Road Trip To Irvine

Six of us recently spent the day at the Irvine Spectrum. It's only about 55 minutes north of Carlsbad, yet few people I know had ever been there. We hear a lot about Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza, but Irvine Spectrum receives little attention. We had a great day, thanks to the planning of Marie, our leader for this event. Marie came up with the idea of going to Irvine after she received a hand made candle from her grandchildren for Mother's Day. She liked the candle so much that she thought it would be a fun activity for some of her crafty friends. Why she invited me, I really don't know, as I'm not the slightest bit crafty, but I thought it sounded fun, and joined the group. The plan was to go to Irvine Spectrum, make our candles at Pure Light Candles, go for lunch, and come get back and pick up our works of art. Everything went as planned. We arrived at Pure Light Candle at 10am, and with lots of instruction (and a little help), selected the size and shape of our candle, the colors, and the add ons that we wanted. All of us came out with a candle that expressed our unique personalities, and each was very different. In addition to basic candle making necessities, Pure Candle has little pieces that you can put in or on top of your candle, like dogs, fruit, wine bottles, dinosaurs, flowers, seashells, just about anything you can think of. I decided to make a candle that expressed me and my interests. The candle was purple (eggplant) and green. I included the following things in or on top of my candle: a dog, a musical note, a piece of fruit (to represent food), an airplane (to represent travel), four birthday candles (to represent my four grandchildren), flip flops (to represent the beach), a peace symbol, and a LOVE sign. Unfortunately they had no little books or little playing cards for me to include, but the candle came out well anyway. Others included wine bottles, cactus and mah jongg tiles, to represent themselves. This is not a candle that I will burn, but will just keep as a memento of a fun filled day. After making out beautiful candles, we went to lunch at Cucina Enoteca, while the candles dried. Cucina Enoteca is part of the Cucina Urbana group of restaurants, and will soon be opening in Flower Hill Mall in Del Mar, so we got a preview of what to expect. I expect big crowds at lunch, Happy Hour, and dinner. The food is just delicious. There were six of us for lunch, so on the recommendation of Karen, we ordered family style, so we could get a taste of many different menu items. We began with a mason jar filled with buratta cheese and roasted garlic, with little toast points on which to spread the delicious mixture. Divine. We chose a beet and avocado salad and another salad, for the life of me I can't remember what it was. They also have a wheatberry and kale salad with walnuts and hearts of palm that I want to try next time. The pizzas are varied and interesting, from mushroom to roasted eggplant and goat cheese pizza. It was good, but I was a little disappointed in the crust. I would have liked it more crispy. Others seemed to love it, however. My favorite dish was the short rib papparadelle. OMG, it was fabulous. The meat must be cooked for hours, it was so tender. The meat had crimini mushrooms and carrots in it, and parmesean cheese. You've got to try this dish. All in all a memorable meal for $20 per person, which included drinks, tax and tip. Thanks, Marie, for planning such a wonderful day. We all came back with beautiful candles, had a chance to make something we'd never made before, and enjoy a wonderful lunch with a great group of women. Thanks to all that shared the day with me, and I look forward to our next adventure.