MIKEY PEDROZA

Dear Count Basie,

Did you know your music was going to move a generation? A generation so far removed from the one you grew up in that you might as well say they 2 different worlds, entirely! I’m not claiming to speak for my entire age group but I think I speak for those groups around the world that hear your music and are instantly transformed! Those hundreds of hours you spent on the road, on a different band stand in a different city every night of the week for months have not gone unnoticed. You perfected your craft, and those of he other musicians in your band, and recorded so many tracks. Did you know that many years after you were gone from this world kids would still be listening to and heed its call? Your music inspires us all, like a call to arms, that makes every boy and girl, jump up, grab a partner, clap our hands and stomp our feet to the sounds that you and your band produce. It is as though your music actually speaks to our very soul and gives us no other choice but to dance to every note in those 2-3 minutes tunes. When many of us hear those first 8 notes to “Jumpin’ at the Woodside”, your swinging masterpiece. I’ll tell you what Jim… there is no other feeling quite like it! It’s like you are the doctor send your electric music running through us and giving us all life! The way “Shiny Stockings” moves and bends so masterfully. The rise and fall of the moods in that song brings tear to my eye every time I begin to hear it. And the build up you create through out the entire piece is nothing short of genius! I could go on and on with every one of your swinging pieces. But the truth is that your entire collection of music, from the slowest saddest number to the blazing hot, mind blowing pieces that made our jaws drop and lift our souls. Every number you played, you played it your way. And your fans across the world still celebrate you for it today. So thank you. Thank you for doing what you truly loved and sharing it with the world. Thank you for playing every song as though it were the last time it would be heard. Thank you for making every note heart felt and full of life. And thank you, for every time we hear those first few notes you strike, on your black & ivory keys, makes us want to get up and swing out!

The media of your day may have pegged another young man as the “King of Swing”. But to this young dancer you, William “Count” Basie, will be my one and only “KING OF SWING!”

For those of you who might not know, I have a very serious love for food. Not just any food but really good food! So from time to time I’ll be writing short review type blogs about the food and style of restaurants I’ve recently been to.

This blog is about Mexican food! I know what so of you are thinking, “But Mikey, aren’t you Mexican?!” And to those people I would say shut up and go back to eating your microwave dinners and let the grown ups talk!

Anyways, back to the topic at hand, “Mexican food cuisine with exquisite flavor, style and presentation,” that is the motto set out by Executive Chef and restaurateur Gabbi Patrick, owner of Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen.

This is off her website: The daughter of two entrepreneurial immigrant parents, Gabbi is no newcomer to the restaurant business. By the age of seventeen, she was already managing two of her parents’ Los Angeles restaurants and was apprenticed as a sous chef. She went on to receive her culinary degree at UCLA and continued her studies in sauces, salsas and stocks at the prestigious Greystone Culinary Academy in Napa Valley.Gabbi became an entrepreneur herself in the year 2002 with the opening of her own successful catering company. Four years later, this business concept led to development and opening of Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen in Orange.

The location is small but quaint, more of a wider hallway then a room. With the wall lined with old looking brick that reaches from the floor to the tall ceiling above. The mixture of bronze, 1800s looking light fixtures on the walls, the more modern hanging lights above the bar and the candles everywhere in the dinning room creates a great, relaxing atmosphere. The tables, chairs and the entire bar were made from solid wood and large and comfortable. Behind the bar a giant “cage” of fine tequila for those who wish to par take.

Now, the food. We began as any other Mexican restaurant with warm tortilla chips and freshly made salsa. Fresh because you could taste the ingredients with every heaping chip filled bite. Dana ordered Gabbi’s margarita and I a large Dos XX (my favorite!) Starters were a cup of the chicken and vegetable soup that had a slight bite that only made you want to refill your spoon with more right away. And and order of fried plantain with a drizzle of creme fresca and queso fresca. The sweet, caramelized plantain mixed with the cheese and cream made for a warm, melt in your mouth treat for your taste buds.

Now the main courses, Dana ordered a chicken mole with rice, fried kale and a small baked, plantain filled empanada. The chicken was cooked perfectly tender moist moist covered in the mole sauce which added an amazing tangy flavor. The kale was a great addition, frying it was a great twist of a side salad. Salty and crunchy. And the baked plantain empanada was amazing! Adding to the fact that fried plantain kicks some major ass!

My main course was was a 8oz. sirloin steak cooked to a perfect medium served a top a queso enchilada and a thick tomatillo sauce. The steak was perfect not over cooked but tender and juicy. Put together with with the tomatillo sauce that was like a a thick, spicy steak sauce brought all the flavor out in the meat and took it to a different level!

As the night came to an end, Dana ordered another Gabbi’s margarita and some home made churros! WOW! What an amazing way to end a night of great food. Churros with caramel and chocolate sauce! These churros were golden brown on the outside with sugar and cinnamon and soft and warm on the inside. The best I’ve ever had!

Well there you have it, if you are ever in the area of the Orange Circle in the heart of Orange Count, CA, stop by Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen and order you up a plate of traditional Mexican cuisine made in to art. Be prepared to spend a little more then your used to though, art doesn’t come cheep. But greatly worth the food, drinks and atmosphere.

So Enjoy Yall!

Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen