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Entries
Prepping for a Pig Out
Eight local chefs plan ultimate pairing dinner around pork
It’s always fun hanging with chefs. I’ve had the honor and pleasure of interviewing many in my day, but the most enjoyable gastronome intermingling I’ve experienced have been during after-work chef meet-ups. One-on-one interviews are friendly enough, but mostly business-like. …
French, Italian and Carla
Hotel Del delivers cocktails, apps for price of a Bud and a couple of burgers
Seeing we’re in Coronado (see Sticker Shock), and seeing we’ve spent, like $35 for burgers…it’s now around seven and Carla suddenly says “Let’s go get you a French and Italian at the Del. Just in time for sunset.” “The…the Del?” …
Worldly birds at Finch's Bistro in La Jolla
Around the world in one meal
At the end of a narrow walkway tucked between two shops on Girard Avenue in La Jolla is a sweet little gem of a restaurant called Finch's Bistro and Wine Bar. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/2013/may/27/46366/ I first discovered Finch's a few months ago, …
Sticker shock at Danny's (but it's not what counts)
Venerable bar in Coronado still has "the best burgers." Eat them there, and save
This Memorial Day Weekend, it was kind of appropriate to be swigging a Bud Light here at Danny’s (Danny’s Palm Bar and Grill, 965 Orange Avenue, Coronado, 619-435-3171). http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/28/46390/ The names and photos of Navy Seals who didn’t make it …
Downtown: Sliders in Salvation Alley
B.B. Blues Bar H.H. delivers musiculture, cheap booze, and pulled pork to die for
“This joint is dedicated to the memory of Jake Blues.” It’s a gold-lettered sign above this bar, the B.B. Blues Bar. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/25/46309/ Jake Blues? We’re in the belly of the beast here, the venerable (okay only eight years old in …
Minor expansion at Izakaya Masa
Mission Hill's sake house of record adds a few tables, makes getting a seat that much easier.
Big news from the world of small restaurants: Izakaya Masa (928 Fort Stockton Drive, 619-542-1354) added a new wing to the dining room that increases the miniature sake house’s seating capacity by about thirty percent. For anyone (like me) who …
Smoke & Guns: a cocktail standoff at Roseville Cozinha
Liberty Station fish-to-fork eatery hosts a showdown between some of San Diego's finest craft cocktail innovators.
Craft cocktails are on the rise in San Diego, and with the visionaries have come dozens of late-comers hoping to turn a quick buck off of what may or may not prove to be a passing fad. To showcase the …
Salt and Cleaver: moonshine, brats, and duck confit
New sausage spot in Hillcrest gives Midwestern football food a big-dollar makeover
Salt and Cleaver has been open for a little while, but I hadn’t had a chance to go check it out until just now. The extensive remodel on the building’s interior put a lot of distance between the new restaurant …
Linda Vista: Broken rice's secret power
Bale Restaurant's special plate has a story
What price broken rice? Was at Bale’s (“Baa-Lay’s”) Restaurant & Deli last night (6925 Linda Vista Road, Suite B, at Ulric Street, Linda Vista, 858-297-2707). Vietnamese. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/23/46156/ Here you expect to find Pho (the French-inspired Vietnamese beef and other broths) …
Mobo Brain: technology at the dinner table
Local author Jenz Johnson offers a new outlook on the role of mobile devices at meal time.
It this vast and untamed American future, just about everybody carries a mobile device. While most of us have been subjected to impromptu tirades about smartphone etiquette (“not at the dinner table/7-11 checkout/live concert/in public ever”) at the behest of …
Little Italy: Supping with a ghost named Wanda
The new Queenstown Public House comes with unexpected company in the 1905 house
Hauling up Cedar out of Little Italy, past the Pioneer Hook and Ladder – hey, didn’t that use to be the firehouse museum? - and crossing Columbia when whack! Thar she blows! Former assemblywoman Lori Saldaña’s old HQ. Nice old …
Eggs and spring chicken at Saltbox
Downtown restaurant's new menu reveals clever sensibilities
The spring menu at Saltbox showed me a few things, chiefly that executive chef Simon Dolinky is a smart guy. I say so because he seems to think outside the box with his dishes. Not in a wild, Wylie Dufresne …
Café Paris: Flying the Flag
Loris Compiano thought he had the perfect gimmick to get noticed
"So Loris," I say. I've just popped in to his Café Paris (455 10th Avenue, East Village, 619-674-8439) on the way down to Petco Park. http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/20/45947/ http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/may/20/45946/ I remember him for his luscious little plates to go with his wines …
Border: After 43 years selling snacks, no customers
What can Tomás López do with his border snack business, when they change the border?
Spare a thought for Tomás López. We're just inside Mexico, about 9:30 at night, at the western side, near the pedestrian entrance. Or what used to be. It's why Tomás has had his coffee, tea, and soup stall here for …
Baked Bear
Ice cream sandwiches...you're doing it right!
Some concepts are so foolishly simple they make me facepalm in disbelief at my own lack of inspiration. The Baked Bear in Pacific Beach is like that. The idea is ridiculously concise: custom-built ice cream sandwiches made with fresh cookies, …
The Turquoise gets it wrong
Pacific Beach tapas bar nearly strikes out with food and service. Only the drinks are at all on point.
I hadn’t seen a mandatory service charge at a restaurant in quite a while. Then, I went to The Turquoise Cafe-Bar Europa in Pacific Beach, where a gratuity of 17.5% is automatically added to every bill. Unlike some people, I …
Downtown: Red trolley, green eats
Customers at downtown's newest lunchery are seeing red - trolleys
"Are you indecisive?" says Christina. "I'm not sure," I say. "Can't decide." “Touché,” she says. She leaves me to Manny, who's waiting - and waiting - to get my order. Ok, I have been screwing around hemming and hawing between …