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94th Aero Squadron – French farmhouse still works
Try the antinoise –tomatoes with olive oil dressing plus capers, garlic, toasted coriander seeds, basil, spring onions, salted anchovies
Held together by cheese
Video:
TIN FORK: 94th Aero Squadron – French farmhouse still works
It was one of those gifts a cash-strapped cuss like myself always dreams of.
I heard about it first in 2013: this crazy eat-drinks place with World War I biplanes decorating its garden — plus old artillery and tons of actual live ducks — set in an authentic-looking World War 1 French farmhouse, all sitting at the edge of Montgomery Field. And with an equally crazy happy hour! Crab-stuffed mushrooms with hollandaise, $4.50. Corn chips and stew, free. Carrot sticks on ice, free. Lasagna. Quesadilla. Veggie plates. Popcorn. Potato skins, $3; escargots in mushroom caps, $4. Aviator’s cheeseburger and fries, $4.50. Three sliders and fries, $4.50. Margarita, $3.50. Bud Light, $2.
Sigh. I visited, natch, and it proved a night to remember: food, Buds, and instant buddies. A room full of genuine characters. Happy hour aficionados like George McBride, an old gent who was 86 and had just stopped flying his own plane (that he built himself). He used to land it and taxi up to a spot right outside the restaurant. The place, said George, was always crowded.
What happened? Covid happened. But it’s still open, and a happy hour’s still happenin’. So now I’m on the bus. We’re in the zone. I see the sign: “94th Aero Squadron. Restaurant & Lounge. Open to the Public.” “I’ve been driving this route for years,” says the #60 bus driver, “and I have never thought to go in there.” And yes, as I walk up, I see the three stacked wings of the Red Baron’s Fokker triplane sticking out through the trees. I continue past a pile of 44-gallon drums of aviation fuel labeled “petroleum,” and through to the airfield side. “Caution,” says a sign by the fence. “There are rattlesnakes in this area. Rattlesnakes are active throughout the year.” Good to see there’s some wild life beyond the bar.
The “WW1 French farmhouse” where the 94th came and made its HQ
Still, in some ways, this place seems a shadow of its former self. The other ancient biplanes, the live gaggle of ducks, and various signs of 1918 life have been cleared away. Happily, once inside, you still get a zillion photos from when the Yankee 94th “Hat In the Ring” Squadron, aka Lafayette Escadrille, requisitioned a French farmhouse and made it their HQ for the final year of the First World War.
“Do you still have the happy hour?” I ask Angellena, who’s patrolling the mostly empty tables inside (OK, it is early, and it is Monday). Well yes, she says. She brings the Happy Hour menu. Uh, far as I can see, this is not your daddy’s happy hour. Mostly, it’s about drinks. But not all. “$5 off select bar appetizers” — which happen on Monday and Tuesday only. I check the appetizer list. At the top are “Aero pilot’s buffalo wings,” nine of them for $19. But with $5 off, only $14, as long as they are one of tonight’s HH selections. An onion ring basket with ranch and BBQ sauces goes for $13 (read HH $8). Hot link sandwich (with hot dog bun, mustard, and sauerkraut) is $11, or a $6 deal for HH. Crispy calamari with marinara and habanero aioli costs $20, or $15. Three stuffed potato skins come with chopped bacon, cheddar cheese, antiboise, scallions, and sour cream cost $14, or $9 HH. Cheese curds with habanero aioli are $15/$10.
Uh, antiboise? Turns out it’s a sauce made popular in Antibes, on France’s Côte d’Azur, and it’s basically tomatoes with olive oil dressing plus capers, garlic, toasted coriander seeds, basil, spring onions and salted anchovies. Good to go with fish and meat. Count me in on that.
Nature starts taking back the war machine
So yeah, reasonable deals, although nothing like the swingin’ pre-Covid days of 2013. I opt for the stuffed potato skins. Forget to ask if they get the $5 discount. But when the three skins come — while I’m on my second $10 Alesmith .394 draft beer and hoisting a toast to Tony Gwynn, who, let’s remember, batted .394 in 1994 — I decide I couldn’t ask for anything more lush. Not sure if I can pick out the sauce from Antibes, but the totality is, well, deeply satisfying. That good ol’ combo of sour cream, half-leathery skins, cheese, and the tang (maybe from the antiboise sauce?) does it all. But my coup de foudre — since we’re talking of everything French — has to be the last-minute decision to order a French onion soup au gratin (which, I’m just now realizing, means sprinkled with grated cheese, or bread crumbs, or both, and browned). Not from the HH menu, but the regular one, under soups and salads. Only costs $8. It comes with Parmesan and gruyère cheeses. And man oh man, they have the touch. Yes, part of it is the odd insert of a kinda-transparent cheese slice which folds under the onions, plus what looks like an egg. Quail’s egg? Grated cheese? Minced meat in its own womb? I decide to just chomp and see what happens. Have to say, deep ooh-ooh-umami flavor, starting with the onions — rich like kettle drums beating deep beneath the cheeses. That’s maybe a bit high-flown, but whatever, they just give out this cold weather/hot snack flange-flaring jowl appeal.
I make a note to myself to come back a little more loaded with dinero, mainly for a wagyu burger I see Angellena hauling off to a couple of flier types who have turned up at the bar. It’s a half-pound of American wagyu with spring mix, red onion, tomato, white cheddar, and aioli. Costs 29 buckeroos. So. Not cheap. But not a probbo for these two gents. And hey, they’re buying cigars! They’re on the menu. Prices range from $19 for a Padron 2000 Maduro to $35 for a Romeo Y Julieta Reserva ($25). “You can smoke ’em on the patio,” says one of the guys. I ain’t no smoker, normally, but somehow the whole idea, here, has the whiff of this other, older world. Guess I’ll have to come back for that burger, maybe a glass of port, and maybe even that Romeo.
The Place: 94th Aero Squadron, 8885 Balboa Avenue, tel 858-560-6771
Hours: 11.00am - 3pm daily (except Saturday-Sunday, 9am-3pm); 4pm-8pm (except Friday, 4pm-2am; Saturday 4-9pm
Happy Hour: 4-6.30pm, Monday-Friday
Happy Hour Prices: Aero pilot’s buffalo wings (9), $14 (as long as they are one of tonight’s HH selections); onion ring basket, ranch, BBQ sauces, (HH $8); hot link sandwich, sauerkraut HH $6; crispy calamari (marinara, habanero aioli), HH $15; 3 stuffed potato skins (bacon, cheddar, antiboise, scallions, sour cream) HH $9; cheese curds, HH $10;
Regular menu: American wagyu burger with spring mix, $29
Bus: 60
Nearest Bus Stop: Balboa Avenue and #8865
Here's something you might be interested in.
94th Aero Squadron – French farmhouse still works
Try the antinoise –tomatoes with olive oil dressing plus capers, garlic, toasted coriander seeds, basil, spring onions, salted anchovies
94th Aero Squadron – French farmhouse still works
Try the antinoise –tomatoes with olive oil dressing plus capers, garlic, toasted coriander seeds, basil, spring onions, salted anchovies
Held together by cheese
Video:
TIN FORK: 94th Aero Squadron – French farmhouse still works
It was one of those gifts a cash-strapped cuss like myself always dreams of.
I heard about it first in 2013: this crazy eat-drinks place with World War I biplanes decorating its garden — plus old artillery and tons of actual live ducks — set in an authentic-looking World War 1 French farmhouse, all sitting at the edge of Montgomery Field. And with an equally crazy happy hour! Crab-stuffed mushrooms with hollandaise, $4.50. Corn chips and stew, free. Carrot sticks on ice, free. Lasagna. Quesadilla. Veggie plates. Popcorn. Potato skins, $3; escargots in mushroom caps, $4. Aviator’s cheeseburger and fries, $4.50. Three sliders and fries, $4.50. Margarita, $3.50. Bud Light, $2.
Sigh. I visited, natch, and it proved a night to remember: food, Buds, and instant buddies. A room full of genuine characters. Happy hour aficionados like George McBride, an old gent who was 86 and had just stopped flying his own plane (that he built himself). He used to land it and taxi up to a spot right outside the restaurant. The place, said George, was always crowded.
What happened? Covid happened. But it’s still open, and a happy hour’s still happenin’. So now I’m on the bus. We’re in the zone. I see the sign: “94th Aero Squadron. Restaurant & Lounge. Open to the Public.” “I’ve been driving this route for years,” says the #60 bus driver, “and I have never thought to go in there.” And yes, as I walk up, I see the three stacked wings of the Red Baron’s Fokker triplane sticking out through the trees. I continue past a pile of 44-gallon drums of aviation fuel labeled “petroleum,” and through to the airfield side. “Caution,” says a sign by the fence. “There are rattlesnakes in this area. Rattlesnakes are active throughout the year.” Good to see there’s some wild life beyond the bar.
The “WW1 French farmhouse” where the 94th came and made its HQ
Still, in some ways, this place seems a shadow of its former self. The other ancient biplanes, the live gaggle of ducks, and various signs of 1918 life have been cleared away. Happily, once inside, you still get a zillion photos from when the Yankee 94th “Hat In the Ring” Squadron, aka Lafayette Escadrille, requisitioned a French farmhouse and made it their HQ for the final year of the First World War.
“Do you still have the happy hour?” I ask Angellena, who’s patrolling the mostly empty tables inside (OK, it is early, and it is Monday). Well yes, she says. She brings the Happy Hour menu. Uh, far as I can see, this is not your daddy’s happy hour. Mostly, it’s about drinks. But not all. “$5 off select bar appetizers” — which happen on Monday and Tuesday only. I check the appetizer list. At the top are “Aero pilot’s buffalo wings,” nine of them for $19. But with $5 off, only $14, as long as they are one of tonight’s HH selections. An onion ring basket with ranch and BBQ sauces goes for $13 (read HH $8). Hot link sandwich (with hot dog bun, mustard, and sauerkraut) is $11, or a $6 deal for HH. Crispy calamari with marinara and habanero aioli costs $20, or $15. Three stuffed potato skins come with chopped bacon, cheddar cheese, antiboise, scallions, and sour cream cost $14, or $9 HH. Cheese curds with habanero aioli are $15/$10.
Uh, antiboise? Turns out it’s a sauce made popular in Antibes, on France’s Côte d’Azur, and it’s basically tomatoes with olive oil dressing plus capers, garlic, toasted coriander seeds, basil, spring onions and salted anchovies. Good to go with fish and meat. Count me in on that.
Nature starts taking back the war machine
So yeah, reasonable deals, although nothing like the swingin’ pre-Covid days of 2013. I opt for the stuffed potato skins. Forget to ask if they get the $5 discount. But when the three skins come — while I’m on my second $10 Alesmith .394 draft beer and hoisting a toast to Tony Gwynn, who, let’s remember, batted .394 in 1994 — I decide I couldn’t ask for anything more lush. Not sure if I can pick out the sauce from Antibes, but the totality is, well, deeply satisfying. That good ol’ combo of sour cream, half-leathery skins, cheese, and the tang (maybe from the antiboise sauce?) does it all. But my coup de foudre — since we’re talking of everything French — has to be the last-minute decision to order a French onion soup au gratin (which, I’m just now realizing, means sprinkled with grated cheese, or bread crumbs, or both, and browned). Not from the HH menu, but the regular one, under soups and salads. Only costs $8. It comes with Parmesan and gruyère cheeses. And man oh man, they have the touch. Yes, part of it is the odd insert of a kinda-transparent cheese slice which folds under the onions, plus what looks like an egg. Quail’s egg? Grated cheese? Minced meat in its own womb? I decide to just chomp and see what happens. Have to say, deep ooh-ooh-umami flavor, starting with the onions — rich like kettle drums beating deep beneath the cheeses. That’s maybe a bit high-flown, but whatever, they just give out this cold weather/hot snack flange-flaring jowl appeal.
I make a note to myself to come back a little more loaded with dinero, mainly for a wagyu burger I see Angellena hauling off to a couple of flier types who have turned up at the bar. It’s a half-pound of American wagyu with spring mix, red onion, tomato, white cheddar, and aioli. Costs 29 buckeroos. So. Not cheap. But not a probbo for these two gents. And hey, they’re buying cigars! They’re on the menu. Prices range from $19 for a Padron 2000 Maduro to $35 for a Romeo Y Julieta Reserva ($25). “You can smoke ’em on the patio,” says one of the guys. I ain’t no smoker, normally, but somehow the whole idea, here, has the whiff of this other, older world. Guess I’ll have to come back for that burger, maybe a glass of port, and maybe even that Romeo.
The Place: 94th Aero Squadron, 8885 Balboa Avenue, tel 858-560-6771
Hours: 11.00am - 3pm daily (except Saturday-Sunday, 9am-3pm); 4pm-8pm (except Friday, 4pm-2am; Saturday 4-9pm
Happy Hour: 4-6.30pm, Monday-Friday
Happy Hour Prices: Aero pilot’s buffalo wings (9), $14 (as long as they are one of tonight’s HH selections); onion ring basket, ranch, BBQ sauces, (HH $8); hot link sandwich, sauerkraut HH $6; crispy calamari (marinara, habanero aioli), HH $15; 3 stuffed potato skins (bacon, cheddar, antiboise, scallions, sour cream) HH $9; cheese curds, HH $10;
Regular menu: American wagyu burger with spring mix, $29
Bus: 60
Nearest Bus Stop: Balboa Avenue and #8865
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