Ladies Who Lunch @ Jax Kitchen

I love Jax and I loved this event. How can you not enjoy an event that gives you a choice of not one, but two amazing cocktails? I’ve been to Jax on a few occasions and tried both of these cocktails before and was so super happy to see them as drink choices for our «Ladies Who Lunch @ Jax»! I opted for the raspberry gimlet and am quite certain this is my favorite gimlet on the planet. Next up was a variety of «snacks». I am craving the baked goat cheese just thinking about it. I only began my fondness for olives about a year ago but really enjoyed the olive tapenade. The crab summer rolls were also very nice. They would be a perfect «light» treat. I would love to stop by Jax right now for a glass of vino and one of these apps. YUM!
I love choices so being about to have a choice between three incredible lunch options pretty much rocked my world. I know I couldn’t have gone wrong with any of the choices. I ordered the crispy salmon because I knew I would love it… and I did. Loved every bite of the salmon and everything else that was on my plate. I didn’t know I would enjoy the mission figs as much as I did. As much as I loved my crispy salmon, when I had a bite of Julia’s pulled pork sandwich… I was envious. If that is on the menu when I lunch at Jax, I shall be ordering it. That sandwich had the BEST flavor… mmm… the sauce was so good!
Then came dessert and I loved how it was on a board for everyone to sample. I really liked the butterscotch pudding. Fun to sample the variety of sweet treats offered!
Thank you so much to Brian and his fabulous Jax crew! It is always fun to get time to chat with Brian! I appreciate that Brian always makes a point to check in on his customers and get their perspective on the food. Corey D is always awesome at putting on stellar events! Thank you Corey D for setting up such a sweet event for the ladies who Unilocal

I wonder if I was at the same event as the rest of the ladies who reviewed? For me, getting to spend an afternoon with lovely ladies (and Corey), get invited to try the new lunch menu items from one of my favorite restaurants, have abundant food and drink, a custom adorable printed menu made specifically for the event and have the restaurant’s owner come hang with us and talk about the concept and chat about the restaurant is pretty much as good as it gets. Maybe I’m not as Elite as the rest of you guys, but to me, these kinds of things don’t just happen every day.
Brian and Co. graciously invited us to an impromptu «Ladies Who Lunch» event to have us try their new lunch menu which had just been launched that week. We showed up decked out in our best socialite lunch attire (I don’t have a good hat, but I wore heels and pearls) and were shown to our table. One thing I adore about Brian and Corey is their attention to detail. I know I’ve said this before, but you guys don’t know how much I appreciate when I see things like tiaras and specialized event menus on the table. It’s something I’d do for my own guests at home, so I love when people do the same for me. It’s not lost on me guys, you know it.
On to the most important part. .. food and drink. We had appetizer samples: baked goat cheese with olive tapenade, spring rolls, and duck confit tacos with corn salsa. All were pretty tasty. The rolls included avocado which I don’t eat, but have made it a rule to try it if it is on a tasting menu. I realize that just because I may not like something, doesn’t mean that others won’t.
I chose the raspberry gimlet for my drink and loved it! It was the perfect blend of lip smacking tartness and flavor.
We were given three choices for our entrée. .. salmon, soup & salad and pulled pork sandwich. I chose the soup & salad. I think I was the only one. The salad was delicious with shaved prosciutto, manchego, figs, and vinaigrette. The soup was a warm, comforting bowl of bean soup with bacon. I had to remember that I was a «lady who lunches» and not kick off my heels, curl my feet up underneath me, lean back and eat the bowl of soup cupping it in my hands from about one inch away from my face.
Brian came over and chatted with us for a while from everything to their whole restaurant concept, changes, décor, menu. .. pretty much everything you’d ever wanted to ask the owner of your favorite restaurant. We’ve always loved how Brian and crew are just always so approachable and available. As we were listening to Brian, the dessert boards came out. Oh my, I felt like I couldn’t have another bite, but you know I made room. We had apple pie, butterscotch pudding and red velvet cake. Yum. Yum. And yum.
It was a lovely afternoon (which I later followed up with dinner at The Abbey celebrating their 1^st birthday). I’m very happy that Jax is once again open for lunch, although jealous that I work on the other side of the world. Now to continue spreading the word. .. .

Decked out in my cool hat and heels, I attended the first of what I hope will be a regular event, «Ladies Who Lunch». It was a wonderful afternoon in the company of cool ladies and the coolest of cats, Corey D! :-)
Anyhoo, great conversation and YUMMY food was the theme of the day. I sampled and LOVED the Crispy Salmon with sauteed Fingerlings, Greens & Mission Figs with Madeira sauce. YUM-​O
Another favorite was the baked Goat Cheese, and I really LOVED the Street Vendor Corn that was served with the Duck Confit Street Tacos. The Duck was good, but I think I have an issue with the flavor of duck in general, so that wasn’t my favorite thing. But that’s just me, others really enjoyed it. I agree with Ana T. about the Crab Summer Rolls!
Oh yes, how could I forget, the dessert, it was divine, and it was super fun listening to Jax owner, Brian, tell us how the pastry chef, nicknamed «Tough Cookie» got her start at Jax,. All-​in-​all, a fun and fabulous lunch.
AND to top it all off, I was the lucky winner of a fabulously Unilocaly Retro Lunchbox. Yup I had the red sticker under my chair and left the event a winner all around.
Looking forward to the next Ladies Who Lunch adventure!

Last Saturday, we ladies who lunch threw on some heels and a big hat, and then had a feast at Jax Kitchen. Okay, maybe I forgot to wear a big hat, but Corey D was prepared with tiaras for those of us who forgot. So there I was, feeling like a princess, sipping on a Raspberry Gimlet. (Raspberries, vodka, and lime! Oh, my!) Sir Gimlet was tart just the way I like ‘em, hence we really hit it off.
Besides that, we all munched on some scrumptious snackies. Like JD, my favorite was the Baked Goat Cheese, spread over their toasty house bread, without the olive tapenade, which I surprisingly didn’t care for. Mmm, but the warm goat cheese had a nice tang to it.
The Crab Summer Rolls were so-​so. I can’t say there was anything specifically wrong with them, but they just weren’t as appealing as the rest of the food. I’m actually a little surprised that Jax has included summer rolls as part of their whole comfort food idea.
The Duck Tacos, however, were very good. They were flavorful and filled with tender duck. The Street Vendor Corn that came on the side was something special too… creamy, comforting, and slightly addictive. Charmaine T can vouch for me. The waiter was nice enough to tell us how they made the corn, and I think the Tabasco sauce may have contributed to its degree of tastiness.
The icing on the cake was the Red Velvet Cake, and the icing on that cake was lip-​licking good. The cake was firm, not hard, but firm. I usually prefer those really soft cushy cakes, but I rather enjoyed the consistency of this cake. It felt more elegant, and it was still moist. The Apple Pie was elegant as well (what I mean when I say ‘elegant,’ is that it didn’t feel like grandma’s baking, it felt more luxurious and high class). The Apple Pie was distinct. It was a chunky mass of apples, cinnamon and some other things — not your typical apple pie, and not really for me. Props to Tough Cookie though for her unique desserts, and her funny/​inspiring story.
Thank you owner Brian for chatting with us about her and the new lunch that Jax will be offering, which I do recommend. The lunch prices are reasonable, and you still get the elegant, high quality found in their dinner. All in all, some very good comfort food.
P. S. How on earth did I forget to write about the main course? An excellent Crispy Salmon with Madeira Sauce. It was tastefully seasoned with the skin, aka the best part. YES! *pulling fist with excitement* I want to say the words ‘so good’ over and over again. I’ll just say them once. So good.

What a great way to spend Saturday lunch! Meeting women you have never met and catching up with women you have known for awhile put Corey into the mix and you have Ladies at lunch.
This was only my 2^nd time at JAX since my first time wasn’t so grand I really wanted to go to this event as a kind of redemption from my last experience.
The menu consisted of fresh flavors from pulled pork to seared salmon. I personally don’t eat any of those things so I opted for the kitchen Salad which had figs and a wonderful vinaigrette dressing. I must say that the goat cheese appetizer was probably my fave. I also enjoyed the red velvet cake can’t go wrong with that.
It was wonderful that the owner Brian also came and sat with us and shared the current happenings and what’s going to happen in the future. aka LUNCH! Which I will try this next week. (can’t wait to see the new restaurant décor too!)