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Whattheale
Wrecked
» robert flores
Itinerant chef Cody Storts settles down with Wreckless in Fullerton By EdWin GoEi
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efore I talk about the food I tried at Wreckless, the new restaurant in Fullerton by chef Cody Storts, I must mention the branded merchandise. There was an entire wall of it: T-shirts and trucker hats, shot glasses and flasks, iPhone cases and money clips, even lapel pins and socks. The Wreckless logo, a “W” formed by the tines of a fork dripping with blood, emblazoned everything that was on sale. It was a bit confusing. After all, this isn’t some established institution such as In-N-Out or a clothing-brand-turnedrestaurant such as Tommy Bahama. Open scarcely two months, Wreckless is just the latest trendy eatery in a town that has seen a lot of trendy eateries. To me, it all seemed kind of presumptuous. It would make more sense if those T-shirts had Storts’ name on it. The chef himself is something of a name brand. He is, at this point, quite well-known in foodie circles because he has cooked at as many restaurants as a twentysomething has Tinder dates. If you’ve dined anywhere in Orange County in the past five years, chances are you’ve eaten his food. He’s jumped around so often and spearheaded so many concepts, it’s hard to keep up. The last time I encountered him was three years ago at Grits Fullerton; I went because I knew he was cooking there. Since then, he’s served a stint as the executive chef at Tempo Urban Kitchen and Salt & Ash after that before settling at Wreckless, where he’s currently listed as the executive chef and co-owner. That noncommittal currently isn’t my word choice, by the way; that’s actually what it says on his bio on the restaurant’s website. So when my server started to explain that everything on the menu might not be here tomorrow, I began thinking it could also apply to the chef. That would be a shame because in Wreckless, Storts has created a restaurant that feels as if it’s meant to stand through the ages. Or at least that’s what I saw. The bar is decked out in expensive Italian marble, and the restaurant’s name is etched on all the plates and cutlery. You have to be pretty damn sure of your staying power if you’re going to do that. Judging from the night I went, Wreckless’ confidence is not misplaced. It was packed. People without reservations were being turned away, which is noteworthy because Wreckless is not an inexpensive restaurant. A 28-ounce porterhouse here will set you back $75. A dish of egg noodles showered with Italian truffles runs
CHOWDAH!
Funky Suds THE GOOD BEER CO. 309 W. Fourth St., Santa Ana, (714) 7142988; www.thegoodbeerco.com.
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EDWIN GOEI
$45. It’s the kind of place where you can and should order ahead your chocolate soufflé dessert. If it seems that Storts is going for broke here, it wouldn’t be the first time. From what I remember of his cooking at Grits, he’s a risk taker who isn’t afraid to experiment and turn things inside-out. A dish called “escargot toast” is exactly what I expected to see on his menu. He starts with a thick slice of soft brioche crusted with pecorino—a cross between the cheese toast at Sizzler and something you drown with maple syrup for breakfast. Then he douses the bread with a sauce made of herbs, garlic, shallots and lemon, topping it with about a half-dozen pieces of the snail meat. If I didn’t end up liking the escargot as much as the toast, it’s because the snails weren’t dripping in the butter and garlic that usually masks their muddiness. But in an appetizer that costs $21, I realized it really shouldn’t have been the bread that I enjoyed more than the featured ingredient. For a buck more, I could’ve ordered another plate of the smoked pork belly, one of the cheapest dishes Storts makes.
Weighing at least a pound and meant to be eaten as a steak, it’s the biggest slab of belly I’d ever seen served in a restaurant. It’s also the tastiest. Brined, smoked, then crisped so that the attached rind crackled, this was baby back ribs with benefits. And when I ate the blubber as though it were pig Jell-O, a guilty tingle went up my spine—both from pleasure and the realization I just ate the equivalent of 12 slices of bacon. If you want your money’s worth in ocean critters, the seafood chowder has almost all of them, including a deep-fried softshell crab on top of soup containing more species than I care to name. It, too, comes in a custom bowl with “Wreckless” printed on it. I hope Wreckless lasts with or without Storts because if it doesn’t, it’ll be impossible to auction off any of that china. WRECKLESS 136 W. Commonwealth Ave., Fullerton, (714) 519-3179; www.wreckless.us. Open Tues.-Thurs., 4 p.m.-midnight; Fri., 4 p.m.1 a.m.; Sat., 9 a.m.-1 a.m.; Sun., 9 a.m.11 p.m. Entrées, $22-$75. Full bar.
rom the outside, the Good Beer Co. in downtown Santa Ana resembles a nondescript storefront, but walk inside the former Phillips Block livery stable, and you’re suddenly in a working brewery with stacks of wooden barrels and towering vats of beer, all surrounded by beautiful exposed brick. Dating back to the 1800s, the space was once home to horses, then abandoned and boarded up in the 1980s. But thanks to husband-andwife team Brandon Fender and Robyn Spevacek—and the resurgence of chefdriven restaurants, coffee shops and food halls—it’s now found a new life. When the couple opened Good Beer in September 2014, West Coast-style IPAs were all the rage, but Fender took a different route, brewing mostly farmhouse, Saisons and sours. This being a working brewery, customers have the chance to watch Fender and his crew chopping and slicing vast amounts of fruit for brews; whether it’s apples, oranges or nectarines, Good Beer doesn’t skimp on the amount or quality of its ingredients. While Same to You—a 7 percent ABV IPA using Citra, Centennial and Columbus hops—is full-bodied and deliciously hoppy, with enough bite to satisfy, everything else on Good Beer’s menu is on the lighter side. I tried the extremely smooth Viejo, a 5 percent ABV farmhouse ale that uses copious amounts of Cara Cara oranges for a refreshing complexity. And the Solera is a 5 percent ABV farmhouse that is aged in oak barrels with lemon and lavender. Open Thursday through Sunday, the Good Beer tasting room is comfortable and equipped with plenty of board games. Plus, you’re welcome to bring in your own food; Fourth Street Market offers plenty of choices, but Calle Cuatro is a foodie paradise, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding something to nosh on. LETTERS@OCWEEKLY.COM
ROBERT FLORES