My Very Own Eating San Diego Blog

Taos! New Mexico!

2008-07-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

You might find yourself in Taos sometime, you know, just traveling across the country – this time well north of I-40 – yep, the journey into the great southwest continues! Here we were able to leave the vast Interstate for awhile to explore northern New Mexico.

Let me guess, another La Quinta and a brewpub?
No no no! Here we had the best lodging of the trip – a great dog-friendly B&B. We'd highly recommend a stay here should you find yourself in the area for a few days.

But then you blew your budget on your room and went to McDonald’s right?
Oh my Lord, no, here we had our push into Taos finer dinin’ at Lambert's. All out with a shared heirloom tomato salad, mains of roast duck (for her) and elk for me, drinks (a couple) and a good chocolate mousse dessert. There is other good eatin' in Taos but this was a very good choice.

Boring. What about that Crapper Barrel?
What?

Oh, did I misspell Cracker Barrel? Oops.
Oh, yea, we went to a Cracker Barrel once in Colorado Springs after a tiring (and surprisingly cold day in June). Normally you go here and expect this great pants splitting amount of food.

Did you say pants splitting or pants shitting?
Oh my God, you have to stop this. I think this screwy Q&A format exists just to give me – I mean you – the opportunity to say inane things.

*Crickets chirp* ... Back with more soon!

Flagstaff! Arizona!

2008-07-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

You might find yourself in Flagstaff sometime, you know, just traveling across the country – this time on I-40 – hell, it’s the summer of love roadtrips (Orange Popsicles and Lemonade as the B-52’s famously sang) and decide it’s a reasonable stop along your trip. Let’s stick with that Q&A session…I don’t care about the nasty emails requesting I immediately be fired from the newspaper staff.

Should they at least cancel their subscriptions?
Sure, I don’t care.

Okay, what’s this about Flagstaff?
Cool it – I’m getting to it. It turns out that Flagstaff (after a hot and zesty drive thru AZ) was our first stop on our road trip.

You took a road trip? Have you seen gas prices?
Oh my Lord. Anyhow, Flagstaff is at an elevation about 7,000 feet above sea level so it’s cooler. In early June, when we were there, daytime highs were probably around 78 with lows around 50. I’d say it’s the gateway to the Grand Canyon.

I’m sure you ate.
Naturally! We checked into our DogFriendly™ hotel – and from my advance research on Chowhound and Yelp I saw that a place in downtown Flagstaff called the Beaver Street Brewery got some highmarks.

Wasn’t Cracker Barrel an option?
Yea probably.

Beaver Street just seems … a little sexual.
You have to stop this.

You know you are arguing with yourself…
Shut up.

Okay, you went to a brewery or something?
Oh yea, they’ve got the brews, burgers, woodfired pizza, the works. Of course I had to check out the beer sampler – 5 oz tastings of everything they make. And a burger for me – the Beaver Street Burger. Yum.

Anyhow, how are those DogFriendly™ hotels or *yikes* motels working out?
Great! AAA has a book about 2 ½ inches thick of woofer-friendly lodging. Technically, you really aren’t to leave your pup unattended in the room but hey we have to eat right? Our dog did great in the car and with each new experience nightly in a new spot.

Thumbs up for the Beaver Creek Brewery, right? Oh sure!

Restaurant Week 2008! Summertime eatin’!

2008-07-01T23:00:00.000-07:00

Just some quick notes on our two eatings for the summer Restaurant Week – we went to George’s (the longtime La Jolla favorite) and Nine-Ten just down the street. Not the same night - we aren't nutty. This is the first time for a summer RW.

What about that road trip?
Seriously, the Q&A format continues? I’ll get back to the road trip next time.

Why couldn’t you real-time blog from the road like any normal dude from the year 2008?
Next time!

So you went to George’s California Modern?
We were last there at one of the first times they did restaurant week – really probably nearly our first so-called “high-end” dinning experiences. Now flash-forward 3 or 4 years we are much more foodie-ized.

The menu?
Unlike most of the restaurants with these special three course menus for $30 or $40 that limit you to three choices per course, George’s gives you the full menu. Now that comes with a slight hitch – some menu times have a supplemental charge (normally 4 bucks with a few higher).

Uhhhh…almost sounds like a bad thing.
Not really – at least the options are there. And included in the $40 RW price were about 5 options each for starters and entrée’s. And 8 desserts.

The food dammit.
Okay – L had the (copied directly from the menu) Black Olive Cured Fresh Albacore – this was a real winner! Main was the Loch Duart Salmon (farm-raised off the coast of Scotland – I don’t know if that is a good thing or not.) Salmon wouldn’t be my first choice – it’s kinda like ordering chicken. But it was a big hunk and came with a variety of interesting little sides and L was pleased. Dessert was Marscapone Cheesecake with rhubarb salad.

I started with some pork meatballs - just okay. And I had Pacific albacore – two nice sized pieces, seared on on side only, on top of some grain, surrounded by a mix of salad and a veggie or two. Dessert was a gooey chocolate tart.

Who’s food won?
Is it a competition? I think we decided that the Albacore was the winner for starter and entrée. Desserts were both good – maybe not quite great. We had cocktails to start us off – I had something called a Pisco Sour – apparently a Peruvian drink.

How about Nine-Ten?
It was good too – but I’d pick George’s again before Nine-Ten. Especially the way George’s did RW plus the food was just more interesting. Here is the quickie rundown of Nine-Ten: sashimi and heirloom tomato salad, braised short rib, potato foam!, duck breast, white chocolate mousse, strawberry rose shake with beignets. Started off with a cocktail for each.

Oh shit, do they a mandatory gratuity?
Nope – neither did. I don’t care either way but I know some people get their panties bunched up about that stuff.

Omaha! Nebraska! Whhhhaaaat?!?!

2008-06-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

You might find yourself in Omaha sometime – you know, just traveling across the country on I-80 on one of those sum-sum-summertime roadtrips and decide it’s a reasonable stop along your trip. Let’s try it like a Q&A session…

Uh, what? A trip?
Sure, a trip. You know in a car – gas $$$ be damned!

Okay, what’s this about Omaha?
Stop that – I’m getting to it. So we probably saw about 10 states along the way between our very own San Diego, CA and our destination and back. I won’t blog about it exactly in order – but by the end you’ll see everywhere we’ve been.

Pictures?
Maybe. Not many. Took trip pics and a very few really almost none on the iPhone which will be called the iDude going forward. Like it?

Ehh.
Anyhow, it happens to be a Monday and after a full day of driving we checked in to our DogFriendly™ hotel (maybe it was a motel) and looked around and saw a Village Inn. Urp. Things are looking mighty familiar – turns out we stayed here when we first moved out to California those many years ago – okay six years ago. We looked around a little more and saw something called “BrewBurgers” up the hill and across the street.

No Hooters?
I guess not. A quick search on the internets on the iDude brought up a review that made it sound pretty good – a sports bar with pretty decent food. We headed over – no hole in the wall here, it’s a pretty big place – and what’s this, a sign on the door said that Guy Fieri of Food Network fame would be there later that week? Okay that legitimizes the place!

You can’t go wrong with “The Guy”!
I read that he’d be in Omaha – hey I had time to read the weekend section of the Omaha local paper! So we sat and found out that they have this great Monday drink special: pretty much any “M” drink for $4. For food they have burgers, salads, dinner specials (yes, you can get a steak!) and the owner’s old school favorite: the beef brisket sammich! It’s all about $10 if you want say, a regular cheeseburger or something a little different like a lamb burger or bison, salmon or tuna and so on…plus your choice of side. Go for the onion rings – battered in-house. This is key I think so so much better than those pre-battered Sysco turds.

Uh, crude, just get back to the alcohol!
So, it was any Margarita, Martini, Mai-Tai or Mojito for $4 all day on Monday. This “M” drink happy hour could cover a lot of drinkin', my friends! Any they have a nice list of specialty martinis, etc – all just $4. I don’t know what they normally charge. I got a “Millionaire Martini” with several shots of liquor – it was a strong drink! They also have a great list of brews.

Thumbs up for the BrewBurgers?
Oh sure – a great local find – exactly what you want on a roadtrip. Great food, fun, casual place to kick back and drink a few (hey it was the end of the day). I’ll be watching for it on the Food Network. But browse the menu at the link and feel free to drool. And good news, I’ve got a 10 blog posts stuck in me – lots of trip talk so if I can push them out you’ll be seeing some activity in my little ghost town on the web. And I think I just might stumble onto Omaha again! And points east and west.

So now, what about this Q&A format?

Uh…not so much. Skip it next time.
Okay.

And now what about Restaurant Week 2008, the Summer Edition?
Shut up!

http://www.brewburgersomaha.com/

Rice Krispy Treats

2008-05-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Or is it Krispie? Maybe it should be Krispies since you need many of them. Anyhow. I am baaaack! I didn't go anywhere but still. And it’s a rare recipe post. Hell, a rare post at all. I was always going to post some pictures of our South Pacific vacation but I didn’t even take any foodie pics. It would just be pics of sand, sky and water. I’ll probably get around to it.

This is one of our favorite simple desserts. Do you think it is too “white-trash”?

Crunchy Fudge Sandwiches

(1) 12 oz. package butterscotch chips
1 cup crunchy-style peanut butter
8 cups Rice Krispies
(1) 12 oz. package chocolate chips
1 cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons water

In a large saucepan, combine butterscotch chips and peanut butter; heat until chips melt and mixture is smooth. Add Rice Krispies; stir until well coated with butterscotch mixture.

Press half of the cereal mixture into greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Chill in refrigerator while preparing fudge mixture. Set remaining butterscotch mixture aside.

Combine in medium saucepan over low heat: chocolate chips, powdered sugar, butter and water. Stir until chips melt and mixture is smooth. Spread over refrigerated butterscotch mixture. Spread remaining butterscotch mixture evenly over top. Press gently. Chill in refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour. Cut into squares.

Sooooo….we’ve got a road trip coming up in June. I’m thinking I might blog from the road from an iPhone. Is it possible to do this without swearing? If I do it will be at a new website – of which I will provide my reader a link. (Hi, reader!) Hey, many new SD food stuffs blogs have popped (and probably pooped) up in the last year – one that I just noticed that looks really great is at http://5-ds.blogspot.com/ from a dude named Roger.

McFish McYum?

2008-03-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

I’m lazy about this bloggin’ stuff. I’m not even eating all that good. Last week on Friday knowing that the McFishy Sammich was just $1.29 I thought I would swing thru the drive-thru and get one to bring home for a snacker mcsnack.

Yum? Does it look any better than the one last year? Anyhow it kicked off a short discussion with my wife:

“Oh, no, are you going to eat that?”

“Sure!”

“Why? It doesn’t look like anything.”

“It was just $1.29!”

“That still sounds like a rip-off”

And so it goes. Maybe she remembers Hardee’s doing them better back in the day. Hopefully everyone is eating good out there. And I'd think with the end of Lent that fish sandwhich will be back to normal price. And what does Jack in the Box do?

A.R. Valentien

2008-02-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

I’m many weeks late and probably a couple of dollars short, but to recap the Sandy Eggo Restaurant Week I’ll start off with our first of two restaurants we tried out: AR Valentien at someplace called The Lodge at Torrey Pines. Someday I’ll get around to Arterra.

We sat down and I said bring all the food I can eat for forty bucks. Instead we got menus. WTF? Anyhow I thought I should probably play along. This is not my normal way of ordering food. I mean, at Carl’s Jr. I can ask for $40 of food and they WILL bring enough hamburglars and chicken nougats to stuff you up.

So we got glasses of water poured out by the water guy, bread served up by the bread server guy (with 3 choices including corny muffin) and we got a bowl of olives (I can’t remember if it was from the olive server-up guy or just one of the other guys) and a fancied-up deviled egg amuse-bouche.

I’ll lay out what we had as copied from the SDRW website on the internets:

Charcuterie Plate with House Made Pickles
Tuna Carpaccio, Crispy Capers, Parsley, Horseradish

Braised Beef Shortrib, Roasted Vegetables and Anson Mills Polenta
Swordfish with Manilla Clams, Toasted Orzo and Tapanade

Chocolate Pound Cake, Ice Cream
Chamomile Panna Cotta, Caramelized Pink Grapefruit

The charcuterie plate (try saying that 5 times fast) was the winner here that had three nice sized squares of meaty sausage, hammy something and a pate square along with some toasted bread and pickled veggies. (Have I warned about my run-on sentences yet?) The tuna carpaccio was sliced thinly across the plate, topped with herbs.

I had the beef shortrib - yum, on the bone, comfort food! The swordfish had tapanade spread on a small toasted bread slice along with an anchovy. In addition they served up a complimentary side dish of sautéed tiny turnips. Dessert was nicely done and delicious.

Then along with the bill just because we weren’t full enough, they set down a little plate with a couple of berries and 3 small cookies (one with a tiny section of citrus on it). We had also bumped up the bill by going for wine pairing at $25 extra a person - California wines, with an icewine for the dessert course. Service was professional – friendly and no stuffiness detected. In case you are wondering, no automatic gratuity added.

http://www.lodgetorreypines.com/

San Diego Restaurant Week - Yay or Nay?

2008-01-27T17:23:00.000-08:00

This is the week in San Diego that if you are any kind of restaurant at all you participate in the annual Dancing With The Stars competition – no wait – that is something else entirely, this one is the $30 and $40 3-course meal "deal" we all call Restaurant Week 2008.

It might not be as exciting or as much of a deal anymore but it gets people out in the rain – including me! So heads up. This doesn’t happen often! Yes. Plan on seeing a couple of new blog entries this week! And this year, we get a double dose as they repeat the whole thing in June. I have a few restaurants in mind for summer – it will be a good opportunity to get a summer menu versus a winter menu at some of these places.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T09:23:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to everyone! I have posts I could be getting up but they are only in my mind so far and that is a problem if you want to blog publish! Anyhow, I wish everyone, especially the San Diego foodie bloggers, the happiest of all holidays! I lurk and get around to most of the blogs at least weekly.

A couple of random things: went to Brett's BBQ for a second time - I didn't think it was as good as the first time there. And I see Joey's Smokin' BBQ has opened up (with little fanfare) up in Carmel Mountain Ranch, near the Rubio's, near Sears, across the street from Trader Joe's.

Heads up if you work in Sorrento Valley (or drive by on the 805, or hell, in Carlsbad or La Jolla) you might have been to the newish Croutons already - it's a good quality soup, salad and panini shop that's got a few San Diego locations. Most people at work have been pretty impressed with the quality and the interesting salads and soups.

Next time I'll get around to the 1500 Ocean meal or maybe even finally share pictures of our island trip.

Turkey Weekend Is Over

2007-11-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

Back to work. Thanksgiving is over – on to Christmas dammit all.

Just a short post today. We had our turkey dinner in Poway at House On The Hill. They had a fixed price menu: $24.95 per person with a choice of three entrees. Turkey! Ham! Or Salmon!

The price included a serving of cheese spread (homemade, they said) and a few crackers to start you off, a choice of corn chowder or house salad (it was really good!) and then on to the main that was served up with a small little pile of sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce along with bigger piles of green beans (traditionally my least favorite, but they were really good) along with stuffing and garlic mashed. Oh yeah, a bunch of slices of turkey too.

Dessert was a choice of pumpkin or apple pie. Both were served cold. And then in a cool little move, when they bring the check you get leftovers. Yes, extra leftovers of turkey sammich to go, as they said, “so everyone has traditional leftovers!” Overall, a nice restaurant and good service – they look to have a decent American menu of fish and steak. They have a large patio which would be pretty nice on warmer nights or hell, most lunches through the year.

Big Bear!

2007-11-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

A recent weekend was the perfect time to check out Big Bear. Well, maybe not completely since a fire was still burning in the Lake Arrowhead area to the west and one of the three highways into town was closed but why let that stop us?

Yes, but how was the food?

If you’ve been there you’ve probably driven by The Log Cabin advertising THE BEST BREAKFAST! We stopped in since we could eat with the dog on the patio. If you get the German Breakfast it winds up being the wurst breakfast! Ach ya! Yes, you get eggs however you want them plus knackwurst, kielbasa AND bratwurst plus 2 potato pancakes and applesauce. Nice place, it’s been there since Hector was a pup (that means a long time) and they have a friendly staff. Another doggie option for breakfast or lunch, I’ve read, could be the North Shore Cafe. And I think there is a Grizzly something that apparently does the biggest lumberjack breakfast but it is in a tiny little place.

There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of BBQ restaurants – I picked Outlaw BBQ for take out one night. I was attracted (or maybe just intrigued) by a beer battered rib option. Now, I’m not that big on deep friend food though once I had a deep friend hard-boiled egg that had been wrapped in bacon and all those deep-fried cheese curds I’ve had so I should know what I am talking about. I got a half and half order – half normal and half deep fried. I would compare the breading to what is on a corndog. Honestly, I wouldn’t get them this way again but the regular ribs were really good.

Another evening meal was at the Mandoline Bistro in “The Village”. I had a delicious Pork Tenderloin with (as copied from their website) a guava BBQ sauce, apple and chili chutney, vegetables and tamale. Wow. This was good! And The L had the Cedar Plank Salmon, served up with mushroom risotto and a lemon sauce. We didn’t take the dog, but if you are wondering, I’m pretty sure they allow dogs on the large outdoor seating on warmer days. This place probably winds up being one of the better restaurants in the Big Bear area – and they have music upstairs on weekends.

Lodging was found going through vrbo.org – ended up being cheaper since we booked with the owner and not through the property management company though we did pick up our keys from them.

Wine and Food Fest

This was the “Grand Tasting” at a park behind Seaport Village. If you saw a guy there with food slopped on his shirt – that was me. I had a couple of mishaps. Jeez. It was a little hectic and rushed – though it doesn’t really need to be. The food was good and plentiful. Even more so for the wine. So much wine. We sampled all the food and got the heck out of there before the drunkards completely took over. It was fairly crowded – I think they could space out the booths a little. They have booths on both sides of the 8 or 10 foot wide sidewalk that circles the park. It’s not until you get to a large grassy knoll that you really have room.

Brett's BBQ

2007-11-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

Depending where you live this place is way up or over or down or out there or even WTF. Brett’s BBQ is in the oddly named 4S Ranch. No doubt a nominee for worst neighborhood name yet. I’m assuming that a Sam, a Shirley, a Sue and a Steve are the main investors. Or the main dude said, “Let’s call it Forest Ranch” and they secretary got it wrong.

Anyhow, I read about it in a North County Times article that said they do it "low and slow" in an "Ole Hickory smoker … from 12 to 14 hours". Yum. And talk of the famed smoke ring? That was enough, I checked the website and phoned in my order of a rack of spare ribs, asked the girl, “where da heck are ya?” and drove off.

OMG. Delicious. Meaty and tender. I’m not sure if they offer up more than one sauce or if it is from Sysco, nor do I know if they have homemade sides but they got all the normal ones. And you don’t get a corn bread muffin with the rib meal.

The place is in a strip mall environment, order at a counter (or phone in the order) pick up and eat at one of the few tables in or out. There is a pizza place next door – maybe Del Mar Pizza. I remember seeing ads/coupons for a Firehouse Pizza earlier this year. Is this where it was? Or is it still around.

So, big thumbs up for the BBQ – I should note that while I was raving about the ribs, my wife didn’t care that much for them. I also got a ½ pound of beef brisket that she liked (though I thought was just so-so, but hardly paid attention to it.)

Wine and Food Fest – San Dee-ag-o Style
Grand tasting on Nov. 17th. Anyone going? Let me know, we might be able to say hi to some other bloggers. I’m thinking we’ll pick up a couple of designated driver tickets (discounted to $50) just to sample the foods. We like going to wineries and wine tasting but neither of us quite want to get into that this time.

Blog stuffs…You’d think I’d update this more often. I have a couple of posts written in my head, I just have to take time to get them in. Maybe I’ll have a goal of once a week. Maybe a Sunday morning post. I have a couple of trips I can write about.

All is A-OK

2007-10-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

I thought I should check in at least once a month - and especially now after the week that San Diego has had. No fires in our very own Scripps Ranch this time.

And if there was anything good it was that we had two days off of work.

Yet, we were mandatory evacuated from our neighborhood by the police department Monday at 2 pm. We spent a lovely night sleeping in the car with Cooper in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot as all the hotels were full by the time we were ordered out.

Of course, area businesses and local people donated everything imaginable to people at Qualcomm (people food, pet food, water, pillows, blankets, cots, camping chairs, tents, etc.) plus all the volunteers. The effort at the "Q" was organized and well handled and now today the Chargers won 35 – 10! But how was the food? Delicious and there was plenty of it!

Carmel - by - the - Dog

2007-09-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

No, don't worry, this isn't a cheesy attempt to make it look like this post is by my dog: our very own Cooper. So, a recent weekend we made the drive to the Monterey Bay area – specifically Carmel-by-the-Sea. Besides being a quaint village, Carmel is also very dog friendly. Lots of lodging options – some being bed and breakfasts – and lots of dining options that allow dogs. I think to some point, they are hoping you’ll just bring your “rich person purse pet” but hells to that! We’ll bring our 75 pound pup.

If you are just staying in town, you can pretty much park your car and walk to wherever you want to go. Naturally, the beautiful white sand city beach is a big draw. Open to off-leash dogs all year long and all hours of the day! And for the girls, lots and lots of shopping. There is seemly no end to the amount of galleries and boutique clothing shops for the ladies. I’m not sure what a guy is to do here besides eat and beaching but supply credit cards – I guess there is golfing.

After getting settled at our bed and breakfast (fruits and pastries in the morning, wine hour in the afternoon) we walked down Ocean Avenue to the beach. Carmel does get plenty of foggy days – which is nice to keep things a little cooler than the inland areas. No doubt a nice relief from the blasting heat San Diego is getting right now. Still we had plenty of sun while we were there.

For eats, we had dinner at Forge in the Forest – kind of a “claim-jumpers” type place – burgers, ribs, steak. We sat on the large patio – they have a couple – I think this one was reserved for people with pups. The food wasn’t anything too great but not terrible – we got a mixed grill of meats and a half a bbq duck. I’d maybe stick to sandwiches instead of dinner entrees. And every entrée comes with some bland vegetables. But they were great with the dog – you can expect a bucket of treats on the table, wait staff giving out pets on his head and a busboy rushing out a bowl of water. They also have a doggie menu.

As mentioned breakfast was provided – if a hot breakfast was desired we heard good things about Katy’s Place. Open for breakfast and lunch, they have a great looking breakfast menu: a huge list of eggs benedicts and all the other breakfast goodies. It didn’t work out as they have a maximum doggie limit of 20 pounds (I called and checked so we weren’t disappointed standing there at the door.)

And we picked up a lunch sandwiches from a deli after a long hike in the Garland Ranch Regional Park in Carmel Valley – not the San Diego suburb, but Carmel Valley just east of Carmel. Highly recommend hiking the trails out there.

I think Cooper was a little surprised at the amount of activities he was involved with this day – after hiking and an afternoon at the beach, he would have been happy just napping in the room. Nope, it was off to eat at The Village Corner – this site has apparently been a restaurant for years and years dating back to the 40’s. They serve all day long – so they would be a good option for a hot breakfast too. Here we informed the host at the front door that we were here with a dog and he met us at the side entrance to the large patio. We liked the food here – crab-stuffed halibut and some sort of spiced lamb chops. It is a tourist town – so service leaves maybe a little something to be desired. Not much time for discussion – just “here is your food, eat” sort of stuff. No food services for dogs here – just what you’d care to feed him off your plates. A young girl passing by asked her mom a couple times, “why do those people have a dog with them?”, I don’t know if anyone had a real answer for her.

Dessert was at The Bubbly Fish – no website that I can find but there is this article – which serves up wine, chocolate, caviar and cheesecake tastings but probably not in that order. It’s a splurge type place or a everyday place depending on your wealth status. Here we had a couple of tastings and some wine – including ice wine which we hadn’t tasted before and don’t even quite buy into the story to this process but it's on Wikipedia so it's true. They have about 10 tables inside and 6 or 8 outside in a courtyard in front of some other shops. Of course, puppy got a treat and some attention from the staff here.

Guy and Alton

2007-08-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

Guy.
Heads up! There is a guy coming to our very own San Diego. Not just any guy, but Guy Fieri of Food Network fame will be at the Fashion Valley Mall next Saturday, August 25th, for a "Super Chefs Live" event. I met Alton Brown a couple of years ago at this event. Expect some cooking demos, a signing, some samples and maybe a local chef or two.

Alton.
Heads up part two! It's been on for a few weeks, my favorite food show right now is Feasting on Asphalt with Alton Brown. This is season 2 and they travel roads up along the Mississippi River. Last season was marred by a motorcycle mishap that left our very own Alton with a broken collarbone - none of that this year. Just, ahem, good eats all the way. Unlike the other travel foodie shows, this one seems like they just happen along various places without an advance team or notice - but I could be wrong. The show runs for a total of 6 episodes.

I'm back!

2007-08-04T08:12:00.001-07:00

Sorta.

Not that I was on vacation, in jail, running from the law or even sick with the flu. Just too lazy to write and post. I've justbeen hitting up the old favorites: that Thai place, the Indian place on Activity Rd., the pizza place that starts with a Z and oh that other place too.

And I've been reading all the local foodie blogs - great job gals and guys!

Did have a weekend breakfast at Cavaillon - saw some bragging about it on our very own Chowhound - and it was excellent. They don't seem to get too busy but the patio filled up while we were there. Smoked Salmon Scramble Eggs with Scallions and Cream Cheese $10.00 Yum! Eggs Benedict with Bacon and Spinach $11.00 Start off with the fresh donut things. I swear the menu showed weekend brunch hours from 8 am to 2 pm, Sat. and Sun., but call and check to confirm as the website shows Sunday hours only.

I should have more posts coming up.

Don't laugh. It's possible.

Really.

New blogs
I've noticed a couple: longtime (I think) Chowhounder, Koko started a blog. And I think our very own "L" from Poway also started a blog. Lots of posts already on each including some restaurant visits - always my favorite part.

Just a bunch of...

2007-06-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

TV Time
There is no shortage of chef competitions on TV this summer. I count 3. That I am watching anyhow. The classiest is Top Chef but the most entertaining is Hell’s Kitchen. How many times can Gordan “Mr. Grouchy” Ramsey scream the “F-word”? Falling somewhere in between is the Next Food Network Star. I could probably skip that one. But I won’t.

If you missed Hell’s Kitchen, be sure to watch next week. They have assembled a prime bunch of trembling foods. Slack jawed yokels even. I don’t see any potential winners yet like the girl that won last year.

And don’t miss the winner of the last Food Network Star, Guy Fieri in his newest show, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. He’s the latest they have roped in to eating his way across the country.

Red Pearl Kitchen
Eh. It was okay. I’ve read better things about it but we weren't overly impressed with what we had: Strawberry-Cinnamon Ribs (they weren’t exactly hot, temperature-wise), Black Pepper-Caramel Shrimp (not bad but with that brown goopy sauce that isn’t that great but there were lots of shrimp and they were huge) and the Spicy Chicken Drunk Man Noodle (drunken noodles – we’ve had much better). One minor highlight if you like the place is that you can bring back your stamped receipt the next Monday night for half off your food bill. (Walking by The Oceanaire, I really want to get down there for that ballpark special 3 course $30 menu available 5 pm – 7pm weeknights as the menu looked great that night.)

Market
We splurged on the tasting menu (4 courses) with wine pairing a few weeks ago at Carl Schroeder's Market Restaurant. Yum. I’ll just provide the menu (see photo) and let you fill in the rest since I didn’t take pictures (I hardly ever do) and I’m terrible at describing meals. Service was great: he explained the highlights of the menu in detail before we ordered and seemed quite knowledgeable about each wine, explaining each one when he brought it out and why it worked with the course. Yea, probably BS but still an experience – one that we haven’t quite taken part in. The most memorable were the tender braised beef ribs.

It was probably a 2 ½ hour meal – the timing was just right, never too long of a wait. The menu is perfect for a table of 2 since there are 2 menu options for each course. All in all, a great night and I wasn’t even embarrassed to valet my 3 year old Lexus.

Alice Q. Foodie sez it is time fer a new post.

2007-05-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

It’s been a month, I couldn’t have gone a whole month without eating, dammit!

Yes, I forgot about the blog for all of May so I have time-traveled (if that is possible) back in time to get this post in. We went to Market Restaurant in Del Mar nearly a month ago – I’ll get to the post in a few days. I guess I have some writers block going on with that one and so much time has gone by I can probably just write, uh, the braised beef ribs were good. I do have plenty of chain eating to write about though. Applebee’s! Outback! Famous Dave’s! Chili’s! Those gems will have to wait. So will going the Downtown Disney™ way with Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen. And then there was that brief stop at Napa Rose after hours of drinking. Oops, probably said too much…

Cavaillon

2007-04-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went to Cavaillon in someplace called Santaluz (just north of THE 56) after seeing an excellent rating in The Reader review and high praise on Chowhound. I made reservations for their Monday night $32 fixed price 3 course “meal deal”. Reservations on a Monday night? Seems odd, but they have a fairly small dining room (unless I missed a larger back room?) with a small bar left of the entryway so reservations may be suggested on potentially busy nights. We were offered either a tiny table inside or our choice of any table on the empty patio. Since the weather was nice, we went outside and had the patio to ourselves.

Starters included French Onion Soup with Cubes of Beef Short Rib and Onion and Eggplant Tart with Sautéed Calamari. Both were great.

My entrée was the slightly famed "Coq au Vin" with Creamy Potatoes and Vegetable Brunoise. As you might know, I’m a “foodie dummie” and don’t know much about anything, so I wasn’t aware of Coq au Vin before Naomi’s review. At Cavaillon they serve up two meaty chicken thighs. Plenty to eat here!

My wife got the Shiitake Mushroom Risotto with Green Asparagus and Aged Parmesan. Filling! Seinfeld fans know this! And they do a Shrimp and Lobster Risotto – either as an entrée or a smaller appetizer.

Dessert was an Almond Macaroon with Fresh Berries and Raspberry Coulis plus another Coconut Ice Cream, Pineapple & Golden Raisin Marmalade. Yum.

The food overall was excellent, good portions and great service, but from the looks of the dinner menu, that $32 meal deal results in just maybe a couple bucks off. I probably wouldn’t bother with that again – just go whenever you want and order whatever you want – most of the menu is under $25 (a couple under $20) for entrees and the full dinner menu is available on Monday nights. Cavaillon also serves brunch on weekends (alert to Jim, the Brunch Master!) with plenty of options right around $10. That patio is calling me for breakfast some weekend!

Pump-beer-kin

2007-04-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Trader Joe's has been discounting (down to $2.99! for six bottles!) this seasonal beer recently all the way from Sea Dog Brewery in Bangor, Maine. I liked it. And it's the home of Stephen King. The beer has a sweet flavor - maybe a little bit like a beer and creme soda combo. Not a hint of nutmeg thankfully.

I like Trader Joe's many tasty chocolate covered goodies. And other treats.

Reuben Tuesday

2007-04-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

Last week, I guess the old fashioned taco Tuesday got upgraded some how as The Linkery introduced Reuben Tuesday™ for all us masses. After apparently disappointing many fans around Saint Patty’s Day, a large batch of corned beef was commissioned and last Tuesday the Reuben had reappeared on the menu.

My wife had the Sausage Tacos ($11.50 – yes, taco Tuesday is back!) made with a link of Chicken Curry Sausage – take your pick of any link available that day (they usually have 3) served up on grilled corn tortillas with fresh pico de gallo, cabbage, and queso fresco and served with jicama black bean salad. Yes, I took that from the website menu. And it’s probably a run-on sentence.

I got the Reuben ($15.50 – is it okay to say Yikes to my lunching buddies? Hey, it is what it is.) paired with the Death and Taxes black lager from little ol' Moonlight Brewing in Sonoma County. The Reuben is served as an “open-faced” sandwich, topped with white cheese with the sauerkraut hidden beneath the meat. Delicious. Yet, I couldn’t help notice that a neighboring table got a bigger portion. Eh, call it “plate envy”. Pickle slices and homemade style potato chips finish off the plate. Of course, we started out with a cheese plate (around $12) and finished the meal up with a couple of desserts: their homemade pound cake topped with cream, kiwi and strawberries. Plus we got the awesome Linkery made Oaxacan chocolate ice cream with cacao nibs. (Each around $6.) This was a huge success!

Maple Syrupin' 2007

2007-04-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

It’s a bloggin’ field trip! Far away from our very own Southern California is a place that people might make maple syrup. Mrs. Butterworth and Vermont be damned, this post will be about the upper Midwest maple syrupers. Specifically, my Dad’s small time maple syrup shack which is all new this year! It’s just a fun time spring hobby with most of the product going to friends and family.

Gone are the old large open pans that cooked maple sap over a closed fire box and gone are the old buckets that collected the sap. Enter a new era! Collection bags! A modern evaporator! The process is easier as the cooking sap runs thru a series of separate pans as it cooks down, eventually measured and then a faucet is opened to pull off a couple of quarts of finished syrup. This is way different than the old method in which 10 gallons (or more) would have to be taken off the fire at once and quickly filtered. The new setup includes a filter press – days later the syrup is filtered and bottled.

But it’s all best shown with pictures. No need for me to blather on.

It all starts with the sap collection.

A time machine?

Wood fired.

Cooking away!

Dad reports that he produced 50 gallons of syrup this year. This is off of 300 taps (multiple taps per tree are typical) with about 33 gallons of sap needed to cook down to a gallon of syrup. In Syrupin' 101 you'll learn that you need nighttime temperatures to hit 25 degrees and daytime temperatures around 45. This gets the sap moving and dripping out of the spouts. Cooking it is just a relaxing time filled with card playing and general shooting of the shit.

What is it?

2007-04-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

Coffee? Err...probably not.

Beer? From the latest brewery tour?

A load of honey? Bee poop?

Be back with a full post in a day. Or nine.

Random Junk

2007-04-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

I haven’t been inclined to post much – but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been eating lots. Oh, I’m been eating so much. Sorry if you have been checking in every week only to see nothing new.

And I missed doing an April Fool’s Day post…
…did any San Diego food bloggers do one? I just didn’t get around to it. I think it would have been something about the superb quality of hot dogs and just would have blathered on and on about how good hot dogs are. (They really are.) Or maybe a lengthy post deconstructing the $1.29 McFish Fishy Samich. It’s a Good Friday tradition. Tiny but still probably 350 calories. Really soft bun. Weren’t these bigger years ago. Anyhow, that is a rare fast food for me. It's some kind of appealing, isn't it?

Thanks to the Chowhound…
…which anyone can find on the Internets I’ve recently checked out the famed Super Cocina on University – yum! The samples! I will be back soon! There is a little place on Miramar a couple of doors down from the BBQ place that does sort of the same thing in a smaller way. (Carnitas, Chicken Mole, more!) Speaking of BBQ, I recently checked out San Diego’s very own Phil’s BBQ for the very first time at their new location. Pretty good stuff – it smells great outside the place.

Poway Restaurant Reviewer
Poway’s very own city councilman, Bob Emery, reviews local restaurants as noted in a recent article. Cool! I checked the meeting minutes and the reviews are brief but glowing.

I’ve got more stuff on the way…I have no less than 3 posts. Unfortunately they are only in my mind and have not been written yet. So more could be on the way. Even this week.

Fish Fry Friday

2007-03-13T23:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, it’s Fish Fry Friday by Fire Fly Fifty Five. Cough cough. I’ve probably written this before but for many people Friday’s equals Fish Fry Friday. For the uncouth, it means the restaurant TGIFridays. But not today! Back in the “old country” you could find a tasty fish fry at any corner bar and all but the worst restaurants. Deep-fried Haddock typically - sometimes served up family style all-you-can-eat. Yum. Deep-fried fish, potato salad and fries – this could be the death of us all yet! But you also will get slaw and buttered rye bread, neither of which is deep-fried.

Once upon a time I even had a hard-boiled egg that was wrapped in bacon, battered up and deep-fried. When I woke up in the hospital I had a special diet to go on. That was fun.

Oggi’s
First up on the Friday fish fry tour is Oggi’s. I think this is pronounced, OH JEEZ, as in “Oh, jeez, I’m so f’ing fat.” It’s been voted at least some years in row as the best pizza. I’m not sure about that, it looked a little doughy to me. But we’ve hit this brewpub (with enough San Diego locations) a few times over the years for hot wings and beer or something similar.

They do fish and chips for $10.95, with their own beer batter anonymous white fish served up with potato wedges. It seemed to be a pretty light batter – with maybe even some breadcrumbs. The whole meal was made better with a starter of artichoke dip with tortilla chips – but even better by a trying out their beer sampler: 7 samples of their beer, each in it’s own 5 oz. glass. What a sight to see our waitress bringing that platter of beer (the sampler is $7) and it was all for me.

Thumbs up big time to Oggi’s – especially after the sampler.

Brigantine
Yes, what about the Brigantine family of restaurants, another local chain? Surprisingly, we’ve never been to one. Now, after a remodel (the place looks great!), the Poway location has been renamed The Brig. We probably overloaded on deep fried fish on that Friday night as my better half ordered the fish tacos (a total of 2) for $9 and I had the fish and chips (3 pieces of fish) for $15. The tacos come with a few hushpuppies and the fish comes with (ta-da, surprise!) homemade potato chips. Each also comes with a choice of slaw or bleu cheese potato salad. These are fairly heavily battered pieces of fish. My wife thought the tacos were a little dry – I thought they were fine and would order those again.

The rest of the menu looked pretty good – we may find ourselves there again if only for drinks (a full bar!) and appetizers. Yet, I get the feeling that everything on the menu was on the Sysco truck earlier that day – I’m sure that chocolate pie was Sysco Chocolate Pie #3.

Next up
Even though I wrote “deep-fried” about 20 times here, I actually don’t really care for deep fried food very much. First off, in my mind it seems unhealthy, plus it all tastes like that who knows how old fry oil. My next post will be totally in a different direction: Cavaillon. By writing it here, I might actually get around to writing the post.