About Ms. Gourmande

I'm a physician who loves fine dining, photography, and writing, and so what better way to channel my hobbies than to write a food blog? During the weekdays I have to exist on edamame, boiled eggs, tofu and coffee to stay slim so that on the weekends I can put on my heels and splurge on gourmet foods and wine. 


I live in Orange County and so most of the restaurants that I write about are either in the O.C. or Los Angeles, but I sometimes travel and will include different restaurants when I travel. My dinner companions include my husband and four close friends who are professionals and so I will include their opinions as well. Just so you know who they are, let me give you a blurb about them: 


Tony is my hubby. He is also a physician and a fitness buff who is trying to maintain his six pack while chowing down on gourmet food. He lived in Europe for four years and speaks French fluently.  His mom studied at Le Cordon Bleu and he loves French food.


Dan is a dentist who loves golf, Ferraris, and fine wines.  He is a sommelier whose wine cellar includes Screaming Eagle, Scarecrow,  Château Petrus , Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Blankiet, and Harlen Estate. Thank goodness he likes to share his wine with us! So any wine reviews will be from our wine expert. 


Lynn, whom I dubbed "Martha Stewart On Steroids," is an engineer by day and entertainment goddess by night.  She does everything from cooking, baking or decorating to perfection.  She is good at figuring out which ingredients makes a dish special. 


Kimberly is a dermatologist who takes care of television stars and has perfect skin and fits perfectly into a size 0. She loves to entertain and could moonlight as a florist because of her wonderful flower arrangements. 

Roman is the tall, blonde and handsome Ukranian engineer who is the person who seeks out and finds all the restaurants and makes our reservations. So if a meal is good, he gets all the praise, but if it's bad, he gets all the blame.