A Little Taste of San Diego

I recently spent a few short days in San Diego--or, to put it more accurately, I recently spent a few days inside a hotel conference room that happened to be located in San Diego.  That said, I still managed to avoid hotel catering on a few occasions.  Unforch most of the suggestions I got and read were in La Jolla, and I didn't have a car!  Alas, next time--I'll even bring The Man with me.  Here are the highlights from this past trip, including this awesome tree:

Cafe 222: I gather this place is never really empty--it's only open for half of the day (serving breakfast and lunch from 7-1:45pm), and everybody got the memo that it's delicious.  Cafe 222 happens to be the site of Bobby Flay's favorite French toast, stuffed with peanut butter and banana.  I'd LOVE to share that with someone, but you all know I love eggs waaaay too much to trade them 100% for a sweet like that.  At this point you should be able to look at the menu and know what I got, so quiz yourself.

...
 Is it the Green Eggs and Spam?   Nah, I only eat green eggs at Belga.

...

 Pumpkin waffle?   No ya'll, that's out of season.

... 

Answer?  Eggs Italia.  Eggs scrambled with pesto, diced tomatoes, and goat cheese.  The creamiest, herbiest, zangiest eggs I've ever had.  The pesto wasn't a sauce on top of the eggs, it was IN the eggs.  Sorry for the iPhone pictures, I was on my way back from a run along the lovely bay.  I got take out, and I was able to refill my iced coffee a few times from a little help-yourself station near the patio seating while I waited.  It wasn't shady, I promise--the host told me I should!  Their coffee was really really good.  There wasn't any milk out, and I could have asked, but instead I took a taste and decided it worked for me.  If coffee is really good, I like it on ice without the milk.


Shout House:  Going to Shout House is like watching TRL if you really love music videos.  A song you might like begins, but the AM rush hour-like banter and drunk girls ruin that moment for you.  And you're left with snippets of almost-happiness.  GRANTED, it was St. Patrick's Day--no fault of LC, who sent us there. Still, it was a good time to hear talented people play and sing.  I even ruined it a little by singing along myself.

Sidenote, I went up to LA for a day and hit up Gardens of Taxco again with the fam (chicken mole, SO GOOD--like it was born in the sauce, SPICY, not hot, etc), and also had a delicious oatmeal cookie and iced coffee at Urth Cafe.

But my first night we stopped in super cute and built up Culver City (sort of Clarendon-y).  Our destination was Ford's Filling Station, the joint by Harrison Ford's chef son Benjamin.  We ordered the fish & chips, which was pretty good.  My favorite part was the fish, and I was slightly disappointed to find all these other fried things in there--veggies, shrimp (granted, the description mentions the shrimp, I just didn't read carefully.  Bad me.).  MORE FISH, less other stuff!  But this isn't Eamonn's.   The curried lentil salad was really good--I didn't get so much curry, but definitely got lots of lentil.  Halibut with mashed potatoes was okay, but didn't blow me away. Our server was super sweet, and told us we HAD to have the mashed potatoes because they were AMAZING.  I'm not the hugest potato fan (I like them, but I'm not about to do a 5K on their behalf or anything), so maybe I just didn't get it.  The mushroom flatbread that came out first was actually my favorite.  I'll take two, please!!!!  Ford's calls itself an American gastropub (how very now), so if I lived nearby I'd bet the beer list and happy hours would do a body good. 

All in all, the most favoritest deliciousest thing I ate on this trip was my Eggs Italia.  I can't help it; I'm addicted to breakfast.  Thanks to my Seester for giving me the 411 on 222.

Coming soon: Birch & Barley, PS7's (again), Rosemary's Thyme, Seder 2010, and more.

I hope you are all having a lovely week!  Apparently the weather is going to get better any second.  ::listening for when the wind stops making the windows make scary noises::

Pistachio Pizza - I want it!

Yesterday we saw some of the PIZZA episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on Food Network, and some stuff looked amaaaazing. In particular, the Rosa Pizza at Pizzeria Bianco was making my mouth water--a super-thin, lightly charred crust topped with red onion, parm-reg, and pistachios. [If you're like me, then just now you went OMG PISTACHIOS?!?!?!? And then you quickly did a Kayak search for rates to Phoenix.]

Read other bloggers' descriptions of it here and here, and even WaPo giving you the recipe here.

The other pizza that looked ridiculously amazing was the breakfast pizza at Little Dom's in LA. Luckily we have family and friends out there, so I WILL be having Little Dom's, unless heaven forbid it closes in the next 3 years (I figure that's a good window where we're sure to get back there). I'm so into breakfast, so it's no surprise I want eggs on everything, including pizza.

Anyway, where are my manners--here is a link to the episode so you can see when it's on next and then set your DVR.

To be entertaining, here are pictures of some pizzas I've eaten in the past year...

Postcard from LA

There are plenty of fancy shmancy restaurants to check out while you're in LA, but for quick, casual or just-delicious dining in the area, I give you...The Postcard. We would have loved to have followed Mr. Sietsema's advice to visit Pizzeria Mozza, but unfortunately (fortunately for Mr. Batali, though) reservations need to be made a few months in advance. Set goals for your trip. My #1 goal was to eat avocado every single day. What can I say? I reach high.


SANTA MONICA:
Some of the places we'd "heard about" to eat in Santa Monica were unfortunately closed for lunch. We hunted for that juuust right snacky sandwichy lunchy cutesy place. Enter Jack 'n' Jill's (of Beverly Hills, but with this SM outpost). Sandwiches, soups, baked goods (including fabulous looking cupcakes), and most importantly, breakfast. All. Day. I enjoyed the House Scramble, an omelet with goat cheese, basil, avocado, spinach, and sun-dried tomato, with a plateful of still-hot mini blueberry muffins. Spectacular. J had the Chicken Pomodoro panini, with mozzarella cheese, gouda, tomato, and basil on rosemary bread. Iced green and tropical teas were both notable.

Jack 'n' Jill's
510 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401


WESTWOOD:
Nestled in the village of Westwood with UCLA is a cookie shop with no web site. While I usually am skeptical of such establishments, Diddy Riese cookies has my blessing regardless. It's simple--pick two fresh-baked cookies (I chose one peanut butter and one chocolate-chip) and an ice cream flavor (I went with espresso chip) and the quick staff makes you an ice cream sandwich for $1.50. There's a constant line, and I understand why. Cheap and decadently delicious, our unexpected stop at Diddy Riese was a highlight of our week-long trip.

Diddy Riese Cookies
926 Broxton Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90024


MID-WILSHIRE:
Larchmont Village Wine, Spirits & Cheese doesn't look much from the outside. Too-few tables in front of what looks like a tiny, cave-like wine shop. Luckily, we were with someone in the know, cousin A, who showed us the way it works. You get on (a sometimes LONG) line and pick one of the 6 sandwiches before paying around the corner (made up of shelves of wine). While waiting you can look around at the fun imported candies and chocolates and pick your beverage and chips. I got a turkey sandwich with avocado (by request) sun-dried tomato spread, greens, Swiss gruyere, balsamic, and oil. You can get a half or whole sandwich on either ciabatta or baguette (get the baguette). Sit outside and enjoy your nosh before walking over to the cute local stores (and ignoring the Pinkberry).

Larchmont Village Wine, Spirits & Cheese
223 N Larchmont Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90004


ALL OVER:
In-n-Out is the Five Guys of the west coast, with these differences: INO has inferior fries, FG has a larger menu (including HOT DOGS), INO has shakes, and of course INO is famous for its "secret" menu. I personally enjoy the hamburger animal style, although for hungry hippos out there, it's rumored you could ask for up to an 8 X 8 (that's Meat X Cheese)--but don't get that, it's gross. Don't leave the west coast without visiting In-N-Out, please.


IN-N-OUT Burger
Various West Coast locations

I hope you've enjoyed the iPhone picture stylings in this post.