Alchemy, Baby! (without a baby) (South Park)

A toddler-free evening, so a regular rest. review!

For the last 1.5 I have been trying to eat my way through all the new and interesting places in the city with what little free time I have. Because of this, even when I hit an uber-yummy place that I'm determined to return to (like Urban Solace and El Comal), I haven't made it back....there are still too many supposedly yummy places to check out.

As you'll see over on the right, I still have an active places I'd like to go. Bencotto sounds especially promising (if the Yelpers don't let me down).

And yet, there I was back at Alchemy tonight...just because the last time I went it was so extraordinarily yummy that I was determined to return, even though it's not in my 'hood.

And oh my, how I love Alchemy!! I won't declare it SD's 2nd best restaurant (though it did win best restaurant of 2008 in SD Mag.), but I am now happy to declare it MY 2nd favorite restaurant (still keeping Jai at the top). What's so great about Alchemy:

--kickass mixologist/wine list: my vanilla-citrus temperanillo sangria was awesome - the wine I had last time I went was yummy and reasonable

--chill but hip atmosphere: not remotely stuffy, very comfy - Sabragirl, who came along on date night and knows something about design, thought it was simple but beautiful and wants to come back

--servers are super-friendly and efficient - kitchen bangs out food really quickly (perfect for getting to a movie or show after)

--and oh....have I mentioned the food? First time I went I had the awesome ceviche with plantain chips. That alone would have drawn me back. Don't remember what else I had but it was deliriously yummy. Tonight I went all veg. We had:

--humus/tapenade/pita chips (very respectable tapenade, perfectly ok humus);
--strange and wonderful beet salad (horseradish-buttermilk dressing, some bitter greens and yellow molten sheep's milk cheese, pecans): I can't say I ate every morsel like at Jai, because it really was unusual flavor combinations, but I'm liking the genius that put it together and it was still yummy
--grilled broccolini with two sauces (loved their grilled veggies last time)
--half chicken with yummy-looking white carrots and delicious hollowed purple potato mash (I ate the purple potatos - as for the rest, my Sweetie pronounced the dish "good", which was high praise from him - he refused to give me more information for the blog because he wanted me to move on from gushing about dinner :))
--farmer's market salad: visually stunning; my Sweetie liked this too (also "good"); Sabragirl and I tasted the lemony white radishes and thought they were super-yum
--local sea bass with fennel: Sabragirl was raving about the fennel

--and last but not least spinach tortellini with carrot and mascarpone filling and pea reduction, with pea shoots and crispy carrot strings: ridiculously good - the pea shoots were the only part I wasn't crazy about because they were either not perfectly fresh or not perfectly edible!

What is especially exciting about Alchemy is that the food is as innovative and exciting as at places that are much more expensive and special occasion. Sometimes I want to go to a place like Grant Grill and spend $$ to feel it's a "special night out". But sometimes I just want a kick ass meal that's reasonable. Oh, Alchemy....Alchemy, Alchemy, Alchemy!!

And Alchemy has so many choices for a meat eater like the Dad or a pesco-veg like me. Bencotto and some others will still need to wait - I see more trips to Alchemy in my future to keep working through the menu!

(And have I used the word yummy a gazillion times in this review? Toddler momhood doesn't afford me the leisure to do too much editing/word refining, but that should give you the picture of how much I love this place!)