Went tonight to the SD Mag. Best of SD Party with a great Groupon deal. Total mob scene - glad we got there early. Puzzlement: very long lines for Rubio's and other undistinguished places, no lines for Kitchen 1540 (at least at first), JSix and several other top places. SD seems to be changing culinarily...and yet, it's still fast-food tastes for lots of folks.
Some quick takes:
--Winner of the Night: Kitchen 1540, with a tomato soup with a molecular gastronomy shaved thing on top which Paul McCabe was personally shooting (is that verb?) on top. Dr. T., I get it: the food is yummy and totally different. Next special occasion: we're there!
--Most Happily Surprised: Had a god-awful meal at Roppongi 8 yrs ago or so - we thought it was worse than MickeyDs and did not get the hype. They had an awesome bigeye tuna dish. Went back for seconds. I won't bag on them anymore.
--Anthology: so underrated, and yet so yummy. Some beet thing with goat cheese in the middle: yum.
--Alchemy: love ya, love ya, love ya! Ricardo Heredia stayed at the restaurant: how could they manage without him tonight? The restaurant's host was manning the saute pan at the booth! And yet, they set him and the other cook up so well with a well-conceived dish: no-fail sauteed squash blossom with goat cheese, and a flavorful gazpacho. Nice going! Tasty...and veg....I love you, Alchemy!
--The Cravory Cookies: Loved you as 410 degrees. Sorry, don't love the new name. But you still have the most ridiculously delicious cookies ever. Skipped Red Velvet tonight and had PB overload (insane), some rosemary basil somthing and some other good cookies. Bypassed birthday cookie (already know it's the bomb) and Pancakes and Bacon (whaa??)
--Urban Solace: CH loved their pork dish. I loved seeing that talented and menschy Matt Gordon manning the booth.
--Nobu: OMG! Their black cod is phenomenal! Didn't love serving it with jalapenos, but it is justly celebrated. No line there...go figure....
--Massive lines at Royal India and Monsoon. Do that many people like Indian food in this town? Can those places really be better than the best of Sorrento Valley and Mira Mesa? I was curious but not optimistic enough to wait on those lines....
--Addison: a no-show, I think?! I was looking forward to trying William Bradley's food...without having to give my money to Doug Manchester! For that matter, didn't see Oceanaire or Quality Social, which were also supposed to show.
--Roseville: closed this week but the chef (owner?) showed up anyway! They're looking for a new location, as FoodBuzzSd.com reported. Their carrot amuse was a nice touch, but was the same as I felt about their food when I ate there: nice idea, nothing special.
--Bencotto: CH's fave of the night: the paper-thin prosciutto. Decent cookies.
--Con Pane: Love their breads at Tender Greens: what they had on display was not as exciting (loaded up foccacias that were not as flavorful as their plain ol bread)
--Tender Greens: You served pork...too bad for me! No matter...I'll be there again soon, eating my way through the menu.
That marks the end of a long string of extra date nights. No big plans for the next few weeks - except hitting Specialty's some day with CH (he brought home a loaf of bread today. Holy crap - he is right! It is awesome bread, and I'm not really wanting to eat bread right now!)
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Thanks for the summary! I feel like I was there! Sounds much better than the SD wine festival. It'll be on our calendar for next year! Glad Kitchen 1540 kept up with my hype. I'm jazzed to try the places you've highlighted that represented well, especially the surprises. Thanks, FM!
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