San Diego Highlights - May 2019

Last month, I took a semi-spontaneous trip to San Diego to visit friends (hiked up Black Mountain in the morning, board gaming in the afternoon/evening) and see Jenny Lewis perform at the House of Blues (absolutely loving her "On The Line" album, btw).

Of course, I managed squeezed in a bit of sightseeing and some tasty stops as well. Some of the highlights from the trip include:

Menya Ultra's Negi Miso Ramen w "Braized" Chashu - this has been on my to-try for a while after hearing about its numerous regional, national & global accolades. And sure enough, it did not disappoint. Their housemade noodles were toothsome yet tender, the broth was incredibly complex and rich without becoming greasy or heavy, and the thick-cut slices of braised-then-grilled chashu (limited to first 10 orders of lunch & dinner service) were a wonderful meaty addition to an already solid bowl of noodles. I only wish I was able to order fewer slices of the limited edition chashu or just upgrade the regular chashu for this one... just adding three extra thick chashu was a bit of a pork overload!

Speaking of porky, I also indulged in the porchetta tacos at Porchetta Shack (evolution of the former Carnitas Shake Shack spot in North Park); despite a little skepticism, the herb-flavored pork works well in a taco and holds it own against the creamy guacamole & guajillo chile salsa. Definitely a consideration for future SD visits if I'm looking for something a little different than California burritos & seafood tacos.

Having recently read Liz Thorpe's "The Book of Cheese"; I was eager for any opportunity to explore & sample more cheeses to broaden my palate - and Venissimo Cheese was a wonderful spot to make that happen. Besides the picture perfect cheese plate, I loved that its North Park location is co-housed with Bottlecraft Beer Shop - which made for some interesting cheese-beer pairing possibilities. (My favorite of this quartet was Noce del Piave, an Italian cow's milk cheese that's wrapped in walnut leaves and oak barrel aged for two months, giving it intense umami & nutty notes blends beautifully with Enegren's Maple Baltic Porter)

Wicked Maine Lobster's lobster roll is one of my favorites in the West Coast, so a re-visit is almost always in order when I dive down to SD. (And I'm beyond ecstatic that they're planning a LA shop soon!!!)

You&Yours Distilling for their Chai Maple Old Fashioned using their barrel aged gin, which tastes remarkably close to the whiskey original with a delightfully subtle boost of florals & spices. I absolutely adore You & Yours' gins (which I encountered on the regular at SD cocktail bars) and can't wait to add their Winter or Sunday Gins to my collection soon.

For my sweet jaws tooth, I return to the reliable Le Parfait Paris for their Parfait Signature, with crispy almond praline topped with dark chocolate mousse & glaze. Though you really can't go wrong with any of their patisserie creations.

The only downer of the trip, foodwise, was missing Kettner Exchange's dinner service (like most upscale-ish sitdown places, kitchen closes approx. an hour before the bar/restaurant does), but at least I got to enjoy their KPK, their painkiller variation using a blend of 7 rums + passionfruit juice. Fingers crossed that I come back to enjoy this alongside some food next time!

Menya Ultra Mira Mesa

8141 Mira Mesa Blvd, San Diego, CA 92126

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Porchetta Shack

2632 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92104

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Venissimo Cheese North Park

3007 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92104

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Wicked Maine Lobster @ Liberty Public Market

2820 Historic Decatur Rd, San Diego, CA 92106

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You&Yours Distilling Co

1495 G St, San Diego, CA 92101

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Le Parfait Paris

555 G St, San Diego, CA 92101

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Kettner Exchange

2001 Kettner Blvd. San Diego, CA 92101

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LQ Fooding @ Vertical Wine Bistro

I've known Laurent Quenioux and his eclectic fare since his Bistro K days in South Pasadena, so when I heard he's doing a few "foodings" (that's food+feelings, a concept that I'm familiar with but still don't fully grasp—and I'm not sure if anyone's meant to,) I made a reservation, snagged Conbon, grabbed a bottle of wine and up the stairs we went to Vertical Wine Bistro.

And just like he promised on his site, these foodings are unique, one-of-a-kind experiences, with a menu of dishes that sounds disparate but induces curiosity at the same time. Oysters with chicharrones & figs? Porridge with pomegranate & teriyaki chicken? Would that really work?

Had I known that Domaine LA was doing the wine pairing & selections for the LQ foodings, I would've readily gone with her picks. But since that wasn't disclosed on the LQ site (and I myself didn't know until shortly before the dinner over twitter,) I wound up bringing along a bottle of Zaca Mesa's 2009 Z Cuvee Rhone-style red blend. And it worked pretty well throughout the meal, with its mix of berry & spice notes, a medium body and soft tannins (which got mellower as the night went on.)

As for the dishes, they were all very playful indeed. With so many different components, no two forkful are ever the same, and wekept playing mix and match with each course. Of the six courses, my favorites were:

Rice & chestnut porridge with teriyaki pintade hen & pomegranate - a surprise to me since I generally prefer my porridges to be on the mellow side, but here it acted as a balance against the piquant pom arils and the luscious, richly flavorful chicken.

Wild Scottish hare pie with huckleberries, quince, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, brussel sprouts in XO sauce, sichuan peppercorns - Admittedly the pie on its own was a bit too salty but upon mixing it with the tart berries, sweet, fragrant quince and the savory sprouts, it was like technicolor of tastes compared to the black & white of a standard pot pie, with various flavors and textures mingling merrily on my tongue.

Lychee Cremeaux, passion fruit gelee, vanilla froyo, cherry granita, blood orange caramel, cookie crumble - like the hare pie, I loved the fiesta of flavor variations and combinations on this plate. I'm also thankful that this was a lighter dessert, considering the heftier courses we've had prior and because we also ordered...

...selections from LQ's cheese cart, which has a reputation of its own. With almost 40 kinds of French cheeses of every imaginable variety (aged vs. fresh, hard vs. soft, bleu vs... not), it's another experience that's near impossible to replicate (well, my not taking notes of what we actually might be a factor too.) But the seven we chose spanned all three milks, a range of textures, ages & rinds, and even a vein (to Conbon's hesistance, but even she found that one "not bad.")

The accompaniments are just as unique, with an array of fruit forward spreads, some hazelnuts and helping of truffle honey. The last one is worth the $3 extra splurge, since it goes well with every cheese we had that night.

My only real sadness is that this fooding will be LQ's last for 2013 (there are still some spaces available for this coming Sunday & Monday, check out the reservations page or his twitter feed.) But I do look forward to what inspirations he'll bring back in '14, after his debut in London.

More photos on my flickr set here.

LQ Fooding @ Vertical Wine Bistro
70 N Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91103