Note: This post is part of an ongoing blog series called #costamesa365 where the author is striving to shop only* in her city of Costa Mesa, for a year.
Thanks to all my doomsday-prepping in advance of the new year (see yesterday’s post The Panic Roomba,) today is the first day since starting #costamesa365 that I’ve really needed to do any shopping.
The errands were three-fold:
1) CVS to pick up some photo prints.
2) Trader Joe’s for a few groceries.
Yes, Roughage Reconnaissance has begun in earnest. It was time to find a Costa Mesa replacement for my beloved, now unrequited, Stonefire salad. So, on the advice of the lovely, helpful neighbors in our Facebook Group, I made a plan to swing by Mendocino Farms for lunch.
I picked up the pics, got my grocery shopping done, and – as I was loading grocery bags into my car in the Trader Joe’s parking lot – I phoned in my order to Mendocino Farms.
Normally, I’d totally get a salad. But it was a cold, rainy day and the idea of salad just made me shiver.
I noticed a Vegan Banh Mi Sandwich on their menu. Described as “organic marinated, baked tofu with vegan aioli, sweet chili sauce, housemade, pickled daikon & carrots, cucumbers, jalepenos and cilantro on panini-pressed ciabatta” – it sounded like a warm salad on a grilled bun! I went for it.
Now, the thing I’d been missing, sans Stonefire, was that quick, healthy, yummy, grab-and-go kind of lunch that I didn’t feel guilty eating on the regular.
I’d never been to Mendocino Farms, but I went in with high hopes based on what I’d heard from our readers.
As I parked in front of the restaurant, the signs for “curbside pickup” greeted me, cheerily.
Ahhh… curbside pickup. Salad brought straight to my car! That’s definitely something I intend to test-drive another day. But on this day, since I’d never been inside Mendocino Farms, I was curious to go in and check it out.
The first thing I noticed, as I entered the restaurant, was the cute, earthy decor of the cozy dining room. The second, was the convenient, to-go pickup counter.
Score one for convenience! I love it when I can pop in, grab my food at a dedicated to-go counter, and bounce.
So, quick? Check.
Healthy? Check.
What about taste?
Well, dear Costa Mesans, feast your eyes on this baby…
Warm baked tofu, nestled among the crunchy veggies, brushed with sweet chili and creamy aioli. It also had a delightful, spicy punch thanks to all those jalepenos, and the soft-yet-crisp ciabatta bread was perfection.
It was so, so, so delicious – I scarfed both halves in under 10 minutes!
How have I lived in Costa Mesa this long and never tried Mendocino Farms?
Why was I clinging so desperately to the same, old, salad lunch?
How else will this awesome city be blowing my mind in the months ahead?
I started the #costamesa365 challenge obsessed with all I would have to give up in 2019. But today, like a banh mi revelation, Mendocino Farms has turned my scarcity mindset completely on its head.
One sandwich, and I’m quickly making peace with what’s behind me, eagerly anticipating all the local discoveries yet to come.
It’s a costamiracle. ♥
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*We will always start by shopping / looking in Costa Mesa, first. But if we really need something and an alternative is nowhere to be found in Costa Mesa, we’ll stray. Also, as parents, we’ve decided that certain kid-related things (mainly educational) will need to remain baked in.
