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In the Realm of the Senses
As noted, I HATE having to assign star ratings to food reviews. First, this is a free weekly. Somebody before I got here decided it would make the reviews seem more "professional." Pretentious, far as I'm concerned. Second, this is San Diego. 1. Reviewers for Michelin (backed by a big tire company) and the NY Times (our national paper) visit destinations at least six times, even more when the highest rating is contemplated. (I don't know how Frank Bruni finds the time!) Now, I probably have the best restaurant budget of any critic in SD but it is still quite modest -- the best that all those "buy your new breasts here" ads can pay for. I can squeak in some high-end destinations but have to make flash judgments based on one meal or at best two. Now, with Marine Room, I've actually managed to eat there five times over nine years (mostly at these econo-prix-fixe specials) so I felt more than usually ready to address the restaurant seriously. There were very few flaws in all these meals -- and I've noticed that Frank Bruni at the NYT (which I read religiously) tends to forgive trivial problems (e.g., a line-chef stubbing his toe on the salt shaker, a dish that doesn't come together) in all but his top ratings. So when a chef in SD dares to SWASHBUCKLE, he's due high praise, ignore the trivia. Only reason Chef Bernie can get away with it is Marine Room's history, reputation and fabled view. I want to encourage culinary swashbuckling as best as I can, because there's damned little of it here. Why? See #2. 2. San Diego: As soon as I moved here from SF, I realized that this is not SF, NY, Hong Kong, Nawlins, or any other serious food city, but a land of intensely conservative eaters that prefer dimmed down (if not "dumbed down") cooking. (Local/organic OK -- unfamiliar, NAY!) Hence, every star rating I give here is at least a half star higher, and usually a full star higher, than I would have given the same restaurant in San Francisco (if I had to "star" it for the free weeklies there, which I didn't). Thus: My 4 3/4 star would be at best a Frank Bruni 2 1/2 (on his scale of three stars) but more like a Bruni two-star -- and as noted, Frank can be quite forgiving of small flaws with two-stars. Yeah, maybe some line chefs here should really be gardeners. At my favorite SF restaurant, La Folie, the line-chef for a while was a guy named Trey Foshee. You may have heard of him. Few bold chefs stay here (we've lost Steven Rojas and Wade Hageman of Blanca in the last few weeks; Better Half was the latest to close following Cerise and more recently Crescent). It's San Diego, Jake: Nothing gold can stay. Doing the best I can go keep the gold, encouraging any signs of creativity, imagination, derring-do, trying to rouse some enthusiasm to try it, eat it, maybe people will like it if they dare approach it.— July 25, 2009 2:16 a.m.
Smoking or Non?
Ponzi -- You have all the answers right there. (And I didn't probe any deeper into this, however curious I am, because it's proper for me to review chefs' work, not their lives.)— July 16, 2009 4:28 p.m.
Oh, Tempura, Oh, Morels!
True, I didn't look up that particular veterinary professional group's website -- I just summed up the material from articles on the topic that appeared in the New York Times about 8 months ago. (I don't remember if they ran in the Science or the Food section.) Guess those guys at the Times aren't real reporters, either.— July 11, 2009 5:59 p.m.
Another Side of BBQ
Ooh, if I lived near Convoy Street I'd haunt the place, trying to eat from one end to the other. Forget Hillcrest and the Gaslamp and La Jolla, gimme that! (When I was trekking in Nepal eating dreary dhal baat tarkari night after night, I didn't crave a burger -- I dreamed of eating shrimp in Hong Kong.) But there's a food blog you ought to know about, by someone who does something much what you're looking for: mmm-yoso. It's written by an Asian guy (Chinese, I think) with real expertise in various Asian cuisines (and an adventurous palate for other ethnicities, too), and he frequently covers restaurants on or near Convoy. He's the one who discovered Sab-E-Lee. Check it out! (I do, lots. I'd swear he eats out every night of the week and he's a great resource.)— July 4, 2009 4:28 p.m.
Letters
MOTO: Too bad the powers at the paper didn't give me an opportunity to respond to your post when it first appeared in the Letters. The others are all "matters of opinion," but in your case, the factuality is challenged. First: I did mention Pete's in the piece. I said specifically that Pete's is a grill, not a BBQ. (That is, there are hundreds of forms of BBQ all over the world, but in the US, when you go to a restaurant calling itself a BBQ, it is nearly always a restaurant that smokes its meats, rather than merely grilling them.) Second, I didn't mention or review KC or Abby's or Tyler's or (best of all) Barnes BBQ because all of those HAVE ALREADY BEEN REVIEWED! I was specifically reviewing three brand-new BBQs that opened all within a month or two of each other. As for the wall of beer, I do need glasses (and wear them) but the main thing was, I wasn't looking for beer, I was looking over the menu to decide what to order. I knew I'd be phoning the place to ask what kind of wood they smoked over, and would ask about the license then, too. Unfortunately (and this WAS dumb) I phoned on Memorial Day, forgetting that it was a holiday (writers for weekly papers don't GET holidays!) The place was doing land-office business, and was so noisy, the gal I spoke to probably didn't hear the question right and said "no." When I called back to talk to the manager the next day, when it was quieter, I didn't think to ask the question again. BTW -- A new website posting indicates that Frankie's has got its license now, and is advertising happy hours! Yay!— June 25, 2009 5:30 p.m.
Letters
Re: Red Sails: Hmm, I'm looking at last year's Zagat guide for SD -- yes, just as I thought: Red Sails, with a food score of 13, is the lowest rated restaurant in the entire book, tied with Hard Rock and Joe's Crab Shack. And Zagat ratings come from the eaters, not from restaurant critics. So go ahead and love Red Sails, but be aware that most people (at least those who post on Zagat because they care enough about food to want a free copy of the guide) do not share your love. Reason I ate there was, my Reader colleagues were urging me to do so because it's supposedly the oldest surviving restaurant in SD (Waterfront being supposedly the oldest bar). And I love eating at waterside. So I went. And wrote a nearly-kindly review, given the quality of the food. Remember, I liked the raw shellfish. Maybe because it wasn't cooked there. Other thing is about community restaurants. At any community restaurant -- places where locals run into their neighbors -- locals are going to have a very different feeling about them than a stranger will (and of course, a stranger may not feel all that welcome there, either.) When I reviewed Red Sails, the review wasn't for people in the in-group there, it was for fools like me who were direly tempted by an attractive, funky-looking waterfront joint, visually resembling the "seafood shacks" I used to eat at during vacations in New England. I really wanted the food to be better, so I could like the place. (Later, I heard the place to be at Red Sails is the bar -- that the drinks are strong and good. Skoal, MsGrant!)— June 25, 2009 5:15 p.m.
Smoking or Non?
One more comment, in case anybody knows the answer to this: A number of new BBQs are using tall, stainless steel vertical smokers that easily get their permits because they don't send any smoke out into the neighborhood. (Examples: Lil' Piggy's, Joey's (chain), Lightnin' Jack's in Clairemont Mesa.) What's strange is that none of the meat comes out of those smokers tasting like it's been smoked the old-fashioned way (pit barbecue. When you go to Barnes BBQ in Lemon Grove, you can smell that yummy woodsmoke/meat aroma half a block away). This newfangled Q may have a touch of smoke but just DOES NOT TASTE THE SAME! Now, I know that Sausage King Bruce Aidells started out smoking sausages in his own home-made "vertical smoker" of an old converted fridge in his backyard, and as we all know, Bruce did okay. Can anybody explain why these spiffy new modern smokers don't make Q that really tastes like Q?— June 22, 2009 11:39 p.m.
Smoking or Non?
Thanks, Ponzi, for the letter of the law. And wow, I didn't know the Likker Boozocracy were that rigid -- what a damn reign of terror! In my experience, reviewing both here and in the Bay Area, mom'n'pops with no wine/beer licenses (and no application in for any) usually allow you to BYO, so long as you're really discreet about it -- like, NOT on a front patio, OK on a back patio or inside, so long as you keep the bottle/s concealed from Outsider eyes. But I've also run into small restaurants here (e.g., the recently-late Fix Me A Plate at the outermost edge of LaMesa, with a desolation row of wine and beer choices) that still wouldn't allow BYO, the owner so terrorized by the Boozocracy. I'll always wonder whether Fix Me might have lasted if he'd allowed BYO -- Bud and Gallo are sort of dispiriting. Abita, at least! Or Dixie? (Not good, but ethnic.) I'm hoping Frankie's gets their license because Q really calls for beer (or, in my case, cold fizzy Nigori Sake)and that my secret parenthesis doesn't hurt them. The site was previously a restaurant with a license, Lot 81 (or some such number -- should've been Lot 49, Pynchonesquely) so obviously the neighbs didn't object. I spoke to Tony and Joe about the booze issue -- some of the info they gave me is "off the record" but basically, they didn't cross all their i's and dot all their t's on their first try, so they have to start all over again on the paperwork, that's why they don't have one of those "applied for" signs posted outside.— June 22, 2009 11:28 p.m.
It’s Hard to Eat With a Paper Bag Over My Head
Thanks, Dave. Thanks the rest of you for posting. (Whew, feels like I'm back among friends again after last week's Sarah Palin rally.) When chefs have teasingly asked me during phone interviews what I look like, I tell them I'm a six-foot tall, skinny blonde. That way, whenever Terryl Gavre (of the SD Metro) goes to a restaurant, everybody will think she's me. Sounds like SDaniels may have described Candice Woo of City Beat, although I imagine Ms. Woo is more stylish than that description. Sounds like you just bought her some good service and food -- cool! (I don't know if she wears a brown bag on her head, but she's apparently a friend of Kirk of mmm-yoso, so she's quickly clued into interesting Asian new mom'n'pops. Always scoops me on them -- as the villain of the old Wildroot Cream Oil cartoon ads would say, "Curses, foiled again!) Hey, Magics, I used to be a proud cougar until I got a long-term boyfriend. Now I'm just a beat up old lioness, yawning in the sun. ("Hey, sista, you go hunt today, bring me some take-out." )— June 22, 2009 10:59 p.m.
Smoking or Non?
I'm back after all because, amidst all the sturm and drang of this battle (House of BBQ vs. Civilized Discourse) I'm bugged that I forgot to address the post of hardcorefiend, and the spelling of Dini. Yes, hardcore, of course I know that "bbq" also applies to all the world of grilled meats (from shashlik to shawarma to jerk to cabrito al pastor to yukiniki, et al). However, in America, RESTAURANTS that call themselves "BBQs" are nearly always smoker Qs. Two examples: The current "BBQ" issue of Bon Appetit is dominated by Steve Raichlen's recipes for BBQ around the world -- meaning, wood or charcoal-grilled foods -- BUT in Bon Ap's list of "hottest 10 new BBQs in America," at least 9 of them are smoker-Qs, the tenth a "pit-roaster," not a grill. Similarly, the current issue of Savoir magazine is devoted to the cuisine of Texas and written by Texas' leading food writers. Every single one of them who wrote an article dealing even peripherally with these issues was careful and precise about referring to open-fire cooking as "grilling" and smoker cooking as "BBQ." The major exceptions are, of course, Asian BBQ restaurants like Korean, Thai and Japanese BBQs, and specifically identified "cowboy barbecues," like the excellent one (Dornan's Chuck Wagon) in Moose, Wyoming (right across the street from Grand Teton National Park) that serves cowboy stews and steaks sizzled over an open wood-fire. It's an absolute "must" if you're camping in the Tetons, really fun, even though they got rid of all the cute little prairie dogs that used to come begging for bites. But you'll notice it doesn't call itself a "BBQ," it calls itself a "Chuck Wagon," and has done so for time immemorial. Also, Dimi, I'm bothered by what your quote says about you and your prospects in life: "Who spells anything correct now a days with texting. So you know, HA HA there will be a lot of misspelled words and messed up grammar from me and IDGAF.we are not in school, and this is about BBQ." Sorry, Dimi, people with jobs that pay decent money don't text -- unless they're in the moribund blue collar field or earning mimimum hourly at McD's or Walmart. In real jobs (vs. McJobs) you still have to use grammatical, properly spelled written language for e-mail, memos, business letters, written procedures, etc. (especially in the new global marketplace, where you have to write clear, standard English that ESL people in other countries can understand.) You (and Scott) couldn't make it with your lack of language skills. And BTW, that 4th-grader schoolyard "HA HA" is really not the way to gloat in writing. Grownups manage it far more subtly. So, true, you're not in school any more. That's too bad, because you should be. You're shooting yourself in both knees for life, professionally, with your attitude toward literacy. Back to school is just where you should go.— June 16, 2009 7:07 p.m.