Haven't blogged in a long time, but I wanted to remember that I loved Smoking Goat so we go again!
Very casual atmosphere, great food, very efficient and knowledgeable servers who are not pretentious.
Enjoyed: Lillet Blanc with blood orange (tasty but very short)
--Provencal rose (was very food friendly)
--Burrata and tomato salad (awesome grilled bread)
--Tomato risotto: just a really lovely dish with great Suzie's farm veggies
CH enjoyed:
--Suzie's salad (he might get regular green next time)
--half a chicken; had delicious potatoes and green beans too
Food was not too heavy for CH, I said several times after the meal (according to CH) that I really liked it and wanted to return. Yum!
Showing posts with label North Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label North Park. Show all posts
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Caffe Calabria (North Park) Restaurant Review: Delicious and Kid-Friendly!
We had been to Caffe Calabria only once before, with another couple. No babysitter tonight - but I was craving wood-oven Italian pizza (mmmm). Decided to try it out with SuperBoy.
SUCCESS!
Atmosphere: Not only cool and romantic and hip for grown-ups, but cool for a little boy. The inside is made to feel like a night street, all lit up. SB liked the fake windows and facades. The other theme of the restaurant is soccer. So there are Italian Jerseys everywhere - and soccer on the screen. The fact that SB was still in his soccer jersey from his game today received kudos from the wait staff, which SB liked.
Pizza: super yummy. We liked both the Margherita and the Margherita DOC with veggies added.
Frascati wine: delish and only $6
Green salad for only $5: super delicious and enough for us to divide in three parts as an app.
SB also liked the aranciata and was super well-behaved.
Oh - and the food came out so expeditiously. Score!!!
I asked SB if he wants to come here again. He rolled his eyes and said, "Of course," as in "Duh, Mom." North Park is also so much fun to visit. We saw an awesome African dance class going on at Stage 7.
***
He was so well-behaved that we went next to Heaven Sent Desserts at Univ and 30th for dessert. SB got a red velvet cake, which he liked. I got german chocolate cake, which was tasty too (and enormous). CH got a 3-chocolate cake, which was the yummiest, in my view.
Caffe Calabria and Heaven Sent: a fantastic date night for the whole family!
SUCCESS!
Atmosphere: Not only cool and romantic and hip for grown-ups, but cool for a little boy. The inside is made to feel like a night street, all lit up. SB liked the fake windows and facades. The other theme of the restaurant is soccer. So there are Italian Jerseys everywhere - and soccer on the screen. The fact that SB was still in his soccer jersey from his game today received kudos from the wait staff, which SB liked.
Pizza: super yummy. We liked both the Margherita and the Margherita DOC with veggies added.
Frascati wine: delish and only $6
Green salad for only $5: super delicious and enough for us to divide in three parts as an app.
SB also liked the aranciata and was super well-behaved.
Oh - and the food came out so expeditiously. Score!!!
I asked SB if he wants to come here again. He rolled his eyes and said, "Of course," as in "Duh, Mom." North Park is also so much fun to visit. We saw an awesome African dance class going on at Stage 7.
***
He was so well-behaved that we went next to Heaven Sent Desserts at Univ and 30th for dessert. SB got a red velvet cake, which he liked. I got german chocolate cake, which was tasty too (and enormous). CH got a 3-chocolate cake, which was the yummiest, in my view.
Caffe Calabria and Heaven Sent: a fantastic date night for the whole family!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Caffe Calabria (North Park): MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
Finally tried Caffe Calabria with Sabragirl and her man this evening. Yum!!!!!
Delicious red wine. And they give you a taste to see what you prefer. The waitress took a while to get to us, but then she pegged me perfectly on wine. Loved my dolcetto! (Sangiovese was good - had gotten from a busboy - but not as good as what she helped me select).
Appetizer: rosemary flatbread (complimentary): yum
Salad: Burrata: super-yummy barrata, and nice tomatoes
Pizza: Loved the verdure calzone that S'girl's Man got. Would try again. Also loved my Margherita D.O.C pizza. Unfortunately, CH didn't like his proscuitto calzone as much (or his prosciutto salad). Though he thought the prosciutto itself was very good, he didn't like the sauce/dough that much. :( Othewise, this would be a regular spot for us.
Dessert: we shared the mezza luna. Super-yum. Loved the vanilla gelato especially. Tasted the capuccino. Very yummy.
What a great, cute place (and they take reservations, which I don't think Pizzeria Bruno does). Would love to come here again, though perhaps not with CH!
Delicious red wine. And they give you a taste to see what you prefer. The waitress took a while to get to us, but then she pegged me perfectly on wine. Loved my dolcetto! (Sangiovese was good - had gotten from a busboy - but not as good as what she helped me select).
Appetizer: rosemary flatbread (complimentary): yum
Salad: Burrata: super-yummy barrata, and nice tomatoes
Pizza: Loved the verdure calzone that S'girl's Man got. Would try again. Also loved my Margherita D.O.C pizza. Unfortunately, CH didn't like his proscuitto calzone as much (or his prosciutto salad). Though he thought the prosciutto itself was very good, he didn't like the sauce/dough that much. :( Othewise, this would be a regular spot for us.
Dessert: we shared the mezza luna. Super-yum. Loved the vanilla gelato especially. Tasted the capuccino. Very yummy.
What a great, cute place (and they take reservations, which I don't think Pizzeria Bruno does). Would love to come here again, though perhaps not with CH!
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Sicilian Thing (North Park)
I need to show some love to Sicilian Thing, current holder (in our view) of the title of Best NY Pizza in SD, ever since the Bongiorno's sold the Miramar location and the pizza there has become crappy (according to CH - I haven't been there since). Bongiorno's Solana is still good, but for the very best NY (or rather Philly) pizza, we head on down to North Park.
Today: CH enjoyed his (corner!) Sicilian slices.
SB enjoyed his Hawaiian punch (Daddy was in an indulgent mood) and round cheese.
I enjoyed my mushroom sicilian (oooh - the Sicilian really is fab there), but I tried a new slice (vegeta) and it was not as good as the others (used bland California olives, which are not my thing).
The Barack-oli Ricotta or the Nino Espinosa are still my faves there.
Today: CH enjoyed his (corner!) Sicilian slices.
SB enjoyed his Hawaiian punch (Daddy was in an indulgent mood) and round cheese.
I enjoyed my mushroom sicilian (oooh - the Sicilian really is fab there), but I tried a new slice (vegeta) and it was not as good as the others (used bland California olives, which are not my thing).
The Barack-oli Ricotta or the Nino Espinosa are still my faves there.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
New and improved Del Mar Farmers' Market! + Viva Pops and Sicilian Thing again...
ST and I were heading to the Flower Hill Farmers Market this morning....when we realized there was no FHFM this morning! A web check at home confirmed that that market is RIP as of two weeks ago. Well, we only went once, so we weren't keeping it in business. We decided we'd either hit Del Mar this afternoon or Fairbanks tomorrow.
Whoa!!! Who took the Del Mar market and put it on steroids? Today's market was much bigger than I remember. Plus they had a scavenger hunt for kids, which included a prize of a free fruit drink from Gina's (ST, ever the gourmand, selected watermelon lemonade). There are some new vendors, so we had some wonderful choices. We came home with a lot of fruit and veggie loot. Oh - and Randy Gruber of Americana was on hand cooking up fresh food with market goodies. I have been to Americana 2x and never got overly excited about it....but my oh my, he did a fabulous job with black cod and the market vegetables (green beans, corn, tomatoes). Loved it! We saw Mr. Manvite and his family there - he said he is a happy customer of Americana. We should probably try it again!
We also visited Sicilian Thing recently, where I was reminded how delicious its pizza is (I think it's better than Bongiorno's consistently, but CH says when Mike Bongiorno himself is on hand, Bongiorno's still wins). Loved my nino espinosa + barack-oli ricotta. ST tries Sicilian for the first time, and declared that he preferred it over thin-crust. That's my adventurous eater!
And at viva pops later, ST selected strawberry (he's allowed to choose the familiar now and then). At the next table, a mom had mango-chili and was raving about it. I think I have yet to try that one.
Whoa!!! Who took the Del Mar market and put it on steroids? Today's market was much bigger than I remember. Plus they had a scavenger hunt for kids, which included a prize of a free fruit drink from Gina's (ST, ever the gourmand, selected watermelon lemonade). There are some new vendors, so we had some wonderful choices. We came home with a lot of fruit and veggie loot. Oh - and Randy Gruber of Americana was on hand cooking up fresh food with market goodies. I have been to Americana 2x and never got overly excited about it....but my oh my, he did a fabulous job with black cod and the market vegetables (green beans, corn, tomatoes). Loved it! We saw Mr. Manvite and his family there - he said he is a happy customer of Americana. We should probably try it again!
We also visited Sicilian Thing recently, where I was reminded how delicious its pizza is (I think it's better than Bongiorno's consistently, but CH says when Mike Bongiorno himself is on hand, Bongiorno's still wins). Loved my nino espinosa + barack-oli ricotta. ST tries Sicilian for the first time, and declared that he preferred it over thin-crust. That's my adventurous eater!
And at viva pops later, ST selected strawberry (he's allowed to choose the familiar now and then). At the next table, a mom had mango-chili and was raving about it. I think I have yet to try that one.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Viva Pops again, this time with El Comal (North Park/Normal Heights)
So I couldn't resist it! Dr. T. came with me to El Comal (I loved the pescado al ajillo and Dr. T. enjoyed his Cochinita Pibil). Lovely atmosphere, and they take restaurant.com!
We were talking about the blog and Dr. T. mentioned my Viva Pops entries. "Well," I said, "we ARE only about 1.5 miles away...Should we go?"
5 min. later, we were both enjoying strawberry/cucumber/mint "sugar-free" pops (with agave). Super-yum, loved the mint (though they were much less intensely strawberry than the wonderful strawberry pop that ST had on Sat.). Dr. T. took an apricot lemongrass for the road and sounded almost like my Mom did when she had her tart plum ("love lemongrass!").
Dr. T., thanks for the adventure! I love excuses to hit North Park/Normal Heights!
We were talking about the blog and Dr. T. mentioned my Viva Pops entries. "Well," I said, "we ARE only about 1.5 miles away...Should we go?"
5 min. later, we were both enjoying strawberry/cucumber/mint "sugar-free" pops (with agave). Super-yum, loved the mint (though they were much less intensely strawberry than the wonderful strawberry pop that ST had on Sat.). Dr. T. took an apricot lemongrass for the road and sounded almost like my Mom did when she had her tart plum ("love lemongrass!").
Dr. T., thanks for the adventure! I love excuses to hit North Park/Normal Heights!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Sicilian Thing/Viva Pops
We took SuperToddler to Sicilian Thing today (excellent Philly pizza + city buses - what could be better?). He was so well-behaved I thought of Viva Pops and we headed over there (it's about 1.5 miles).
Mom had nectarine+basil (chosen over lavender lemonade, mojito, Mexican chocolate, and lots of other flavors).
ST had plain 'ol strawberry (v. strawberry +cucumber+mint)...which was not plain old at all, since the strawberry flavor was super-intense.
Fresh, delicious, cold....love Viva Pops!
Mom had nectarine+basil (chosen over lavender lemonade, mojito, Mexican chocolate, and lots of other flavors).
ST had plain 'ol strawberry (v. strawberry +cucumber+mint)...which was not plain old at all, since the strawberry flavor was super-intense.
Fresh, delicious, cold....love Viva Pops!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Sicilian Thing (North Park) - and What a Thing it is!
Trying to work on my backlog, time to write about Sicilian Thing in North Park.
Have mentioned it before: BEST PIZZA IN SD ALONG WITH BONGIORNO'S. Honestly, I can't pick a winner, because they both are super-authentic and delicious, just different recipes. Paul, the owner-pizzamaker, who is from Philly, is awesome. He opened the place so he could make Sicilian pies (do I need to explain that they're square?), but he also does round pies too. Awesome Sicilian, so many choices (I like corner cheese, of course, but also love his fresh mushroom). But the round pies are nothing to sneer at, and definitely rival Mike Bongiorno's pies. I like the Barack-oli ricotta (shout out to the POTUS); last summer's seasonal eggplant pie was great; and the cheese pie is yummy too. Cheap, great views of city buses out the window for Toddler, close enough to Trolley Barn park for a combo outing. Parking can sometimes be tricky but is usually fine. It's not around the corner from us, but every once in a while, we drive down for our fix!
Have mentioned it before: BEST PIZZA IN SD ALONG WITH BONGIORNO'S. Honestly, I can't pick a winner, because they both are super-authentic and delicious, just different recipes. Paul, the owner-pizzamaker, who is from Philly, is awesome. He opened the place so he could make Sicilian pies (do I need to explain that they're square?), but he also does round pies too. Awesome Sicilian, so many choices (I like corner cheese, of course, but also love his fresh mushroom). But the round pies are nothing to sneer at, and definitely rival Mike Bongiorno's pies. I like the Barack-oli ricotta (shout out to the POTUS); last summer's seasonal eggplant pie was great; and the cheese pie is yummy too. Cheap, great views of city buses out the window for Toddler, close enough to Trolley Barn park for a combo outing. Parking can sometimes be tricky but is usually fine. It's not around the corner from us, but every once in a while, we drive down for our fix!
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