SoCal Restaurant Show March 14, 2026 Hour 1

Anne Marie Panoringan is Culture OC’s well-informed food columnist. She reports industry news, current events and trends. Anne Marie also contributes regularly to Eater Los Angeles, LAist, TASTE and a host of other well-respected and noteworthy publications. Anne Marie joins us in-studio to discuss her work as Food Columnist for Culture OC and highlight her current column. Of course, more tasty Orange County morsels will be part of the conversation including a recent column highlighting the good news of four high profile restaurants in Orange County expanding.“Not unlike the European wine model where it is common practice to concentrate on and produce wine from one varietal, JL Wood has mandated that it make only Chardonnay. It has done so since 2020, producing less than 3,000 cases a year, when it began making its own Chardonnay. Its 125-acre JL Wood Ranch Vineyard in the Chardonnay-centric AVA of Arroyo Seco in Monterey County, has for almost 25 years, been selling its grapes to other producers. So, why only Chardonnay? The reasons, explained by owner Paul Morrison, are numerous. “There are few specialists in Chardonay in California,” he offers. “Secondly, we have great clones: 4 and 17. It’s ideal for our soils. Third, to jump into Pinot Noir, for instance, and do it very well, would be difficult. Plus, there were already a lot of folks doing it in the adjacent Santa Lucia AVA. Chardonnay has the benefit of being popular and large wineries have historically bought rather than grown Chardonnay for their own programs.”” Paul Morisson joins us to pull the cork on all that is JL Wood wines.“Introducing Good Karma Dark Chocolate produced here in Los Angeles. Finally, a healthy food that tastes delicious. Learn from Co-Founder Matthew Jonas about the health benefits and super nutrients found in minimally processed Dark Chocolate and Brewing Cacao. Good Karma Co-Founder, Matthew Jonas, joins us to talk about their 3 distinct Organic Dark Chocolates, from India, Columbia and Madagascar. Each bar begins with hand roasting of the beans to optimize the naturally occurring personality of the bean and the region where it is grown followed by stone grinding for up to 30 hours to create smooth rich, chocolate liquor. Finally, the liquor is tempered and molded to create delicious tasting bars that each showcases the natural flavors of the beans. Good Karma also produces a 100% Brewing Cacao, a potent morning beverage that delivers all the energy without the jitters, tastes delicious and feeds your body with super nutrients.”For our concluding segment at 11:45 a.m. our own Chef Andrew Gruel, the menu-maker behind the full-service Calico Fish House (located in the Sunset Beach area of Huntington Beach) provides another timely and informative “Ask the Chef” segment where he responds to listeners’ thoughtful inquiries. Chef Andrew continues with his guide to setting up a basic “Cooking Toolkit.” He assures that if you build this home pantry you’ll never panic about Dinner again…All of this and heaping helpings of extra deliciousness on this week’s not-to-miss show!

Anne Marie Panoringan is Culture OC’s well-informed food columnist. She reports industry news, current events and trends. Anne Marie also contributes regularly to Eater Los Angeles, LAist, TASTE and a host of other well-respected and noteworthy publications. Anne Marie joins us in-studio to discuss her work as Food Columnist for Culture OC and highlight her current column. Of course, more tasty Orange County morsels will be part of the conversation including a recent column highlighting the good news of four high profile restaurants in Orange County expanding.“Not unlike the European wine model where it is common practice to concentrate on and produce wine from one varietal, JL Wood has mandated that it make only Chardonnay. It has done so since 2020, producing less than 3,000 cases a year, when it began making its own Chardonnay. Its 125-acre JL Wood Ranch Vineyard in the Chardonnay-centric AVA of Arroyo Seco in Monterey County, has for almost 25 years, been selling its grapes to other producers. So, why only Chardonnay? The reasons, explained by owner Paul Morrison, are numerous. “There are few specialists in Chardonay in California,” he offers. “Secondly, we have great clones: 4 and 17. It’s ideal for our soils. Third, to jump into Pinot Noir, for instance, and do it very well, would be difficult. Plus, there were already a lot of folks doing it in the adjacent Santa Lucia AVA. Chardonnay has the benefit of being popular and large wineries have historically bought rather than grown Chardonnay for their own programs.”” Paul Morisson joins us to pull the cork on all that is JL Wood wines.

“Not unlike the European wine model where it is common practice to concentrate on and produce wine from one varietal, JL Wood has mandated that it make only Chardonnay. It has done so since 2020, producing less than 3,000 cases a year, when it began making its own Chardonnay. Its 125-acre JL Wood Ranch Vineyard in the Chardonnay-centric AVA of Arroyo Seco in Monterey County, has for almost 25 years, been selling its grapes to other producers. So, why only Chardonnay? The reasons, explained by owner Paul Morrison, are numerous. “There are few specialists in Chardonay in California,” he offers. “Secondly, we have great clones: 4 and 17. It’s ideal for our soils. Third, to jump into Pinot Noir, for instance, and do it very well, would be difficult. Plus, there were already a lot of folks doing it in the adjacent Santa Lucia AVA. Chardonnay has the benefit of being popular and large wineries have historically bought rather than grown Chardonnay for their own programs.”” Paul Morisson joins us to pull the cork on all that is JL Wood wines.“Introducing Good Karma Dark Chocolate produced here in Los Angeles. Finally, a healthy food that tastes delicious. Learn from Co-Founder Matthew Jonas about the health benefits and super nutrients found in minimally processed Dark Chocolate and Brewing Cacao. Good Karma Co-Founder, Matthew Jonas, joins us to talk about their 3 distinct Organic Dark Chocolates, from India, Columbia and Madagascar. Each bar begins with hand roasting of the beans to optimize the naturally occurring personality of the bean and the region where it is grown followed by stone grinding for up to 30 hours to create smooth rich, chocolate liquor. Finally, the liquor is tempered and molded to create delicious tasting bars that each showcases the natural flavors of the beans. Good Karma also produces a 100% Brewing Cacao, a potent morning beverage that delivers all the energy without the jitters, tastes delicious and feeds your body with super nutrients.”For our concluding segment at 11:45 a.m. our own Chef Andrew Gruel, the menu-maker behind the full-service Calico Fish House (located in the Sunset Beach area of Huntington Beach) provides another timely and informative “Ask the Chef” segment where he responds to listeners’ thoughtful inquiries. Chef Andrew continues with his guide to setting up a basic “Cooking Toolkit.” He assures that if you build this home pantry you’ll never panic about Dinner again…

Anne Marie Panoringan is Culture OC’s well-informed food columnist. She reports industry news, current events and trends. Anne Marie also contributes regularly to Eater Los Angeles, LAist, TASTE and a host of other well-respected and noteworthy publications. Anne Marie joins us in-studio to discuss her work as Food Columnist for Culture OC and highlight her current column. Of course, more tasty Orange County morsels will be part of the conversation including a recent column highlighting the good news of four high profile restaurants in Orange County expanding.Anne Marie is also a certified Disneyland Resort devotee. She will share her exclusive report on the long-in-the works reimagining of Napa Rose at Disney’s Grand Californian. It’s back in a big way…

Anne Marie Panoringan is Culture OC’s well-informed food columnist. She reports industry news, current events and trends. Anne Marie also contributes regularly to Eater Los Angeles, LAist, TASTE and a host of other well-respected and noteworthy publications. Anne Marie continues with us in-studio further discussing her work as Food Columnist for Culture OC and highlighting her current column. Of course, more tasty Orange County morsels will be part of the conversation including a recent column highlighting the good news of four high profile restaurants in Orange County expanding.Anne Marie is also a certified Disneyland Resort devotee. She also shares her exclusive report on the long-in-the works reimagining of the newly reopened Napa Rose at Disney’s Grand Californian. The exclusive Chef’s Counter has been expanded.From her most recent column, “Four Orange County Restaurants are Making Room to Grow” Anne Marie updates us on the latest on Strong Water’s (Anaheim) eagerly anticipated new effort, Double Luck. Maybe a Summer launch…?

“Introducing Good Karma Dark Chocolate produced here in Los Angeles. Finally, a healthy food that tastes delicious. Learn from Co-Founder Matthew Jonas about the health benefits and super nutrients found in minimally processed Dark Chocolate and Brewing Cacao.”“Good Karma Co-Founder Matthew Jonas joins us to talk about their 3 distinct Organic Dark Chocolates, from India, Columbia and Madagascar. Each bar begins with hand roasting of the beans to optimize the naturally occurring personality of the bean and the region where it is grown followed by stone grinding for up to 30 hours to create smooth rich, chocolate liquor. Finally, the liquor is tempered and molded to create delicious tasting bars that each showcases the natural flavors of the beans.”“Good Karma also produces a 100% Brewing Cacao, a potent morning beverage that delivers all the energy without the jitters, tastes delicious and feeds your body with super nutrients.” “As the name implies Good Karma not only makes delicious cacao products but are proud to source only ethically and sustainably grown and harvested beans and donate a portion of their profits to communities that share their values.”

“Not unlike the European wine model where it is common practice to concentrate on and produce wine from one varietal, JL Wood (Arroyo Seco in Monterey County) has mandated that it make only Chardonnay. It has done so since 2020, producing less than 3,000 cases a year, when it began making its own Chardonnay. Its 125-acre JL Wood Ranch Vineyard in the Chardonnay-centric AVA of Arroyo Seco in Monterey County, has for almost 25 years, been selling its grapes to other producers. Ed Filice is the chief winemaker.”“So, why only Chardonnay? The reasons, explained by owner Paul Morrison, are numerous. “There are few specialists in Chardonay in California,” he offers. “Secondly, we have great clones: 4 and 17. It’s ideal for our soils. Third, to jump into Pinot Noir, for instance, and do it very well, would be difficult. Plus, there were already a lot of folks doing it in the adjacent Santa Lucia AVA. Of course, when we took over the ranch, it was already planted in Chard. Chardonnay has the benefit of being popular and large wineries have historically bought rather than grown Chardonnay for their own programs.”” “We also believe that a lot of California-produced Chards had winemaking issues that we could correct as a specialist. The heavy-handedness that works in red winemaking can be a liability when working white wines, especially because Chardonnay specifically is a special challenge given its delicate nature. There are only a few producers out there who control the process well from vineyard through the winery.”“Lastly, we aren't into winemaking to make a wine out of a bunch of different and purchased varietals. A major consideration has been to demonstrate what we can do with our ranch in the Arroyo Seco, which is ideal for either Chard or Pinot Noir.” All their reasonably priced, limited production boutique wines are available direct from the Winery via their Website.Paul Morisson joins us gently pulling the cork on all that is JL Wood wines.

“Not unlike the European wine model where it is common practice to concentrate on and produce wine from one varietal, JL Wood (Arroyo Seco in Monterey County) has mandated that it make only Chardonnay. It has done so since 2020, producing less than 3,000 cases a year, when it began making its own Chardonnay. Its 125-acre JL Wood Ranch Vineyard in the Chardonnay-centric AVA of Arroyo Seco in Monterey County, has for almost 25 years, been selling its grapes to other producers.” “So, why only Chardonnay? The reasons, explained by owner Paul Morrison, are numerous. “There are few specialists in Chardonay in California,” he offers. “Secondly, we have great clones: 4 and 17. It’s ideal for our soils. Third, to jump into Pinot Noir, for instance, and do it very well, would be difficult. Plus, there were already a lot of folks doing it in the adjacent Santa Lucia AVA. Of course, when we took over the ranch, it was already planted in Chard. Chardonnay has the benefit of being popular and large wineries have historically bought rather than grown Chardonnay for their own programs. Ed Filice is the chief winemaker.” All of their reasonably priced, limited production boutique wines are available direct from the Winery via their Website.Paul Morisson continues with us pulling the cork on all that is JL Wood wines.

“Introducing Good Karma Dark Chocolate produced here in Los Angeles. Finally, a healthy food that tastes delicious. Learn from Co-Founder Matthew Jonas about the health benefits and super nutrients found in minimally processed Dark Chocolate and Brewing Cacao.” “Good Karma Co-Founder Matthew Jonas continues with us talking about their 3 distinct Organic Dark Chocolates, from India, Columbia and Madagascar. Each bar begins with hand roasting of the beans to optimize the naturally occurring personality of the bean and the region where it is grown followed by stone grinding for up to 30 hours to create smooth rich, chocolate liquor. Finally, the liquor is tempered and molded to create delicious tasting bars that each showcases the natural flavors of the beans.” “Good Karma also produces a 100% Brewing Cacao, a potent morning beverage that delivers all the energy without the jitters, tastes delicious and feeds your body with super nutrients.” “As the name implies Good Karma not only makes delicious cacao products but are proud to source only ethically and sustainably grown and harvested beans and donate a portion of their profits to communities that share their values.”

Chef Andrew continues with his helpful guide to setting up a basic “Cooking Toolkit.” He assures that if you build this home pantry you’ll never panic about Dinner again…