Old Vine Café
Caramel Apple French Toast – Freshly Baked & garnished with a Caramel and Chocolate Swirl
Lamb Meatloaf & Eggs – 2 poached Eggs, Fried Lamb Meatloaf, BBQ Sauce & Cheese Grits
Cinnamon Roll
Iced Coffee
Located in The Camp, though tucked away in back, Old Vine Café was my first stop on a brief trip to Orange County and with a unique menu covering items both savory and sweet plus excellent service, recurrently refilled cold brew coffee, and seating both al fresco and indoors I couldn’t really have asked for a better start to a day in sunny Southern California. A rather small place with a casual vibe and a short waitlist with time easily passed in the nearby stores it was not long after seating that my waiter stopped by to describe a few daily specials and with orders placed the food started arriving only a few minutes later with a decadent, buttery cinnamon roll copiously topped with rich cream cheese frosting. Happy to oblige course-by-course service even with a crowd outside I next transitioned to savory with tender and smoky lamb meatloaf atop thick cheddar grits and a sidecar of mild barbeque sauce plus a pair of poached eggs that were unfortunately a bit wet in the sidecar but excellent when drained and mixed with the grits and the sauce. Finishing up, and without a doubt the ‘must order’ of the menu, my last course was a casserole style bread pudding with caramelized apples between layers of dense bread topped with more caramel and hefty with vanilla and cinnamon notes; a veritable breakfast bread pudding that was also available in blueberry – something I’d have returned for the following day if my schedule hadn’t taken me elsewhere and something I will return for the next time I find myself in OC.
