The Golden Truffle was an eclectic landmark restaurant on Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa helmed by the equally eclectic Chef Alan Greeley. After 37 years in business, Greeley decided to retire in 2017.
Ed Lee, the Business Journal’s Restaurateur of the Year in 2022 and one of the founders of Wahoo’s Fish Taco, took over the lease and remodeled the Golden Truffle before debuting Toast Kitchen and Bakery in 2018. Open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., the restaurant has become known for its breakfast menu, including fried chicken and waffles. The popularity of Toast spawned a second location in Tustin at the end of 2022.
Now, the Toast menus at both locations are being refreshed by Chef Brian Huskey, who owns The Jetty restaurant in Corona del Mar.
Huskey, who competed on season 11 of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” and Lee are no strangers. They partnered to open Tackle Box at Corona Del Mar State Beach, which was later rebranded to The Jetty.
When Toast’s inaugural chef, John Park, left, Lee said Toast had trouble getting “traction” with a new chef. So, he approached Huskey.
“I asked Brian in December to help me with the menu,” Lee told the Business Journal. “We have a lot of fried chicken, and I said I don’t want to eat fried chicken for lunch.”
The first thing Huskey did was take inventory of the kitchen and food orders and streamlined procedures with an eye on quality control. Next, he began to work on the menu. He removed several weak sellers and added two salads, two sandwiches including a chicken club, plus grilled cheese and tomato soup. He also redid the pork belly bowl.
“He shrunk the menu and cleaned it up. Now we can expand from there,” said Lee. “Our food and labor costs are going down. From here, the sky’s the limit.”
“We noticed that the breakfast service is strong but then curtails off,” added Huskey. “There are a lot of businesses around here, so we are trying to expand our reach. The idea is not to be so focused and have fewer Asian driven items,” Huskey said.
Huskey acknowledged that there are some menu items that Toast is known for, including chicken and waffles, Ube French toast, avocado toast and a soba noodle salad. Those items will never come off the menu. The new items reflect healthier lunch options, which have received positive feedback.
One new menu item that seems perfect for winter is grilled cheese and tomato soup.
“Our version is a vegan version,” explained Huskey. “Sometimes restaurants add half and half, but we went vegan and use extra virgin olive oil for the fat. It has ripe roma tomatoes, fennel, shallots, garlic and dried spices, then garnished with tarragon.”
Toast Kitchen & Bakery, 1767 Newport Blvd, Costa Mesa, (949) 873-5057, toastkitchenbakery.com.
Toast Kitchen & Bakery, 15080 Kensington Park Dr. Ste 330, Tustin, (657) 720-1628, toastkitchenbakery.com.
TRELA’S HOT TAKE
Having dined at Toast Kitchen and Bakery several times, I was familiar with the old menu, so Chef Brian Huskey had me try all his new menu items.
The two salads are refreshingly simple yet flavorful. The Green Goddess has romaine hearts, frise, apples, fennel and radishes, with a lovely namesake dressing. The baby kale salad includes golden raisins, almonds, pickled fresnos, parmesan cheese and a lemon garlic dressing. Both salads are perfect for lunch.
Next came the grilled cheese and tomato soup. I immediately grabbed half of the sandwich and dunked it in the tomato soup. A match made in culinary heaven.
Same with the new sandwiches. The chicken club is marinated, grilled and then finished in the oven. The finished chicken is then placed between slices of baguette along with crispy bacon, tomatoes and romaine. The dressing is lemon garlic instead of the usual mayo or mustard. It is a wonderful mouthful.
The crispy pork belly banh mi is what Huskey calls an ode to a traditional banh mi. Call it what you will, the addition of cucumber and spicy aioli made this sandwich a pleasing treat.
Finally, Huskey brought out the pork belly bowl with garlic soy glaze, broccolini, stir-fry kimchi, herb and butter rice, and a sunny side egg plopped on top. The combination of flavors and textures made this a thoroughly satisfying entrée.
