Tax Credits on Mortgage Loan - A Fairy Tale

We are hooked on to CNBC and read extensively on how to make a better return on the hard earned money. We know a company matched 401k is a no brainer and also tried our hands at stocks and options trading.   You get the picture. Most of us consider ourselves as savvy when it comes to finance and savings. However, when it comes to home ownership as a way to increase the net worth, our opinions are divided.

Some do extensive spreadsheet analysis on renting vs owning a home and almost always come out with a decision that renting is better. There are a lot of details spread throughout the sheet with cost side outweighing the numerical benefits.  Interest expenses, property taxes, maintenance, furnishing and even the added cost of transportation from the new location to office and opportunity cost of down payment are all neatly figured out.  Others are skeptical about this number juggling as it understates the appreciation potential,  tax benefits and the sheer happiness of owning a home.  Also, they are inclined to believe the gurus who recommended for decades that home buying is the way to create wealth. It’s not clear the recent mortgage meltdown proved the opinion wrong as we still hear them from our blaring TV shows. My intention here is to call out just one situation that’s often missed out in this analysis paralysis.

The idea of deducting a huge sum from taxes is, without doubt, the most appealing proposition to the new home investors. Almost 70% of your mortgage payments in the first full year are interest payments and property taxes and they are tax deductible. This is a fact and I will explain in a bit why it is deceiving a statement to many.

Let us do some simple math for a $500,000, 30 yr, 4% mortgage with a 20% down payment. Assuming you are living in California, you could deduct approximately $15,000 in interest payments and about $6,000 in property taxes. A total of $21,000 is qualified as a tax deductible in the first year. Say you have earned $150,000 and that means your taxable income is now drops to 129,000 when you itemize your expenses.   Typically someone in this tax bracket would end-up paying 15% taxes so a quick estimate is that you saved at least $3,150 (15% of 21K) with your decision of buying a home. When you do the tax preperations, soon you realize that you did not save $3,150 because when you itemize, the standard deduction that was applicable to you earlier was lost.  Let us assume that you are eligible for a standard deduction of $12,000 (married filing jointly), your benefit from itemization is only $9,000 not $21,000. So this means you get a tax credit of only $1,350 not $3,150. Further, you could now itemize state tax and vehicle registration fees, say another $6000.  So that will jack up your tax credits by another $900 or a total $2250. So question is for a $190 per month benefit, will you sign-up to be a homeowner in these uncertain times?

Adds to the grievance is that size of an average  mortgage is less than $500,000 and interest rates are at historic lows making the tax credits to drop even more. So the argument “You get a tax benefit close to the property tax you pay” is simply wrong when you take in to account the standard deduction you enjoyed in the past.   Personal situation can vary as a million dollar jumbo home loan or 5% down payment or a 35% tax bracket could produce a different number but that’s not common.

Let me call this tax break a fairy tale but at the same time, let us pursue the American dream. A place of our own brings a lot into our life that a spreadsheet seldom captures.

Irvine DJ- One Stop Shop for Asian Food

Diamond Jamboree(D J) is a strip mall in Irvine but usual descriptions don’t   seem to fit this delicious hang out place of mine in Orange County.  At Jamboree-Alton Cross Street, twenty two exclusive food joints, serving extra ordinary food of the world, has slowly been evolved as my gourmet Asian kitchen,  just a couple of miles far from home.   Don’t let the upscale looks and fine décor discourage you – these exquisite restaurants are reasonable and casual and so just right for every day meals.  Of course, it’s not about the look and feel, with an abundance of food within the footage, they sure know dishing out a bad meal is helping their slow extinction. Today, I write this blog to make a claim.  I have eaten in all twenty two restaurants at least once.
 

Guppy House is a Taiwanese style restaurant with a big happy fish logo and you will see it first while entering through Alton Parkway entrance.  Then you notice a hipster crowd sipping a variety of flavored teas.  Menu does not dominate fish like the logo does. We ordered a Spicy dumpling stuffed with pork and its came in a bowl dipped in hot sauce, vinegar and crushed peanut. Dumpling in vinegar based sauce was first time for us and it turned out to be a good pick.  Every other table had one item same. Chicken popcorn- small pieces of chicken nuggets flavored with pepper, garlic and many other spices.  Youngsters seem to relish them but we had our beef noodle soup to finish.

 Just opposite to Guppy’s is Ajisen Ramen and make sure you order a beef enoki roll , tiny enoki mushrooms wrapped in  thinly sliced  marinated beef and lightly pan fried  with a sesame seed garnish , as a starter. Their Ramen- noodle soup has a white broth and is made from slow cooking of tender pork ribs.  I liked the spicy beef ramen better than their signature pork one. Then there is an instantly pleasing slightly sweet pumpkin-tapioca desert to top up the soft noodle heap inside.

Next door is a Thai Bristo called Papaya and in fact their green Papaya salad is quite a treat for veggie lovers.  Beef basil and Pad See Ew are competent and the sticky rice with sliced mango on the side is an anytime desert. The Korean restaurant BCD Tofu’s name comes from Buk Chang Dong , a Korean city where the owner was trained in cooking and it’s now a 16 location strong  limited chain.  This is the place to go for when you wake up late in the night craving protein. They serve 24/7. We loved the boiling red hot soon tofu soup served in a sizzling stone bowl with a variety of  side dishes (banchan)  that include fermented Korean veggies (kimchi), a fish and  a portion of galbi (grilled beef) . Make sure you crack the raw egg on the top of the boiling soup. It was late by the time we figured it out so we had to come back some other day to complete the black magic ritual. I loved the galbi and it’s a feast to the eyes to see so many vivid verities of food served on the table with inviting texture and color.

We walk past Kula Sushi most of the days but still can’t miss the well designed rolls rolling on a conveyor belt.  At $2 a plate, it’s a quick and cheap bite but do not experience a great ambience or service.  I would stick to the spicy tuna, eel or California rolls and take my sashimi adventures elsewhere. 

 Capital Seafood is the only mainland Chinese restaurant in this strip mall.  A crispy clean ambience and contemporary upscale furnishing is not really translated into the price on the menu.  Dim Sum carts will come rolling just after you are seated and the friendly ladies persuade you with a variety of steaming small portions. Persuasion is probably exaggerated as you are already stupefied and all you ask is a large pot of hot leafy green tea with the dim sums you picked.  While eating, you will notice that Chinese families, often a party of five or more, are sharing large portions of well made duck, fish, beef, crab and vegetables and they look nothing like what’s on the menu.  Our theory is that they have off the menu items that only Chinese know and so we quiz the waiting staff. To pick an entrée, a super soft filet Mignon (beef) with black pepper sauce stands out every time we eat there. They have a more spacious location in Irvine spectrum mall and offer a large selection of wines and beverages. If you are in hurry, the next door is Capital Seafood Express BBQ and Dim sum place for takeout boxes.

How about standing in a line for half an hour to buy some sweet buns?. We are talking about 85^o C, the Taiwanese bakery next to Capital Seafood.  After a couple of reluctant walk offs,  we plunged in and the lady stood next to us in the line  said she was visiting Orange County from the Bay  area and her  friend mentioned that 85^o C is a must visit place!   When you get to the door,  it opens up a new world of buns and breads  glazed or filled  with Taro, coconut, raisin, custard, sweet cream, tuna and many other things. Everything is fresh out of oven as there are so many people waiting outside for their turn.  Buy a unique Sea Salt coffee, grab a chair outside and munch the milk buns with coffee.  You don’t regret the time spent on standing in the line.  

                                                                                                                                     

 I am skipping the Yogurt land frozen yogurt and Lollicup flavored tea places to proceed straight to a Taiwanese specialty noodle place, Chef Hung Noodles.  Chef Hung is the King of Taiwanese Beef Noodle.  Inside, there is a large window to the kitchen where you could watch the chefs prepare your soup. The spicy beef shank soup had a thinner flavorful broth base and slightly thicker but nice chewable noodle that our three year old happily slurps in.  It’s not just soups, you could also find some other Taiwanese pork and vegetable dishes on the menu but everyone seems to be busy with their award winners.

Our baby has a favorite dinner place too. CoCo Ichibanya Japanese curry house where she gets her chicken cutlet and mild curry sauce.  There are so many curries to choose from and surely there is one that matches your taste bud. This is part of a large retail chain in Japan and their only store in the USA.  However, if you are after a large selection of Japanese food in a sit down, relaxed setting, just hop into spacious Tokyo Table, the corner end of the DJ mall.

Tokyo Table serves you the contemporary Tokyo City cuisine right here in Orange County. Also, they pick some of the best appreciated food from around the Asian world and blend it with traditional Japanese style to make a pleasing fusion.  Every plate in motion looks like an intricate art work with a healthy balance so even the most hungry  will wait a bit up, admiring it, before the devour begins.   Hot and cold Sake served just right and the garlic shrimp rice in a sizzling hot stone bowl was the highlight of my last visit.  Slightly high on the price point but the ambience, the quality and the service outweigh the perceived wallet damage.  And you will never complain there is not enough in the menu to choose from.

There is a super chic Shabu-Shabu place (at least the owners love to call it that way) with a very modern layout and décor where people are always busy dipping their thinly sliced marbled rib-eye steak into a boiling kelp water bowl and then make the swish-swish   sound while eating them. The name of the place - SWSH Shabu Shabu- pretty much describes this process. Balcony Grill next to this restaurant is a Taiwanese grill and bar and serves the draft beer by pitcher. While the food is just above average, their shaved snow desert is a must try.

Along the Jamboree side of the mall there are four more restaurants that bring in a little more diversity to the table. Chae Bahn Korean BBQ place, Pho Saigon Perl that serves Vietnamese, Greek Islands cuisine serves lamb flavored gyros and Kicking Crab, the latest addition to the list,  which  serves Louisiana Cajun Food.   When you are tired of noodles, rice and soups there are a couple of sandwich places to go to.  Sandwich Club serves you a quick banh mi sandwich –a Vietnamese French fusion – so you still have the option to chew flavorful marinated meat inside a hoagie.  Bon Épi Patisserie & Café is the closest you can get to for a European sandwich with freshly baked artisan bread and deli style meats. I know I rushed  not to describe them but at this point I feel eating in each of these joints is so appealing a proposition than writing about them.

Thinking about cooking these Asian delights in your kitchen? Go to HMart in the same mall to get all your Sauces, meat, fresh vegetables,seafood and even utensils.   Seafood, vegetables and fruits here are very fresh, reasonably priced and there is a wide variety to choose from.  And don’t forget to check out the bakery and Korean restaurant inside HMart!



Preschool Hibby Jibbies

                                                                     

Starting today, our three year old, Tara Annie Kurian, is a preschooler at Child’s World and Sheena has been preparing her, reluctantly, for this day. Reluctant not because the school is big enough for the child to get lost but the stay-at- home Mommy is not really convinced that pre-schooling is as worth as what’s being advertised. She finally gave in because few kids of Tara’s age are seen in our neighborhood park on weekdays and she started to warm up and play with other kids of her age. And on the flipside, there will be some quality time freed up while the baby is at school, to catch-up with the long pending reading list or to clear up the sleep backlog.

Tara was always with her mother. Sheena quit her job when the baby turned eighteen months as she was not able to mange working from home with her being around. It was fun to watch the baby growing up and it made no sense to miss a moment. While working from home, day nannies were coming in to be with her on work hours. We had about a dozen babysitters in eighteen months as we mostly engaged students and people in between jobs. When not working, Sheena was feeding her, bathing her, cooking for her and then was driving her around the town, showing places. At Des Moines, she mostly had an indoor life learning how to flip crawl and walk with occasional visits to parks and play areas in nearby mall. At Monterey, she loved going to the grainy sand beach spending infinite time making castles, figuring out seashells and creatures and scaring away the seagulls.

 

At Irvine, she loved going to parks with green blue and yellow slides, floating in the swimming pools and running away from waves inLaguna beach. Always fascinated by shopping cart rides, she was a dependable and entertaining companion for otherwise dull grocery and household shopping. Graphic books, well wrapped candies and fancy toys always showed up inadvertently at the checkout counter and at times some of them made their way to home, after an enduring defense session with her mom. And here is the cliché ..she grew-up fast to be a preschooler!

 

Tara never had a play date with her class mate or never met any of her classmates long enough
to feel comfortable in the new place. Even her teacher was absent on the ‘Meet-your-teacher’
day because she was ill. So the recipe for a disastrous start was in sight but we were optimistic
as the baby seemed quite eager to go. I took a day off from work and wanted to drive the mom
and baby to school on day one. May be I just wanted to be there when the Mom go frantic.

While waiting to open the school gate, Tara showed me the big green pumpkin and red and orange color cherry tomatoes at the garden. She knew the place from the last visit and was excited to show me the play area and other fun stuffs. When the gate opened, we met the teacher and the assistant and introduced the baby to them. She was thrilled to see a hammering kit on the table and right away started driving the plastic nails to the form board.A couple of other kids also joined her as they entered the room. We left the place in another five minutes as the parents are not allowed to stay. Tara appeared slightly concerned and alert when Sheena hugged her bye and said that we will come back and pick her up later. We waited outside in the parking lot watching out to the gate for a crying youngster running out of the classroom in a green pinafore. Nothing happened in next ten minutes and no one called on the cell phone so we drove back home.

We came back fifteen minutes early to pick Tara up and parked close the fence. A few minutes
went by and we saw her walking out of the classroom, sad faced, with a plastic cup and got
busy picking cherry tomatoes in the vegetable garden. There were no other kids in the garden
so we got curious and stepped outside the car.That’s when she spotted us from the distance
and started running towards us crying. She held her mom’s hands from behind the fence and
complained that we left her alone there in our mother tongue and the teacher said STOP. She
then insisted Sheena to come inside and be with her. Tears were running down her cheeks
and a look of doubt crossing her face was heartbreaking to watch. The teacher came out and
picked her up and tried to distract her with the tomatoes she was holding. A little nervous but
she appears to respond to the teacher fine. The gate also opened at the same time and she
wanted to be held and was cuddling on to her mother, not paying attention to the toys or other
kids. She complained again that teacher said STOP and we re-assured her that it’s okay for the
teacher to say STOP and asked her what she did before the teacher said STOP. She gave us
a ‘you don’t understand’ look and just repeated that the teacher said STOP.

When I looked around the scenery was pretty much the same. Most of the kids were held and some still sobbing with their hands tightly wrapped around their moms. One little boy appeared frantic as he could not see his mom among the crowd as she was late to arrive and the assistant was trying to pacify him. We stopped by the teacher and enquired how the day was and she said Tara did fine for the day one. She was playing with other kids and was very happy going out

in the garden. When they returned to the classroom she grew fussy and wanted to leave the room. She screamed at another kid for taking her toy, tried to pull teacher’s hair and attempted to kick her couple of times. She also spitted the snack, a piece of apple, and the teacher said STOP to all of them. She was let go outside all by herself and that’s when we saw her coming out. Sheena was certain that it’s the temperature inside the class room made her testy. The day
was unusually warm and the classroom was not air-conditioned and she always had trouble with coping up with such settings. We apologized to the teacher and explained her that a hot and stuffy interior always made her behave erratic. The teacher looked more than convinced when I added that she was born in Des Moines, Iowa.

 

After pre-school, we had plans to eat at Little Tokyo in Los Angeles and also to watch a play at East West Players. In fact two events coincided today: Baby’s first day at pre-school and Sheena’s birthday. While driving to LA, Sheena asked her why she spitted apple in the classroom. She said it had skin on it. Sheena felt bad because from young days she always encouraged the baby to spit the
skin of any fruit to avoid chocking. I promised her a strawberry ice cream to perk her up and
she had three of them by the evening. End of the day, she agreed that she liked her school and
reluctantly accepted that she liked her teacher!

Living the Olympics spirits

We stole the flame from London Olympics cauldron and the warmth is felt everywhere: bike route and thirteen miles dirt trail around the Quail Hills are filled with  residents hiking, biking, walking and running. I bumped into an equestrian today at the trail and he was struggling to keep his stature and composure when the horse under was powering his dreams. The jolts from the horsepower, naturally delivered directly to him, looks nothing like a ride in Ford Mustang but you can only judge from a distance. Strangers on the trail found it strange that there are Coyotes, deer and bunnies on the trail and the animals hang-out long enough for a facebook picture.  At the pool, now I see two lanes converted for lap swimming. Butterfly and backstrokes are common. In family area, a number of brand new swimming aids are floating with and without their owners. Kids are home with synchronized diving and two and a half summersaults. At least they seem to pretend.  While driving to office, the sidewalks are  energized with runners wearing the same fluorescent foot wares that garnish the Olympics tracks.


At home, we are proud of our recent electronic acquisition. A Samsung LED that brings crispy fresh images from the stadium to our living room. We think our Cox provided DVR is a cool equipment because it lets us record the events when we are at work and also gives us 8x speed to forward the boring events. It’s not just Biking and boat races; swimming and gymnastics at times need a button push.  There is one new game I get hooked to these days - Women’s volleyball- Thanks to Destinee Hooker of the US team, you are destined to hook.  This 6ft 4 inches former high jump champion delivers every spike with such grandeur that impresses even her rivals.  I still wonder how the Brazilian team managed to upset them in the final.

An event that fell out of my favor is Beach Volleyball. Not because England’s chilly weather forced California stars Misty and Kerry to use jumpers and leggings.  I think it takes more than two people for a better court coverage and then please, please play on a warm day to preserve the base membership. Also, it was an all American final and I could probably watch one game here in Huntington Beach where they practice for Olympics and its just 9 miles far.

We followed Gabby Douglas in every gymnastics sequence and reminded people around us that she went to Chow’s Gym in West Des Moines, the same facility where former Olympian Shawn Johnson was trained. Then we spill out the fact that we lived in West Des Moines for three years and reminisce how wonderful the life there was. We thought Gabby is our own girl and we always forgive her small mistakes. Our three year old is into some gymnastics too. Hanging on the dining table, diving from the sofa , splitting and stretching legs  are commonly performed  at  the living room as we watch the events. She is also demanding a hula hoop for rhythmic gymnastics numbers!

There is something addictive about watching people running.  Following Kiprotiches for two hours and eight minutes to watch them finish their marathon runs confirms it.  Wilson Kiprotich from Kenya was leading the pack throughout the race but Uganda’s Kiprotich ran a brutal 4:42 minutes 24th mile to pull apart from the leading Kenyans and finished first. It was also a tour through London streets passing through London Tower, St.Paul’s Cathedral, The house of Parliament and the Buckingham Palace. Usain Bolt has proved again that he is the fastest runner ever . We also heard the yellow yam he eats is available in the Chinese grocery store here and this weekend we are getting our share.

Christmas at San Jose

Happy month December left behind some cheerful memories to kick-off the New Year 2012. As the month set in, there was always something happening every day at office- pleasing visuals with everyone dressed in red or green, cubicle decoration, home baked cookies from colleagues, and business sponsored Christmas parties or boss’s lunch. At home Sheena baked ginger bread man for the little ones in the family and then a variety of cookies – Almond, cashew nut, pistachio, sugar, coconut macrons and chocolate chips – that simply captured the spirit of sharing and cheerfulness. Our baby was busy biting the edges off the cookies that came out of the oven and she always offered help in packing them for her cousins. Our attempt to make the X’Mas plum cake was quite successful this time with brandy socked currants and orange peels producing a beloved aroma and enduring taste. We also hosted a couple of Christmas dinners with friends locally, where we served elaborate Kerala style meals with Lamb cutlet and sallas, Salmon molly, fish curry, shrimp masala, beef fry, duck roast and all of them accompanied with vellappam and rice. Paired with some crispy white wines, these meals probably attained the desired outcome. Joy.
Trip to San Jose, to join the families of my brother Thomas and cousin Agnal for Christmas and also to catch-up with some Bay area friends during New Years was planned in advance. On 22nd Thursday, after a lunch with John at Chef Hung, we started to San Jose at 3:30pm. The following twelve days were fun-filled and food remained the dominant theme throughout.

On day one at San Jose- 23rd Friday – Drove to Napa Valley with Chettan. Chateau Montelena , the winery famed for its top position in ‘Judgement of Paris’, was our first stop. Excellent award winning Chardonnay with butterscotch finish and expensive estate grown Cabs ($135) made the tasting flight rich and pleasing. Picturesque Jade garden and ambience were additional rewards to driving to this winery in Calistoga, the northern end of Napa valley. The manger generously waived $40 tasting fee when we bought two bottles of their Chardonnay. We picked nearby Envy Wines, even with its cheesy name, as our next stop because I had a Napa Card from WineBomb that offered a free tasting in this winery. Our enthusiastic host, Michelle - probably the owner -happily honored the free tasting and engaged us in interesting conversation about the private labeling of wines and their own operations as winemakers for others. She even poured the wines that are not in the list. Mid-range priced small lot Petit Syrah and estate Merlot stood out in our tasting. Overwhelmed by their quality and hospitality, we ended up packing a couple of bottles for Christmas. So now we know there is a small quiet place away from busy Hwy 29 where fine reds are waiting.

After a short lunch break, we took the scenic Silvarado Trail and travelled south to reach Mumm , a well reviewed winery for sparkling wine. Unlike a regular winery, this one was set-up like a restaurant and when you order a flight of wine that would be served to you on the table. Not in a mood for sparkles we tried a couple of regular wines. Following the suggestions from online forums, we drove to Chimney Rock Winery in Stags Leap district to taste their pricey Bordeaux (Elevate & Tomahawk $80-115) and 2005 to 2008 vintage cabernet sauvignons ($75-$66). It is quite intimidating that good wines costs a lot of money but places like Chimney Rock provides an option to indulge in fine wines with little money.

Our second leg of the day was to procure some fresh meat for Christmas. A friend of us knew a farm in Dixon, a place about 50 miles East of Napa and near to Vacaville. By the time we reached the farm our friends already bought a 50 lbs goat and had it butchered for us. We also bought a free range country chicken from the farm for $10. We got back to San Jose at 8pm and decided to cook some of our fresh catch from the farms. At around 10, we had our dinner with a mutton soup seasoned with fried shallot as starter, peppery liver masala on the side and coconut milk based chicken curry, which tasted gamy and felt boney, over chapatti and rice. It was also a gentle reminder that home recipes like these call for finest and freshest ingredients that are hard to find outside Kerala. The kick-off day at San Jose was grand and the days that followed kept on adding to it. When I started writing this log, I wanted to describe the everyday experiences in detail but when I am done with the first day, that does not seem to be practical. So let me just highlight some.

Christmas Eve at Agnal’s place with chilled Red Ale and IPA from Rockbottom Brewery and a variety of meat delights from Filsy, Chechy’s delicious mutton biriyani paired with crispy white wines on Christmas day, Gluhwein (Mulled wine – a mix of strong tea, red wine and spices), Dungeness crab and New Year Fondue were the novelties at home front. Tied House in Mountain View got added to the list of visited Micro Brews in Bay area. Apart from the elaborate home cooked meals, we occationally hoped restaurants like Joy Luck Palace in Cuppertino and Rock Bottom brewery in Campell.

Working from San Francisco office opened up new lunch opportunities in the downtown. First at Paladar Cuban Cafe in Kearny St-Boiled tapioca with herbs garnished as a side and a hot pressed Cuban pork sandwich. Second at Boudin - a grilled cheese ham sandwich on a fresh and flavorful sourdough . A third sandwich sized heaven at La Boulange - A Ciabatta sandwich with Provencal aioli, goat cheese and Boulange potatoes.

While visiting our Salinas friends, we could sneakout to a Monterey winerey - Pessagno - at the River Road wine trail for a tasting and also picked up a couple of zinfandels for the New Years party. Ramya prepared good vegetarian meals that were close to Aluva region in flavor and style. Tara baby had a great time with her cousins visting parks and fairs and was just happy visiting homes trying infinite number of new toys from her cousins and friends. Quite a compensation for the time she missed since we have moved from Monterey to Irvine. While driving back to Irvine on New Year day, our thoughts were still hanging out in Bay area sorrounded by food and drinks. What a great way to begin the New Year 2012 !

San Juan Capristrano Surprise

Incredible amount of online information make sure that I know everything about the place even before my visit - history, attractions, best place to eat and, my favorite, independent reviews and ratings. But this blessing comes with a problem that I am quite upset about these days. Passionate tour guides and writings on the walls appear redundant; I have an opinion about a restaurant even before I eat in there and the soul inside me is always longing for an honest surprise. However, a half day impromptu visit to San Juan Capistrano historic mission was a welcome change.

Visiting a Spanish Mission is immersing in the history of California. Farming and ranching practices pioneered by the Missions were integral to California’s path to prosperity. A number of fruits-orange, grapes, peach, pear and fig included-were brought over by Padres from Europe and then painstakingly nourished and experimented for decades in fertile California soil. Eventually, these fruit trees thrived in scale into large orchards and become synonymous to the California brand. Cattle and sheep relished the vast open pastures on the coast and multiplied boundlessly. On flip side, natives were hassled for labor and perished while struggling to adapt to new life challenges. A stopover in such a historic site is an education in itself and also a pilgrimage in many ways. San Juan Capistrano is our (&my wife Sheena) eighth mission out of 21 along the El Camino Real. Known as ‘Jewel’ of missions, this one deserves a special mention.

Walking past the mission entrance to the courtyard, an indoor wine vat room appears on your left with a surprising sign board that reads “home of California’s very first winery”. You then realize that this is the place where ‘well washed’ young Juaneno men stomped the succulent mission grapes and then the juice was streamed to an adobe vat for fermentation. As wiki records, The Criolla or ‘Mission grape” was first planted at San Juan Capistrano in 1779; in 1783 the first wine produced in Alta California emerged from the Mission winery. In 1822, Captain John Hall, in his log book of a voyage to the coasts of California, states that “Good wine can be procured from the Friars, both white wine and red, the latter being of fine flavor”. Let me rush to conclude that Mission grape is America’s heritage grape.Not Zinfandel. And it’s not Cucamonga or Napa that pioneered winemaking in this country. It’s the Orange County!

Well, it not just about wine – the Mission Museum exhibits artifacts from Mission days and the site preserves the remains of steel making and other industrial activities carried out in the Mission. You could also see the mud nests of famous cliff swallows , the birds migrate from Argentina every year. The Serra chapel, the spiritual centre of the mission, dates back to 1780s and this is where several generations of Catholics celebrated mass and received sacraments. And this is the only existing church where blessed Father Junipero Serra said prayers. When spirituality alone is not a stirring experience, Spanish style colorful high altar and detailed art works inside seem to compensate.

Just outside the mission, San Juan Capistrano downtown trees and electric poles are adorned with Christmas decorations and holiday lights. Exploring a couple of blocks revealed several eating opportunities and we settled at Sundried Tomato Café- an American Bristo. Light bodied Frogmore Creek 2007 Pinot Noir had refreshingly pleasant aromas and paired well with three cheese, blackened chicken pasta. The bowtie pasta was a delicious mix of gorgonzola, parmesan, asiago, roasted garlic, red bell pepper and sundried tomato puree. The salty gorgonzola blend produced a slender nutty flavor of turmeric and every bite was leaving behind a craving for more. Walking back to the car, Camino Capistrano street felt livelier with pub performances and the restaurants were getting filled in with dinner crowd . We left the place thinking to come back again for another evening, when the cliff swallows visit.

Thanksgiving & Temecula Wine Tasting

This Thanksgiving weekend is not about left-over turkey stir fries. And it’s definitely not about the sleep deprived black-Friday shopping. Instead, on Friday, an exhausting run through San Diego creek trail dragged us dry to Steelhead brewery near UC Irvine for their hand-crafted brews and a late lunch. The coveted fresh breads and sea salt coffee at Irvine 85C Bakery Cafe occupied the evening. Then, it was Mayura’s turn, a home-style Kerala cuisine restaurant at Culver City, to entertain us with a spice-rich fish curry, porotta and beef fry. A couple of Indian lagers from United Breweries washed the food nicely down, without compromising the authenticity of South Indian fusion or nostalgia. Today, with the Saturday sun shining quiet warm, we are on our way to Temecula, a 1300 acres wine country in the backyards of Los Angeles and San Diego

Temecula boasts no century old winemaking lineage. Vines are even younger as the Pierce’s disease destroyed bulk of it a decade ago. The original plan was to redo the ‘Sideways’ wine trail in Santa Barbara county ,which we (& my brother Thomas) left unfinished in 2004 . Instead, we bumped into Temecula as a closer-by destination. A total of 30 wineries in Temecula region seem to attract visitors increasingly, a lot by accident, due to its easy access from well-travelled Interstate 15. Calls to the wineries were valuable in selecting the stops and knowing the place in general. Uncertain about the traffic, we avoided the scenic route 74 from Orange County and stayed on 15 south. San Gabriel Mountains on our far left sort of compensates for an otherwise missing scenery required for a wine tasting trip. Past the city of Murrieta, the large hoardings with enticing pictures of grapes and wine glasses are hard to miss and reminds the fast approaching exit 59 -Rancho California road.


Less than four miles in to Rancho California road, well-manicured vineyards become visible with beautiful late fall colors. Patches of red grape leaves, yellow sycamore and fallen maples all add to the trail scenery. Roads to the wineries are well marked and six of them, starting with Thornton, nest within a half mile radius. Cruising with a glimpse of other wineries on our way, we spotted one of the oldest in the region, The Mount Palomar.
While strolling down to Palomar tasting room from a gravel terrace parking lot, the chef in their Mediterranean restaurant caught our attention first and he cheerfully announced that kitchen will be up in about 30 minutes. We entered the wood finished room to realize that we are the first guests to arrive and staff is still busy to get the day started. For $12, there were 6 wines to choose and we started with Sangiovese Rose. Missing the delicate aromas and flavors mentioned in the literature, a swift pour of pleasing Zinfandel that followed marked the official tasting. Palomar plants 52 acres and grows about 20 varietals of grapes. Zinfandel, Meritage and Syrah were good flavorful wines but none of them stood out as a winner. 2006 Merlot surely lacked the color and had a prominent vinegary smell but tasted quite good after a few minutes of breathing. Merlot was on a deep discounted holiday sale list so we have decided to buy a case. Charbono came across as a new varietal and it was produced from a two acres lot .A distinct taste with a peppery aroma dominated the wine but was not as rewarding as the Zin or Syrah. On the way back, the patio tables that overlooked the vineyards are being served with Mediterranean food and wine .But the thought of red wines waiting in Wiens Family Cellars prevailed over the tempting nibble of gyros.

It takes another two miles on Rancho California Road to get to Wiens Family Cellars. Weins was definitely a larger operation than what is expected for a Family cellar and four out of nine Wiens siblings work there. Two red blends – Merrytage and Domestique 09 were brilliantly crafted and Domestique clearly shows off the exclusivity of Mourvedre varietal. At a price tag of $45, a thought still lingers that blends are often used to salvage the pure varietals that did not do so well at the end. “Sangiovesse grows like a weed here” - declared Jakki while pouring her favorite Sangovesse 08 that matured 20 months in oak. Zest and aroma filled in every nip and that’s how this $42 bottle ended up in our home wine-rack. Jakki recommended Doffo Winery as a next stop for reds and alerted that when Doffos talk you only listen. So we made a quick change to our plan by adding Doffos into the list.

“ We don’t crush grapes like big wineries do with 6-7 ton fruits. We let them ferment naturally and punch them down three times a day with hand”. It was Damien Doffo, the owner wine maker, talking when we entered the small tasting room and it was quite crowded. In a friendly surrounding, his dad, Marcello Doffo, was also serving the guests on the other end of the L shaped table. 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon ($59) was the top pick but a bold Malbec and a sweeter than normal Zinfandel surely added variety to the good wines in their barrels. Doffo echoes a passion of a micro-boutique winery and thoroughly described each wine as he poured. At some point I wondered whether I ever get a chance to explore a wine, all by myself, without giving into the obvious bias from his background scores. That’s when Hari called to inform that our friends from San Diego have arrived at the Wilson Creek Winery and waiting.

Ironic as it may sound, you need a place to wind-down after a grueling wine tasting trip like this with over 22 different wines trying to bamboozle you. And at that point, everything begins to taste the same. Wilson Creek winery probably fits description of such a place. The winery offers barrel décor tasting rooms with high-vaulted ceiling, most friendly staff and an expansive lawn where you can dine listening to live music. Our San Diego friends made a good progress over the wine list and for us the acclaimed Almond Champaign was the first one to pour. Cool fizz and nice aroma paired with cracker puffs on the table was a refreshing change from reds. 2008 Syrah with a smoky note does not cut the mustard but that’s when John surprised us with two different Zinfandel ports – one from a bottle and an unfiltered one straight from a Barrel. Wilson folks are entertainers and it’s not just us the whole crowd there seems to be having a great time. Delighted, we stepped out of tasting room to a beautiful sight of lawn with food filled tables and live music. I heard Eagles singing ‘So I called up the Captain, Please bring me my wine……..’ .

A saucy sweet Kum Pao chicken lunch at a casual Chinese joint in Margarita drive refueled the conversation that slipped in an out of Indian politics and movies. After hanging out there for about an hour the team sets out to Palumbo, a winery off the Rancho California Road. The compact metallic silver Bimmer, that guided us, stylishly bends through the trail and then parked on a small hilltop at quaint Palumbo.

Online research suggested that Palumbo is one of the best in the valley for their limited Rhone style reds and call themselves not just boutique, but as an “Artisan” winery. We started with a Vionier and heard no description of the wine from the steward. Rather he looked slightly uneasy with six of us waiting for a pour. What followed was a Rose that felt very dry and tough, unlike the familiar ones from Napa. When mentioned, the pourer snapped back saying that’s how it really made in Europe. Well, I am a soft target and I have no problem in this eight year old winery claiming a centuries old French tradition, without reasoning. On a side note, everything you hear about Palumbo is ‘limited’ – Limited production, limited membership wine club, limited self distribution, and limited acreage. They should consider adding limited service and unlimited pretention to that silly unlimited list of brags.

Stepped outside to the beautiful dusk scenery, ideal for a prolonged hang-out, we are lost in wines, talk and fried chips in their lawn tables. The ‘Tre Fratelli’ Meritage , a $38 blend, justified the list descriptions and was comparable with Weins’ Meritage at a lower price tag. 2008 Syrah (clone 877) had an excellent full body finish and doled out a harmonious closing act to our Temicula wine trail. Missing the small wineries in De Portola wine trail is probably a reason to come back at a later point.

Driving back home, we stopped at Temicula Barron’s for local wines and picked some labels from Wilson Creek and South Coast . Before we call it a day, our family must dine at Thanh My, a restaurant in a Vietnamese town of Westminster and watch an Indian movie and then pretend that the family got their fair share of the day !