Less than ten minutes after walking into Ponsaty’s last week, I walked out. Something fishy was happening and it wasn’t the special Spanish Tuna dinner I had been looking forward to for over a month. Instead, I left the restaurant far hungrier than when I arrived. But, now, I was craving answers after ingesting a crudo…
Flying Pig Pub & Kitchen, Destination: Vista
The more life I live, the more things I forget that I thought I used to know. Then, after an extended, mostly subconscious, journey of searching for that thing I lost, I sometimes find myself almost where I started. Almost. Older and wiser, hopefully, with a different outlook, so, not quite the same, but, well,…
I Love Poke…It’s Ohana
There was a moment or two in the last year that I wondered if I would ever write this article about I Love Poke, based on last year’s event, in preparation for this year’s event (’cause no one likes hearing about a food event they just missed). In fact, a few months ago, I asked Nino…
Chef Tae Dickey, Bridging continents through Biga
The only reason I hadn’t gotten to Biga in downtown San Diego sooner is that I thought it was about the pizza. And, pizza, as a sole purpose, is not enough reason for me to head downtown. Then, I met Chef Tae Dickey, owner and executive chef at Biga. Chatting a couple of minutes with…
Ponsaty’s French Dinner Series…Breaking the Wintry Chill
Call it a lull, a pause, a plateau…hopefully not a rut…that the San Diego restaurant scene has been mired in for most of the last chilly, rainy quarter of a year. When one major food writer in town resorts to an entire series on salt and pepper and another does a take down of a…
Crispy Pork Belly Recipe, Orange Soy and Chili Pepper Braised
The pork belly boom is here to stay. Every chef and establishment has a version of the melt in your mouth goodness, from appetizer to entree, usually braised, with melted collagens and tender meat forming a salacious, mouthwatering experience. Come to think of it, why would anyone want the pork belly boom to go anywhere? This…
Tidal – A Walk on the Lighter Side
It’s no secret by now that I love flavor. And, by flavor, most of the time I mean salt. I was that kid in the school lunchroom who’d fill his palm with the table salt shaker and lick it as an accompaniment to my PB & J or ham & cheese sandwich, with equal measures…
Saffron Shrimp and Grits Recipe
Whenever I think of a great breakfast spread, grits is always in the picture, even though it’s been decades since my childhood of eating them almost every morning. It wasn’t until many years beyond my childhood that I first had shrimp and grits, though, and now, they top my list as one of the great…
Complex, Yet Welcoming Flavors at The Hake
There were a lot of “I don’t know’s” heading into dinner at The Hake. A chef friend had mentioned that she couldn’t wait to see what Chef Aarti Sanghavi was up to at the newly renovated and re-opened The Hake in La Jolla. I kinda nodded, smiled and murmured something like, “Yeaaa…I’ll have to check ’em out, too.”…
Spicy Peking Duck Recipe
Your first time eating Peking duck is likely to be one of those life changing culinary revelations. The citrusy sweet and sour flavor combined with the crispy duck skin make it one of those dishes that never fades from memory. Even the mere mention of Peking duck amongst those who’ve eaten it incite cravings that overshadow…