Email this page
Print this page
del.icio.us
digg
Comments
FeedPit Bosses
Dish
IN THE PITS: With the notable exception of Phil’s BBQ, smoked-meat joints have resembled comets in this part of the world: They come around occasionally, and then get lost in the stars. Among local food groups that commence with B, burritos and burgers beat barbecue, which, while sensual, doesn’t rate a warm bucket of guacamole with many San Diegans. But change scents the air: Joey’s Smokin’ B-B-Q, a superb, nicely decorated place that started in a La Costa shopping center and now has several branches, soon will face the Grant Grill across Fourth Avenue from the ground floor of the glitz-free Plaza Hotel. Brett’s BBQ, another locally grown spot that’s a monster hit in spiffy 4S Ranch, will open an offshoot shortly in Encinitas.
AND JUST PLAIN PITIFUL: It’s reassuring to know you’re not alone in encountering bizarrely bad service in San Diego. Two wine-savvy women recently ordered a choice bottle at the bar of a chi-chi new feedery in North Park and expressed surprise when the bartender returned with a single glass of wine. He responded, “Oh, you wanted a whole bottle?” and took the glass back down the bar. The dude returned, placed an unopened bottle in front of them and disappeared. No glasses, no cork screw, no bartender. “He must have thought we were ordering takeout,” concluded his stunned “guests.”
USING HIS NOODLE: At the jiving Modus in Bankers Hill, Scotty Johnson’s latest brainstorm has recast Sunday evenings as Ramen Nights, featuring brewed-to-order suppers of handmade noodles, veggies and fragrant, long-simmered chicken stock. Deejay-spun tunes make a party of it . . . Philippe Verpiand, chef and proprietor of Cavaillon in serene Santaluz, shows what separates ze French chefs from ze boys with a simple trick. For the Sunday brunches served in his sunny courtyard, Verpiand brushes flaky croissants and pains au chocolat with melted butter and lightly toasts them. “They taste of browned butter,” he explained one morning, rather needlessly——both pastries were so exceptional that a half-dozen would have made a delightful breakfast (no, no one was that piggy) . . . Julien Hug advises that Mille Fleurs continues the spirit of Restaurant Week by offering a three-course, $40 menu every Monday . . . Firefly Grill & Wine Bar, the engaging American bistro on El Camino Real in Encinitas, has updated its menu to include dishes like lobster Louie localized with avocado, and an incredibly rich-sounding presentation of cast iron–roasted chicken with white Cheddar fondue and smoked ham . . . It sounds silly (because it is): Minus 1, the semiprivate club in downtown’s Keating Hotel basement, pours a $15,000 cocktail concocted of Bombay Sapphire gin, pomegranate juice and a 1-carat diamond. The price includes fitting the stone to a ring at a downtown jeweler and——to avoid morning-after regret——the drink requires 48 hours of advance notice.
MY SHAWARMA: So you’re downtown and starving at 2 a.m.? Stumble over to Sultan Shawarma at 543 Fourth Avenue, which serves pita sandwiches stuffed with tangy, shawarma-marinated beef and chicken (lots of citrus flavor) and other inexpensive Middle Eastern fare until 3 a.m. nightly . . . Called doner kebap all over Germany, where they’re incredibly popular, Turkish doner kebabs star at the Kebab Shop downtown at 630 Ninth Avenue (shawarma meats, shish kebab plates and attractive salads share the menu). Related to Greek gyros, the slivered lamb, chicken and falafel doner are piled high with salad inside thin bread wrappers. Lug one a couple of blocks to the Park at the Park for a cheap and filling alfresco lunch . . . So sell pizza if you want the joint to jump every night. To combat slow early-week traffic, chef Damon Gordon has introduced a Sunday-to-Wednesday prix fixe at Quarter Kitchen, where $45 buys a written-monthly, three-course “tasting” menu. The dishes are dressy, but there is little choice; the kitchen also serves the regular menu.
Side Dish
Ain't It Grand?
PERHAPS ONLY at The Grand Del Mar, the new Manchester Group resort that seems to occupy its own private world, would Amaya be deemed an “everyday” restaurant. Designated the hotel’s all-day eatery (it serves breakfast, lunch and dinner), this very swank place is less extravagantly “gourmet” than Addison (The Grand’s flagship dining room) and compares well price-wise with other quality joints near the North County coast. Chef Camron Woods, a veteran of kitchens in the deluxe Four Seasons hotel chain, serves a menu that matches the relaxed opulence of a room frosted with details like carved stone columns, marble arches and wrought-iron light fixtures. The list is well conceived and balances such luxuries as the $37 lobster cocktail with Mary Rose sauce with satisfying entrées like the $28 lobster pappardelle. Woods shows off by presenting seared snapper with eggplant caponata, sunchoke purée and tingly tart blood-orange sauce, and impresses with the lavishly garnished, bone-in rib-eye served for two.
Do you like what you read? Subscribe to San Diego Magazine »
Reader Comments: