My good friend and professional photographer Ryan Muirhead visited Corbin’s and was kind enough to take some BEAUTIFUL photos while he was there.  Enjoy!

The Search is on for

our biggest fan!

Are YOU the one?

Look, everyone loves good food.  Heck, even my dog absolutely freaks out when I bring a to-go box home with the remains of a bone-in steak from work… over the years he’s grown accustomed to the fact that sometimes I share the bone, yet the weird thing is that he CAN TELL the difference between a box from Corbin’s and a take-out box from somewhere else.

My point is a love of really great food is something everyone (dogs included) has in common, so the Corbin’s biggest fan needs to be more.  The biggest fan needs to love Corbin’s Grille so much that they literally can’t stop talking about it…

So we came up with a plan, a plan to find OUR biggest fan… and we need your help to do it, and when we do find them you can bet we’ll reward them well!

What does the BIGGEST fan win?

The dining experience of a lifetime.  As an invited VIP you and five guests (of your choice) will come together on a night of your choosing, be seated at our best table and be treated to a sneak preview of every new dish on our forthcoming summer menu.  The details of what those items will be are still in development but I’m pretty certain some of my favorites will be making the cut, including several new steak preparations, a halibut dish, grilled shark burger, asparagus & steak pasta and cranberry grilled pork chops… just to name a few.

The entire evening for your entire table of six will be on the house, and just in case you’re worried that you won’t get enough food we’ll be happy to bring you seconds!

Oh, and we’ll be rewarding THREE people this honor, here’s how you can win.

There are THREE ways to win and THREE Grand Prizes Awarded!

1st way to win: RAVE!

Visit your favorite restaurant review site and write a review worthy of coming from our biggest fan, email a copy of what you wrote and what review site you wrote it on to [email protected] with the subject Biggest Fan: RAVE and that’s it!  Our favorite review will be the winner.  Simple…

Write on just one or all of them, up to you, or if you have a different favorite site feel free to use it. Oh, and keep it honest people, constructive critical reviews won’t be ruled out as being the winner.  Just tell us what you really think.

• www.citysearch.com
• www.yelp.com
• www.urbanspoon.com
• www.google.com

2nd way to win: PROMOTE!

Visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/corbinsgrille and suggest us to your friends.  Whoever suggests us to the most people (they don’t even need to accept, you just need to invite them) wins.  Simple…

To enter follow these simple instructions.

If you haven’t done so already become a fan by clicking the big ‘Like’ button near the top of the page, then…

1. Click “Suggest to Friends”

2. Next select all your friends you’d like to suggest Corbin’s Grille to, DON’T click Send yet.

3. Take a screenshot of the screen showing how many people you invited, then click ‘Send Invitations’ (For instructions on how to take a screen shot visit here How to Take a Screenshot in Windows -or- How to Take a Screenshot on a Mac)

4. Email the screenshot to [email protected] with the subject: Biggest Fan: PROMOTE

3rd way to win: PURE LUCK!

In addition to the TWO winners selected above we will take ALL of the entries we get from both ways to win and randomly pick a 3rd winner!  So if you enter both the RAVE and PROMOTE you have double the chance to win the PURE LUCK, and you don’t need to lift a finger to be in the drawing.  This one couldn’t possibly be easier!

ENTRIES DUE BY Friday June 11th, 2010!

If you have any questions please leave them in the comment section!  And don’t forget to tell all your friends to enter, because if they happen to win you may get an invitation to join them!

Olive Oil 101

A Miracle Food?

Here’s a pop quiz, can you name a country that had  32% less cases of heart disease than the United States (in 2005) but who’s average citizen eats 42 times more olive oil as the average person in the U.S.?  The answer is Greece!  Furthermore, every one of the top three countries in Olive Oil consumption (Italy, Spain and Greece) have significantly lower cases of heart disease than the U.S.. I know that doesn’t necessarily have anything  to do with eating Olive Oil but consider this:

• Monounsaturated fats (the good kind of fat) in olive oil may help regulate cholesterol levels in the blood
• Olive Oil contains one of the most powerful antioxidants (DHPEA-EDA), which protects red-blood cells from damage
• Studies have shown that people that eat olive oil high in polyphenols  (like Virgin and Extra Virgin Olive Oils) have more elasticity in their arteries than people that eat olive oil with lower concentrations of polyphenols

Navigating the Olive Oil Labels

Buying Olive Oil at the grocery store can be a bit intimidating.  There are dozens of Olive Oils from several countries with labels that say things like 100% Pure Olive Oil, Virgin, Extra Virgin all with dramatically different prices.  I thought I’d help by first letting you know what the different terms mean, and I’ll also tell you why you should be very careful buying Olive Oil produced or packaged in the United States!

Extra Virgin

Extra Virgin Olive Oil has the most flavor, the most anti-oxidants, and the least amount of acid.  The reason is simple, the more times you press an olive the more acid you get out of it, so extra virgin oil comes from the first or second pressing of an olive. Use this type for salad dressings, vinaigrette, bread dipping, and drizzling over side dishes.

Virgin

Virgin Olive Oil has a bit more acid, a bit less flavor and anti-oxidants.  The quality is still good though, just not the absolute best of the best. Use this less flavorful, and less expensive oil for cooking.

100% Pure Olive Oil, and Everything else!

Don’t be fooled, “100% Pure Olive Oil” is used for the absolute lowest qualities of Olive Oil, usually containing much more acid than Virgin Olive Oil, significantly lower anti-oxidants and a very low flavor profile.  Unless you’re using it for frying I would pretty much avoid buying anything in this category.

Be Extra Careful about buying Olive Oil made in the U.S.A.!

As very patriotic individual it pains me to say this but as far as Olive Oil is concerned the U.S.A. needs to get their act together!  The United States is one of the few (and largest) Olive Oil producing countries that is not a signee of the International Olive Oil Council and it’s the I.O.O.C. that tests and regulates which olive oils can be labeled “Virgin” or “Extra Virgin.”

What does that all mean?  Well, in a nutshell an olive oil produced in the U.S. can legally put “Extra Virgin” or “Virgin” on the label of any olive oil they produce regardless of the acidity or anti-oxidant level. If you’ve read this far you can already see why that could be a pretty big problem for you, the consumer, when trying to make an informed decision on the type of Olive Oil to buy!

There is a solution though, The California Olive Oil Council provides a way for Olive Oil Producers to submit their Olive Oil for testing and certification, so before trusting the label of a U.S. made Olive Oil look for the C.O.O.C. seal and you should be just fine!

Ideas for Eating More Olive Oil at home or at Corbin’s Grille!

Request it during Bread Service!

We serve our delicious Garlic Butter with our loaf of sourdough bread when you dine at Corbin’s Grille for dinner (bread service is on-request only during lunch) but did you know that you are welcome to request Olive Oil and Vinegar instead?  Try it next time, but if it gets too popular you may have to wait your turn since we only have a handful of containers suitable for use at the table.

Try Our Home-Made Vinaigrette Dressings

We make all our own dressings and our Citrus Vinaigrette, Raspberry Vinaigrette, and Balsamic Vinaigrette use more Olive Oil than the rest of our dressings.

Do an Olive Oil Tasting

Olive Oil Tastings are starting to become very popular at Farmer’s Markets especially in California, why not organize one for yourself with all your food-loving friends.  Check out this site for ideas, terms and education about Olive Oil tasting.   http://oliveoilsource.com/tasting.htm

What do YOU think?

I would love to hear about your ideas and favorite recipes using Olive Oil, please leave a comment and share your opinion with the world!

-Jake Garn
Owner/Operator of Corbin’s Grille

Want to read more?  Here are some of my sources used for the information in this blog post.

• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090401200447.htm
• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070811224755.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_oil
• http://www.oliveoilsource.com

A funny thing happened last night

It was High School graduation night…

So the dinner rush was pretty busy with lots of families celebrating graduations.  Because of this our staff, myself included, were running at just a step above their casual pace.  Just when the frenzy started to die down a bit one of our regulars walked in, she was meeting her husband momentarily and after catching up with our chit-chat for a moment or two I took her to a booth so she could enjoy a glass of wine, a Clos Du Bois Merlot, while she waited.

Wouldn’t you know it, about fifteen minutes another regular walks in and speaks with Jef, Corbin’s general manager, after visiting for a minute Jef took him to a booth on the opposite side of the restaurant so he could relax while he waited for his wife to arrive.

Couldn’t have been more than five or ten minutes later I watched as the both of them walked across the restaurant (both on their cell phones) and rendezvoused at the waterwall.  Wouldn’t you know it, now that I see the both of them together it’s obvious that they are the couple I’ve known all along, even with his new military haircut.

-Jake Garn