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

FB / TW / IG

Porchetta Shack

2632 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92104

IG

Venissimo Cheese North Park

3007 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92104

FB / TW / IG

Wicked Maine Lobster @ Liberty Public Market

2820 Historic Decatur Rd, San Diego, CA 92106

IG

You&Yours Distilling Co

1495 G St, San Diego, CA 92101

FB / TW / IG

Le Parfait Paris

555 G St, San Diego, CA 92101

FB / TW / IG

Kettner Exchange

2001 Kettner Blvd. San Diego, CA 92101

FB / IG

Recipe: Peachy-Basil Sangria

Summer may be rolling to a (too fast) end, but there's still Labor Day weekend & plenty of warm days ahead.

And per my summer potluck/party tradition, that also means it's sangria time! And this year's version might be my favorite yet, since it goes down so easy but has a few touches to keep the flavors interesting. On top of lusciously sweet & fragrant peaches, I've also added a hearty helping of refreshing aromatic basil and a pinch of sweet spices. Then the batched syrup is spiked with a nice slug of gold rum and ready to be combined with some crisp white wine & served when needed.

Peachy-Basil Sangria (for 2 pitchers' worth, approx. 10 to 16 servings)

Ingredients:

3 ripe medium peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced (alternatively, a 12 oz. bag of frozen peaches)

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 handful of fresh sweet basil leaves, plus additional for garnish

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg

3/4 cup gold rum (I used Mount Gay Eclipse)

2 bottles of light and crisp white wine (I used Flip Flop's pinot grigio)

Ice cubes

1 medium ripe nectarine, for garnish (optional - and I only opted for the nectarine because I don't care for peaches' fuzzy skin)
Virgin option: Omit the rum, swap white wine for dry ginger ale.

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine water, peaches, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Allow it cool on stovetop for 10 minutes afterwards.

2. Place the mixture in a blender along with the fresh basil leaves, then pulse blend until the leaves are pulverized and incorporated. Then add rum to the mixture. The color/appearance will be a bit unseemly but this will improve when combined with the wine. (This mixture can also be stored up to three days in a fridge.)

3. In a pitcher, combine the wine & syrup in a 2:1 ratio and give it a quick stir, garnish with additional basil leaves and nectarine slices. Serve over ice.

Pleasure of a Weekday Off at Copa Vida, Petrossian LAX & Crustacean

When given the option of an extra day off, most folks I know prefer to bookend their weekends, tacking on a Monday or Friday. Me? Personally, unless I have an out-of-town excursion, I actually prefer taking midweek days off. It splits up the workweek, I can "staycation" on a mellower day of the week, and not worry about the traffic & crowds from other long weekenders too.

Of course, being able to partake in some tastings was the icing on that cake. So that's exactly what I did last Wednesday.

My first pleasure was, to no one's surprise, sleeping in. Even though I did freak out and bolted up on my usual workday time, upon realizing "oh yeah, I took today off" I went back into the bliss of the warm bed and slumbered for another lovely 2 hours.

After finally getting up & ready around 10:30 a.m., I had a quick but leisurely breakfast at Copa Vida, my new favorite "fancy coffee" place in Pasadena. 

Normally I wouldn't hesitate to order their divine open-faced Croque Madame, but there's another food affair coming up soon so I opted for their ham-cheese-caramelized onions stromboli. And of course, one of their fantastic pourover coffee of the day (this time it's the Colombian El Roble estate roasted by 49th Parallel.)

Following the late breakfast, I headed to LAX; not to fly anywhere, but to check out Petrossian's newly opened shop at their new champagne & caviar bar at the Tom Bradley International Terminal (which has gotten quite a facelift recently). There, we were treated to caviar & roe-topped bites by Giselle Wellman, who heads up the kitchen here & at the Petrossian West Hollywood Restaurant/Boutique. They were all delicious, but my personal favorite were a simple spin off the classic caviar presentation—with a dollop of creme fraiche on a buckwheat blini.

Fave Bites & Sips from Vegas, Dec. 2013

With T-24 hours before I head to Las Vegas, so Sin City's definitely been on my mind lately — and it's a good a time as any to reminisce some of my favorite bites & sips from my last excursion there... a month ago.

I know, gussied up burgers aren't anything new - but I definitely dug Bachi's Mr. Ho's burger, when the burger was given an Asian treatment with garlic, ginger, sauteed mushrooms and lop cheong (Chinese sausage) - the last ingredient, with its sweet-savory fattiness, is what made it extra memorable. And kinda makes me want to buy some and put it on everything!

We also tried their famous foie-gras Shogun burger too, while that was good too -- the foie totally got lost within all the other ingredients.

Drinks-wise, a return to Cosmpolitan's Vesper Bar was a must. While the near-unanimous favorite with my friends is the One Night in Bangkok from a former menu (a refreshing Thai twist on a Ramos gin fizz), from their current menu I loved their Moscow Mule spin -- the Garden of Hermitage with Enlightened Spirits' Rosemary-Lavender vodka, Thai basil eau de vie, basil, ginger & lemon. I was afraid it'll be too perfumey at first, but the aromatics were nicely balanced and gave this effervescent drink that uniquely fragrant je ne sai quoi.

Other modern interpretations there that I love: The Last Samurai (a Rob Roy twist with Japanese whisky, punsch & amaro nonino) & Chai One On (Brandy milk punch given a spicy twist with chipotle, Masala & even a Yogurt liqueur!)

8 until 8 Happy Hour at Scarpetta

With powerhouse restaurants such as CUT, Urasawa, Mastro's and Crustacean, Beverly Hills isn't exactly a neighborhood where one can expect to dine without shelling out some serious dough. Until recently, my personal options on a budget in that area were M Café & Greenleaf Chopshop, both of which close pretty early and—while I'm thankful to have healthy choices—not exactly the foods I'd seek out when I'm feeling indulgent, in the "more carbs & fat, calorie-counting be damned!" sense, not necessarily in spending more.

So I was rather excited to find out that Scarpetta has a happy hour with plenty of delicious and filling choices. Furthermore, it's freaking easy to remember: 8 bar plates & 8 cocktails are $8 each before 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday [they're closed Sunday]. For those who prefer beer & wine, those are available for $4 to $6, respectively, during their HH. And when I went about a week ago, they actually had 10 small plates to choose from.

And don't let the term "small plates" fool you; one can easily get full from 2-3 of these sizable orders. In fact, on my most recent trip, three was perhaps a bit much even for me and I had to enlist Mattatouille & Caroline on Crack to help me polish off some of the foods, which included:

Porchetta sliders on brioche buns - mini sandwiches that are great on their own but made even better with the assorted housemade pickles, whose crunchy tang were a nice foil to the slightly sweet bread & savory pork.

Mushroom-mascarpone ravioli - their ravioli filling & sauce changes up seasonally, but I loved this variation with plump & tender pasta pillows filled with light, earthy mushroom-cheese, finished off a luscious mushroom cream sauce and a bright spinach puree.

Grilled peach & ricotta salata salad w baby lettuce & toasted almond vinaigrette - a nice dish for those who want lighter fare, or just wants to fill out their fruits & vegetables quota, this salad was a delightful melange of flavors and textures: smoky-sweetness of the grilled peaches, briny-creaminess of the cheese and the soft crunch of the almond & lettuce.

My happy hour tipple of choice is the Noce - basically a Rye Old-Fashioned paired with some candied pecans to snack on.

But what made this already filling meal into a real belly buster were the assorted complimentary snacks that were also sent out with the order, including . . .

. . . a big bowl of spiced nuts and platter of housemade, herb-infused potato chips . . .

. . . and their famous bread basket, which got LA Weekly's praise of best in the city with good reason. Asides from the assortment of accompaniments (whipped butter, olive oil & caponata), one of the breads in the basket is the stromboli, which is stuffed with gooey mozzarella, bright tomatoes and spicy salami (there's also a meatfree version for vegetarians.)

So needless to say, with all of this going on I can probably order 2 (perhaps even 1) "small plate" and not need another bite for a while.

And at $32 (+ tax & tip), this quickly became my favorite go-to happy hour (and early dinner) place in Beverly Hills, and one of few spots in LA where you can grab some classy bites without breaking the bank.

Other write ups about the Scarpetta Happy Hour:
LA Times
e*star LA
Five Pacific

Scarpetta (@ the Montage)

225 N Canon Dr 

Los Angeles, CA 90210

(855) 370-8021

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Recipe: DNA Cocktail

In short, this is my hybrid of a Negroni and a Gin & Tonic (which I recently found out was the drink that enabled England to become an empire). I came up with this on the fly after a sweat-inducing round of tennis. It's got a refreshing fizz, pleasant aromas of florals and spice, mildly bitter bite and a wonderfully crisp finish.

Plus, it's super fast to make, so ideal for instant barside cooldown. Oh, and I guess parties too.

The cocktail's name is admittedly a bit geeky, since its components comprise of gin, Campari, Angostura bitters and tonic water; let's not get into the ingredient swap to turn this into a RNA cocktail...

Recipe: Hawaiian Itch

For July 4th, my friends wanted to do a Hawaiian themed potluck. Given how hot the day turned out, I'm glad I opted out of cooking duty. Instead of slaving over the hot stove making spam musubi and garlic shrimp (even the "no cook" poke sounds iffy, considering the prep work is done in that warm kitchen,) I opted to make tropical-ish cocktail instead.

Now, I'm not saying that this drink is anyway Hawaiian, but it combines a spiced rum with some fruits, spices and orgeat (a fragrant almondy syrup that is central to a Mai Tai) so I think this Hawaiian Itch evokes the spirit of an island vacation. It's got a few shortcuts as far as ingredients go, but the addition of fresh lime & nutmeg gives it a wonderful bright & aromatic note.

And from how fast it is downed by the party crowd (not sure if because of its coolness or deliciousness--I'd like to think it's the latter,) I think I've got a winning recipe to add to my repertoire.