When a friend in the San Diego food industry announced on her social medial page a few months ago that she had sold everything that didn’t fit into three suitcases and was moving to Seychelles, I did two things in rapid succession. First, I googled Seychelles. I’m not gonna bore you with the Wikipedia style details,…
Restaurant Review
*Recipe* – Shishito Peppers With a Twist
I don’t know if shishito peppers are available everywhere, but they’ve become more and more common in SoCal, grown fresh locally and present in most grocery produce sections and farmer’s markets. They’re a small, thin-skinned, generally mild pepper, perfect for roasting and eating as an appetizer or accompaniment to any flavor forward dish, particularly grilled…
Ambrogio 15 – Simply Defining Pizza
Pizza. For some, it’s the gourmet thing they do…comparing “pies” in all their iterations – crust thickness, sauce, cheese quantity, meat quality. For me, it’s what I order from the nearest delivery joint on a Friday night after a long week or, better yet, a Sunday night when I’m conserving energy for the upcoming seven…
Ponsaty’s Restaurant – Every Bite the Perfect Bite
Had President Harry Truman been a chef and restaurateur in today’s world, he might have thought a little harder about popularizing the concept, “The buck stops here.” These days, putting your name over the front door of a restaurant, as French Master Chef Patrick Ponsaty has done with the freshly opened Ponsaty’s restaurant in Rancho Santa…
Wrench and Rodent – Serving Fish, Saving Lives
Lookie here, folks… I don’t write about a lot of food events, because there are so dang many of ’em, that’s all I’d have time to write about and that ain’t what this blog is about. Our friends at Wrench and Rodent Seabasstropub, however, are doing one in a few weeks that’s crazy cool and…
Pacific Standard Coastal Kitchen – Simple Ingredients, Elegant Flavor
There was no question when I heard about the very soft opening of the doors at Pacific Standard Coastal Kitchen that we were heading in right away. Forget about letting them work out the kinks. That’s why they opened without fanfare and trumpeting…heck, without even a sign in place – to give themselves a chance…
Belching Beaver Brewery Tavern & Grill – A Perfect Fit
Awhile back, I wrote an article that was a bit of a commentary and slam on gastropubs, because, first, the meal we had at one, in particular, was horrible and, second, I don’t know why I would ever eat at another one. Gastropubs are an ode to indecision – they don’t know what they want to be and no…
Santa Barbara & the Funk Zone – A “Getaway” Guide
Sleep, Eat, Drink, Massage…rinse and repeat. That was the mantra for our recent Independence Weekend getaway after a flurry of personal and professional activity and frantic 1st half of the year – pure rest and relaxation is what we were looking for. The determining factors for our quick getaways – how long will it take to…
Ponsaty’s Rancho Santa Fe – Almost Finished but Only Beginning
How hungry are Rancho Santa Fe residents for a new and fresh dining destination in the form of ground breaking while familiar, inventive yet classic and interesting but comfortable cuisine? Said Derry Van Nortwick, Vice President of Operations of the Grand Group, who somehow found time to give us a private tour in the midst of juggling all…