Just in time to enjoy the end of the dog days of summer, The Trough in Rancho Santa Margarita is opening a new location right on the Balboa Peninsula. The Trough, the fast casual concept from the owners of the Blind Pig Kitchen + Bar, features quality sandwiches and other specialties tailor-made for the Newport Beach location. Yesterday, Tony Monaco, one of the owners of the highly successful Blind Pig, talked to the me about the new Trough, saying “We’re really excited to be down in Newport. It’s kind of a new scene, we’re a little inland in Rancho Santa Margarita so we’re excited to start getting our tans on and enjoy the weather and the people”.
Tony is happy about the location they have, right near the beach. He said, “Oh yes, that’s one of the big benefits that I have free beach parking basically. It’s right near the main parking for the pier, where there’s hundreds of parking spots. It basically runs parallel to that so it’s right next to public parking. It’s like a hop, skip and a jump away from the beach; it’s a great location!”.
Tony feels that The Trough will fill a need for the people who live and play on the Balboa Peninsula. He said, “Right in that area, there isn’t really a good sandwich spot, good lunch and breakfasts. We are having breakfast burritos, chicken and waffles—–I think we’ll serve people in the area well, people in the morning going out to surf or leaving the Peninsula to go to work. There are breakfast places, but not that fast casual breakfast that is just really good eating. I think we’ll bring a new option for the people down there; fresh, farm to table fresh, nice stuff that I think will go really well in the area”.
Besides the Chicken and Waffles, some of the special sandwiches will include the Chashu Pork Sandwich with marinated boiled egg, arugula, house-made kewpie mayo and pickled ginger on a corn roll; and the Spaghetti Sandwich with Bolognese, parmesan, and garlic/herb butter on a corn roll.
Of course, Tony has a couple of personal favorites on his menu that he likes a lot. Tony said, “I always go with the Chicken Caprese or the Georgia Reuben, so it’s kind of however I’m feeling. I love the Georgia Reuben, it never gets old!”. The Georgia Reuben is a healthier version of the old standby and perfectly suited to the beach lifestyle. It has turkey, swiss, coleslaw and Russian dressing on a corn meal roll.
The Newport Beach Trough will be located at 705 E. Balboa Blvd. and is slated to open within a few weeks. For info about the Trough, please look at their website, www.thetroughoc.com or go to their Facebook Page.
