Dining In....and done..

Besides all the “dining out” adventures, we also dined “in” a fair amount, meaning we just stayed home with our friends and enjoyed their home cooking (which was very good thanks to her being a great cook) so we ate (and still DFD'd) very well.  And by staying in a lot we also had plenty of time to talk, listen to nice music, actually read a book, and take a guilt free nap(s).  Although “big deal” meals are fun, it is also quite satisfying to have a good meal without having to make reservations, get in the car, drive, make menu choices, drive home, and so forth.

One of the meals "in" was a “Costa Rica night” (they had traveled there) dupulicating a meal of beans and rice and fried plantains.

Along the way, we had things like a lovely sausage and mushroom pasta dish (for which I now have the recipe!), some tasty sandwiches for lunches, homemade pizza, homemade caramel for treats, and of course homemade DMOTRWAT’s, good wine, and good desserts.

 When making lunch one day, we had some jicama and carrots  out for crudités, and the conversation sort of drifted to food photography.  I mentioned that there was a growing profession of “food stylists” who prepare the plate for the shot, putting bits of parsley just so here and there, put a casual crumb on the plate, place the fork, and so on.  So my friend and I got busy and created a food stylist picture of our own… the Jicama Crab Plate...or is it a spider... no, crab sounds better..

Which presided over our table of fresh fruit and tuna salad sandwiches.

One of the days it was chilly enough to have a pleasant fire

A few of the evenings we were treated to a video show of the birding trips they went on, and we also kind of fell into watching a couple of (Netflix) episodes of Doc Martin, a great show if you have not seen it.  There’s a lot to recommend just staying home.

One of the days when we didn’t stay home we visited the (famous) San Diego Zoo.  Besides the critters of four feet they have several aviaries which house exotic and tropical birds (thank you San Diego Weather) in huge enclosures.  We spent a lot of time getting shots.

Gorgeous creatures.

 We also took the “bus tour” around the rest of the park after our feet grew tired where we saw a lot of other animals..

One of the things they do at the zoo (hey!...) is to release the macaws near the entrance gate and they all take off much to the delight of the visitors

Anyway it is a nice place to visit, but a word of caution, to get a regular day pass it costs you a healthy $42 bucks!  It does include the sky tram and the bus tour, but still, think about taking a family!  Investment touring.  We didn’t check out the food or souvenir prices, but I suppose they are commensurate.  In all fairness the zoo has many worldwide programs for specie preservation and research, so it goes to a good cause.  Still pokes a hole in your wallet..

Which finally brings us to the end of a wonderful week in SOCAL.   We saw what we wanted to see, ate what and where we wanted to, and saw the ocean. 

But what will linger are the memories of relaxing (not easy, but you CAN do it) and enjoying the company of good friends and their hospitality.

So after some delays, finally we were on the great silver bird headed east.  With amenities..

DFT(raveling)

Like No Other...

Tradition:

The first definition according to Merriam Webster: “an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action or behavior “.   In our case there are a couple of things that we have fallen into the habit of doing on any trip to San Diego.  According to Merriam, I guess that puts us close to making them a tradition.  One has to be careful of turning tradition into tyranny, as in “damn it, here we are so we have to……”; so far we have avoided that…

Anyway we seem to always find time to visit the timeless Grand Dame of Coronado Island

Which you should know is the Hotel Del Coronado.  It holds sort of a magic draw on us, to the point where a visit to San Diego without touching base leaves kind of a hole in the experience.  I think it has changed ownership a few times since we began visiting years ago, but it remains stately and grandiose.  It just has a majestic feel about it. And part of the tradition is to have a bite and sip on the Ocean Terrace which is now called Sheerwater (why, I don't understand), a restaurant with open air seating completely outside, or on the porch, or altogether inside.  The weather while not balmy, was warm enough to stay outside.

 It is a lovely setting offering views of the ocean and a parade of passerby’s which is always rewarding.  Before I go on, you might notice the ball cap on the gentleman in the above picture.  I will not fault him for this in this instance, because the place is popular for dining to all sorts of creatures.

The avian customers have been a fixture since we first experienced the Del, but by and large the staff and customers shooosh them enough that they are not a huge problem.  We were seated at a table, the water glass immediately filled and presented with menus.  It is a one sheet affair with drinks on one side and food on the other.   Guess which side we looked at first!

It is left as an exercise for the reader to decide who had what drink..  And I guess this is as good as time as any to mention the service there.  Again harking back years and years, the service has always been gracious.  The food may take a while, but the table service is always timely and attentive.  When one thinks of the hordes of tourists and characters that come through the place day after day, it is amazing to me how they maintain the level of friendly servers.   You don’t see inside their minds of course, but outwardly they make you glad you came.

So fortified with liquids we turned the menu over to the food side of things (and I apologize to my support team for the stupid shadow in the picture)

It is a pretty good menu because you can find most anything to suit your appetite and mood.  After waffling back and forth a few times I settled on the penne pasta, and MFO chose a lamb burger (not pictured on the menu) and a side salad.  Somewhere a second glass of the Pinot appeared and we enjoyed the passing scene and reflected on our trip  (living well is still.....).  In the morning we “did” the San Diego Zoo with our friends (more to come on that) so just sitting and sipping was very welcome.  Water was kept filled (with lots of ice, thank you) and pretty soon the food was there.   What’s not to like about pasta…

The rock shrimp were good, there were several kinds of mushrooms not just crimini, and the brandy lobster sauce was true to its description.  The pasta was just nicely cooked, not at all mushy.  I couldn’t finish it all…. because, you have to save room for dessert!  After more waffling (that second glass of wine) we decided on a lemon curd and two spoons.  How’s this for a presentation?

The lemon curd was tart and creamy, berries fresh, and the pistachio merangues were a welcome foil. A cappuccino finished off the meal. I suppose it shouldn’t be a shock, but all the food was very good, nicely served and presented.  In a “crank ‘em out” setting, wandering tourists, some regulars.  Nice job.  The tradition continues..

Speaking of which, another visit that is becoming on the verge of a tradition is a "big deal dinner" in La Jolla at Tapenade.  We have always enjoyed meals there and our hosts suggested we do it again.  No Brainer.  Long time readers will recall I have reported on it before in glowing terms.  This visit gave me no reason to revise my opinion.   I believe the chef may have changed but the food and service have not.  Exquisite in both departments, servers in crisp white shirts, bow ties and black vests, muted tones on the wall, tables set far enough apart to allow some sense of privacy, gleaming crystal, the whole package of what a great restaurant should be.

Our server inquired about drinks and she soon delivered three glasses of Sancerre and a perfectly made DMOTRWAT.  The menu is divided between “Les Classiques” and “Seasonal Flavors” for both appetizers and entrees.  Sort of an imaginative way to give the kitchen some latitude while retaining classic French dishes (Escargots de Bourgogne au beurre d’ail; Bisque de Homard) as well as some seasonal dishes (Celeriac "remoulade", poireaux vinaigrette, truffe; Civet de Sanglier à l'Ancienne).  After enjoying our drinks we got down to food.  

There were tough choices all around.. appetizers were the snails (MFO); Assiette de Charcuterie Maison; Lobster Bisque and Salade de mesclun, croustillant de chevre, chutney de poire.  My plate/assiette contained paté, salami, and prosciutto along with the requisite Cornichons and crusty bread.  For entrees we had a classic coq au vin, MFO also stayed on the classiques side and followed her escargot with Homard au maïs blanc, cèpes et vanille Tahitienne .  I had a lovely plate of roasted loin of venison presented with slices and bacon wrapped noisettes, and the fourth was a ravioli dish.  At this point I have to admit I stopped taking notes as the bottle of Latour 2005 Cote du Beaunes gradually filled our glasses.  At some point you just have to enjoy the food and the hell with the little notebook.  Consequently some of the details have escaped me.   What hasn’t escaped me was the enjoyment of the company of our good friends enhanced by food and service.  When it’s done right, you just flow.   Wonderful..And in deference to the establishment the Canon stayed in the pocket except for a parting shot of a lovely chocolate dessert.. beautiful.

So the tradition continues and grows.  It is nice to know they’ll be there the next time we visit.. and you betcha we were

DFD

Dining (local) Out Two...

Dining out again, but switching cuisines.

It turns out that some other friends were ending their winter stay on Coronado Island, so we arranged to meet them for a brunch on the island.  They suggested meet at Tartine, a little coffee/pastry/bistro kind of place near the edge of the island.  Our friends sometimes got their morning coffee there and liked it. Sometimes, not always when faced with going to a new restaurant the Feeder does a little research to get a bit of familiarity with the place.  I try not to look at menus, I would rather see the place before making any selections.   Anyway, (since it’s on my little phone) one of the places I generally look is Yelp.  I am used to it, and the searching is easy (like the living in summertime).  As is customary with these little sites they contain a number of reviews.  While it seems that a lot of them are more about “me” than an actual review (maybe said the kettle to the pot), it does give one an overview, and I try to see if there are any common threads which might be worth noting.  In the case of Tartine, most said the food was very good (especially the pastries), but service was rated from “poor” to “sucked” with a few snarky comments about being ignored if not perceived as a regular.   So, with antennae raised we braved the San Diego traffic, went over the bridge to Coronado (a lovely place) and found the unassuming place on first street shortly after 11:00.

I’m not sure why that person has to park the car in front of my shot, but I seem to have that experience lately.  Anyhow, we were first to arrive and secured a table inside (there is outside seating, but it was still a big chilly and there were smokers out there).  It is fairly small with only maybe 7 or eight tables.  There is a counter for ordering coffee drinks, but the eye is inevitably drawn to the glass case containing the pastries (and window reflections)

Braced for being ignored we were pleasantly surprised that a young man came to the table almost immediately asking if we would like something while waiting for our friends, and left the menus.  They arrived shortly after this, and we set about catching up, and chatting about things.  During the conversation they told us that the place had changed owners recently.  Jumping ahead, they have either cleaned up their act or have new servers because we were quite satisfied with the service we had, even after we lingered long enough that the place was almost full.  We never felt hustled to leave.

As you may know, Tartine is French for a slice of buttered bread with stuff on it, sort of an open faced sandwich.   The menu reflects that as several sandwiches are offered along with salads, soups, cheese plates, quiches, pates; and generally Frenchish items.  Lots of coffee drinks, teas, etc. on the multi paged menu

After some consideration I chose the “Nicoise Tartine (albacore tuna salad, nicoise olives, sliced tomato and mixed greens served in a warm baguette)" along with a glass of Pinot Grigio (not noon? what the hell); MFO selected a “Bacon Panino” composed of bacon (duhh) tomato, and Gruyere cheese all grilled on a Panino roll.  Our friends ordered the quiche (spinach) and she had a late morning bowl of oatmeal with dried cranberries.

 Absorbed in conversation time passed and the food appeared. 

The tuna and olives were good, but I got rid of the “winter” tomato slices – a bit thick looking don’t you think?  The greens were nicely dressed and pretty fresh.   Although I am still trying to learn the nuances of my new point and shoot camera, the picture still gives you an idea of MFO’s panino

Quiche and oatmeal were also enjoyed.   So with the preliminaries taken care of, it was time to avail ourselves of the pastries!!  We prowled the case of delectable items, trying to come to a single choice.  “oh, that looks good!  I’ll have that!   wait…. over there!”  I finally abandoned the “one of each” thought and settled on the Grand Marnier pot du crème (pictured in an earlier post), while MFO went for the champagne cheese cake (champagne anything always gets her).  It was lovely (and she forked it before I could take out the camera)

And in the blink of an eye

I would concur with the “yelpers” about the food (with the exception of the tomato slices) and especially the pastries.  But at least on this occasion, I would not agree with them that the service was poor.   Nice little spot for a bite and conversation, and not far from a lovely view of downtown San Diego

So if you’re in the neighborhood and want a little treat,  Tartine would be a nice choice.  Being California, and early in the day, who the hell knows what is the proper

DFD

We saw it all…

and this sort of concluded our exploratory "dining out", but we have a couple more to go in the "traditional" category..  Stay tuned

DIning Out (one)

Our first course.....

Hanging around Navy folk in my recent life, I know there occasions they call “Dining In” and “Dining Out” that have various traditional behaviors associated with them, some less savory (non-culinary sense) than others.  But, that doesn’t apply here. During our stay in San Diego, we did both “out” and “in”, meaning we ate in restaurants some times, and at home some times.  As it turned out our expeditions sort of fell into “local” and “traditional” categories.  So, in order not to stun you with verbosity (however clever and entertaining), we’ll just tackle them individually today for "local" one.

When planning our trip I was asked what cuisine we would enjoy while there, I told my friends that I would like “Mexican”, but not the normal Tex-Mex taco/tortilla/burrito smothered in red stuff with smushy beans and blown out rice, rather something “autentico”.  Being food enthusiasts themselves they researched a little and finally settled (and tried) a little storefront, called Ranas  (translation: the Frog) which had fairly recently opened in a non – descript strip mall in nearby Spring Valley.  We stopped by for lunch.

As you can see they feature Mexico City cuisine.  The interior is plain but colorful and there are only a few tables (plus some outdoor seating hidden behind the car).

The owners make it a point to be “out front”, and they are the ones in the yellow shirts.  They both are friendly and easy to talk to, and they stop by the tables regularly to check on you.  There are obviously a lot of “regulars” as they knew many by name.  Always a good sign.  By the way, you notice St. Mary’s County doesn’t have the monopoly on ball caps in eating places.

Anyway the colorful menu offers plenty of choices (they are open for all meals).

 
Although some familiar names appear there are some that were unfamiliar (at least to me).  The “Huaraches” in the upper left are apparently a common dish in Mexico, and are made with a fried masa base with a variety of toppings.  Of course you probably know that the name is borrowed from footwear of the same name, and indeed it takes that shape.  I ordered one “Ranas” style which meant it was topped with Nopales, Carne Asada plus the other stuff…MFO tried a selection called Cochinita Pibil consisting of marinated pork strips in Annato Paste, with freshly squeezed orange juice.  The owner lady cautioned that it contained Habaneras (despite having no little red peppers by the menu item) and would leave them off.  Another Huaraches and an order of Chilaqueles completed our selections.  The ubiquitous basket of chips and little cup of salsa was brought to the table, but the sauce was over my limit. We were checked on frequently, and in all fairness I have to report the phrase “ you guys” was used liberally.  Of course any good food critic is bound to try a margarita in any situation such as this…

It was quite good and filled the void before the food arrived..  led by my "sandal":

 
And MFO’s  Pibil

I don’t remember the last time I had Nopales (Cactus), but it is not unlike a (cooked) green pepper and rather mild in flavor.  The Carne Asada was  bits of very tasty steak, and that had just enough spice that it ran up to my line but stopped short of exceeding it.  The cheese, sour cream, and beans kind of mellowed it.  The “sandal” part was a bit tough to eat, but all in all it proved to be a unique and tasty dish.  The Pibil was also quite nice and different, although it inched a bit closer to my line but the orange juice tempered it some. Besides, MFO’s high heat meter has a larger scale than mine anyway.  The Chilaqueles were also quite good and topped with an egg (one of the options - shown after said egg was punctured by an over eager and hungry eater).

Everything was very good, nicely presented, service was attentive, and it was a lovely lunch with our friends.  I would definitely recommend and go back.   Chain?  HAH!

And it being California, there are helpful signs in the parking lots to direct you to a local feature (hopefully pointing toward LA)

And so was our first “out” experience… more to come.  And although I will never condone a worn ball cap while eating, I suppose most other diners were acceptably

DFD

(Eventually) Going East....

A quick update…from the Admiral’s Club in San Diego waiting for our delayed flight..

As you know, when we're travelling I try to post a few updates during the journey, but this time I have failed, but for very good reasons. It’s funny how this “vacation” turned out. In the end, it may have been the best one we’ve had here. Since this is our “Nth” trip to San Diego, by and large we have seen pretty much what there is to offer. So instead of charging here and there, we spent the majority of it just chatting with our friends, enjoying their company, actually reading books, and taking the odd nap. As I mentioned our host is a great cook, and she supplied a lot of great “in-home” meals. It’s amazing how relaxing it can be. Kind of changes your outlook some

Now I will hasten to add, we DID get out, and had some wonderful food experiences between little known, local places, some better known, and our crowning return to Tapenade for a “big deal” meal. We also had our “traditional” glass of champagne and a bite on the terrace of the Hotel Del Coronado. And with more nerve and the trusty ELPH, so there will be some photos to share. We also got in some birding, visited the Cove at La Jolla (which never gets old), and spent some time at the Zoo. Since good food never gets old (figuratively speaking), we’ll taste some samples in the next few days.. and in case you are wondering, whether we were “in” or “out” we were

DFD

 Just an amuse bouche:

Dessert "Out"

From "Costa Rico Night"; "in"

Go West...

You know it’s not a good day when you wake up on your travel day, and the first thing you see on television is Jim Cantore at O’Hare reporting on the hundreds of flights being canceled, with repercussions all around the country, and your itinerary takes you through O’Hare on the way to San Diego.

We make one big travel day a year, planned months in advance, and on that day, all hell breaks loose in the weather department. High winds and “strong thunderstorms” at our departure point, and the mess in Chicago half way. The only thing going for us was that we were leaving later in the day, and since they were calling the storm a “Saskatchewan Scooter” or something like that we hoped it would move out of the Chicagoland area prior to our arrival. In fact MFO called the airline and (get this) actually spoke to a person who said they really thought that the afternoon would be okay. One of the reasons driving us to accept O’Hare as a waypoint was the fact that we didn’t have to be at some distant airport at o’dark thirty. We also chose Reagan because we could get a “real” airplane from American Airlines. Since we were using moldy frequent flier miles we got first class all the way (yes, living well is STILL the best revenge).

So, around ten we loaded up the rent-a-car, and with some trepidation drove up to Reagan. We had not flown out of there for a few years, so the navigation was a bit rusty. But, we successfully negotiated the “local traffic” side of the Wilson Bridge, found our way up route one, got gas, and somehow by luck eventually got to the return facility. Wrestled the bags on and off the shuttle, did a curbside check in, participated in the security dance, and eventually wound up in the Admiral’s Club, a little travel luxury we have continued to allow ourselves. Being in our nation’s capital, I suppose there is a higher population of “important people” there than maybe at others. At least their mannerisms and demeanor indicates they think they are. The ones who weren’t on their laptops were thumbing the smart phone. One lady had one of those “ear bugs” plugged in and was working her laptop while carrying on a loud conversation with space. I want this, get me that, what are the numbers….. blah, blah.

A check of the various boards still kept telling us that both flights were on time, so our confidence began to build that we might, in fact, see our friends in San Diego that same day. To help pass the time (and your money) the admirals club does offer food and drink. The “wine list” offerings

Given the length of our day, we decided to forgo the temptation, and since we would be up front in the jet it would be supplied for no (additional) cost. Amazingly enough as take off time approached, no delays were announced and we proceeded to the gate. Rain began falling but we boarded and after a long wait to get airborne with advisories from the pilot that it would be “bumpy” on takeoff we finally managed to get airborne. Fortunately it wasn’t as bad as predicted and after we got up a bit it was actually fairly nice.

And then the lovely lady began asking the question “may I get you something to drink?” while offering a warm towel.

The airplane was a 737-300 and almost had that new airplane smell. It was quite comfortable, and had plenty of space, and even offered “available” wi-fi connections which of course a lot of the important people took advantage of. It actually was a fairly nice ride over to O’Hare and by the time we landed the snow was pretty well handled.

We rested in the Admirals Club there for a while and when it got to be within a half hour of the (now delayed) boarding time for the SAN flight we went down with the masses to see

And then found out that there was another half hour delay. All in all, I think we boarded about an hour late. This time the jet was an older version, but still had roomy seats in first class. As the plane slowly filled the aisle seats directly in front of us remained empty. And just before the door closed a young couple came aboard each with a toddler in arms. OMG, they settled into those empty seats! Mild piercing eruptions were shushed by mom and dad, but the thought of four hours of the famous “screaming kids” was not a happy prospect. Long story short, the little persons were fairly quiet and napped a lot with only occasional outbursts.

Anyway, on this flight the little info card said “dinner” which by this time was welcome since we had not really eaten all day. Once again the nuts were served, this time with a pleasant scotch on the rocks (care for another, sir?) and life began to look better. Also on this leg, music was available so classical music drowned out the little episodes directly ahead of us, and things were good. The drinks were served in real glass by the way, even MFO's wine.

After a bit of calming, the lady came around and asked about dinner. Choices were cheese ravioli or salmon. We each chose the salmon. I must admit that it was a pretty good meal (although the seat cushion would have tasted good by this time)

The shrimp were pretty good, that salmon had flavor and it was on china and real silverware. A white wine was also offered and that was okay. A nice ride the rest of the way into the San Diego airport, bags came out relatively soon, and our gracious hosts and friends here picked us up at the curb. So a long day, but not a bad day (despite my angst over weather, schedules, gate changes, etc.) brought us to our friends house which has this view.

We spent most of yesterday recovering, and may do likewise today, although we did some birding in the afternoon. We dined in last night with some lovely chicken tortilla soup and a gorgeous Tarte Tatin. She is quite an accomplished cook. We will do well, and whether or not we continue to dine out or in, we will be appropriately



DFD