flavors and quality ingredients.\u00a0\u00a0We hope to generate a tremendous response from the dining public as it directly correlates with the donation to this important nonprofit.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have a passion for children’s charity.\u00a0 I am especially touched by the work and dedication Blind Children’s Learning Center has devoted to helping blind and visually impaired youths achieve their full potential and lead lives of independence.\u00a0 Their holistic approach begins when the child is born and continues throughout their development until they graduate from high school.\u00a0 The organization\u2019s extended services are offered both at the Center and in public schools.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Chile Fest offers a full menu from drinks, appetizers, entrees to dessert.\u00a0 The 2 special drinks are SKINNY SMOKIN\u2019 MARGARITA\u00a0 – <\/strong>Herradura Anejo, DeKuyper Peach, Grand Marnier, fresh lemon juice, agave nectar and an added kick (pictured above middle) and SKINNY Z\u2019SMASH – <\/strong>Herradura Anejo, fresh oranges and lemons, mint and agave nectar (pictured above upper right).\u00a0 My fellow bloggers and I also tried a couple of other cocktails – Midori Sour (pictured above upper left) and Chambord Margarita (pictured above lower left). \u00a0\"\"A dish of Corn Bread is served. HATCH CHILE ONION RINGS<\/strong> – Hatch New Mexico chiles and onion rings fried crispy, topped with Cotija cheese and cilantro and served with Hatch chile and barbecue dipping sauces.\u00a0 They were addicting!\u00a0 \"\"TABLESIDE GUACAMOLE <\/strong>Freshly made at your table with avocado, tomatoes, red onions, cilantro, jalape\u00f1os, pepitas and Cotija cheese, served with warm chips.\u00a0 I really loved the the addition of pepitas and Cotija Cheese.\u00a0 By the way, try guacamole on a toast, it’s delicious.\u00a0 <\/strong>\"\"ADOBO STEAK RELLENO – <\/strong>Roasted Hatch New Mexico chiles stuffed with seared beef tenderloin, Jack cheese and caramelized onions, topped with a chipotle corn relish and served with Hatch chile rice, spicy red beans and red chile sauce.\u00a0 I’ve had Chile Relleno many time before at other restaurants; most had little flavor or heat.\u00a0 These were very flavorful with a nice heat.\u00a0 I am particularly impressed with the chile not being over-cooked and still had nice snappy texture.\u00a0 \"\"TAMARIND CHICKEN SALAD<\/strong> – Mixed greens tossed with cumin vinaigrette, topped with grape tomatoes, sweet pickled Hatch chiles, candied pecans, Goat cheese and tamarind glazed chicken breast.\u00a0 This was my favorite dish of the night.\u00a0 The chicken was cooked perfectly and I adored the salad with all the trimmings.\u00a0 I can eat this dish everyday.\u00a0 \"\"HERB CHILE GLAZED MAHI MAHI – Herb Hatch chile glazed Mahi Mahi served with roasted vegetables, spicy red beans, Hatch chile rice, New Mexico slaw and corn tortillas.\u00a0 The Mahi Mahi is a great alternative if you don’t want meat.\u00a0 \"\"HATCH CHILE COCONUT FLAN<\/strong> – Hatch chile and coconut custard served with caramel sauce, fresh berries and whipped cream.\u00a0 I have never been a huge fan of flan but this one won my heart.\u00a0 It was creamier than regular flan, almost has the consistency of cheese cake.\u00a0 And the coconut milk made it taste so delightful.\u00a0 This is one dessert not to miss.\u00a0 \"\"On a separate occasion a couple of months before the tasting, Allen and I came for lunch on a weekend.\u00a0\u00a0 I tried the Mimosa and Allen ordered a beer.\u00a0 \"\"We ordered GRILLED SHRIMP & GUACAMOLE TOSTADA BITES<\/strong> – House-made crispy tostada rounds topped with fresh hand-hacked guacamole, a dash of chipotle and cilantro pesto marinated grilled shrimp as the appetizer.\u00a0\u00a0 Delicious!<\/strong>\"\"I had PEPITA CRUSTED CHICKEN<\/strong> – Cilantro pesto chicken breast crusted with pepitas, layered with sweet potato hash, spinach, artichokes, mushrooms and roasted poblano sauce.\u00a0 This dish surprised me.\u00a0 I really enjoyed the crispy crust of the chicken and the creamy sauce with all the vegetables worked so well together.\u00a0 This is a chicken dish you don’t find anywhere else.\u00a0 \"\"Allen was in a mood for *Z\u2019 BURGER –<\/strong> An 8 oz. burger cooked to order, served on a toasted bun with lettuce, red onion, tomato and jalape\u00f1o mayonnaise.\u00a0 You don’t really come to a Mexican restaurant for a burger but Allen was craving one that day.\u00a0 Lucky for him, they did burger right.<\/p>\n

I am a little late posting this blog but there are 8 more days before Chile Fest ends.\u00a0 Come enjoy the great food and help with a great cause.\u00a0 There are plenty of other dishes to try, not to mention Happy Hour Monday-Friday 3pm \u2013 7pm & Saturday and Sunday 2pm \u2013 6pm.\u00a0 Want brunch?\u00a0 It’s served on Saturday -10:00am \u2013 3pm and Sunday \u2013 11:00am \u2013 3pm.\u00a0 So check it out!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Z’Tejas Southwestern Grill<\/a><\/p>\n

South Coast Plaza
\n3333 Bristol Street
\nSuite 1876
\nCosta Mesa, CA 92626
\n(714) 979-7469<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Z’Tejas Southwestern Grill at South Coast Plaza is launching its annual Chile Fest, an homage to the famous Hatch, New Mexico festival,\u00a0Sept 3 – Sept 16 and $1 from each entr\u00e9e off the special menu will benefit the Blind Children\u2019s Learning Center. Executive Chef Daniel Stevens says the idea behind Chile Fest is to celebrate...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"pp_embeds":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[246,68],"tags":[744,738,743,190,296,719,611,742],"class_list":["post-4278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commercial","category-restaurants","tag-blind-children-learning-center","tag-brunch","tag-chile-fest","tag-flan","tag-happy-hour","tag-margarita","tag-mexican","tag-south-coast-chile-relleno"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3lTx3-170","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4278"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9591,"href":"https:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4278\/revisions\/9591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wendyfulworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}