Chow Lines: Amarith

Fountain Valley, with another launching soon in Cypress (at the corner of Knott and Katella).

The Garden Grove restaurant, which opened last month, has special meaning for the Amarith family. “We wanted to open a restaurant in our hometown; we have a love for the community and the city,” said Susie.

The menu at Amarith Table is extensive and varied: you’ll find everything from American classics such as gourmet hamburgers and Italian favorites like pizza and spaghetti to Mexican (the shrimp and carne asada burrito is a must), Asian and Europeaninspired dishes.

“We have a broad menu so families can eat what they like,” Susie said. And if you’re in the mood for simply some dessert and perhaps a latte, Amarith is also a pie shoppe: their homemade apple, blueberry and banana cream pies are all delicious. (Your humble scribe has sampled them all.)

Everything at Amarith—from their entrees to their signature desserts— is scratch-made. “Scratch-made means the preparation of the food might take a bit more time and require more labor, but we feel this not only makes the food taste better, but it also helps set us apart from other restaurants,” Susie said.

In addition, the restaurant stands out from the pack by sourcing all-natural ingredients and organic produce. Many of these ingredients come direct from the 80-acre Amarith family farm in Temecula, and there are no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives used in any of the dishes served at Amarith Table.

“We love healthy food, and we know how important it is to have good, healthy eating,” Susie said. “We promote that and make it available and affordable.” “It’s healthy AND good tasting,” added Adam.

Whether it’s everyday dining, special events or catering, the Amarith family takes great pride in their tasty food and their exemplary and attentive customer service. As Adam Amarith said, “Our goal is to be the community restaurant that brings people together over good food.”

“Amarith Farmhouse” is located at 12902 Brookhurst St, #C, Garden Grove. 92840. Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily (closed on Sundays). Phone: (714) 6368152. Website: www.amarithcafe.com .

It’s a pretty good bet that if you could magically raise all the garage doors in your street or neighborhood, you’d see the structures filled with anything but your Chevy or Toyota. American have so much stuff they love, it seems, we need to shelter it next to the water heater.

The solution to big problems can begin with small acts. Liberate your garage, Clean out – or sell – a lot of that stuff you don’t need or want anymore. Put up shelves along the walls to store some of the items you’ve been stacking on the concrete floor. It is time for spring cleaning, right?

Do that and you may find you don’t need to battle for curb space at all, and you’ll keep the sap and bird stuff off your VW or Hyundai.

It’s more work than complaining but you may find the end result more satisfying.

But, if you have a boat, two jet skis and a foosball table in your garage and you’re happy with how that works out, fine.

However, don’t put all the blame on Gavin. Lord knows he’s done enough dumb things without taking all the blame for why you can’t park in front of your house all the time.

Jim Tortolano’s Retorts columns are now twice-weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He started writing them in 1969 as a high school journalist. Some of them, honest, aren’t so bad.