Eating my way through San Diego

A few weeks ago, I was at a conference in San Diego. And by "at a conference", I mean, "there was a conference?". San Diego was so incredible that I never wanted to leave. The weather was perfect (75 degrees and sunny), the people were friendly, and the food-- Oh my gosh, the food. We basically had to adapt to a "four meals a day" schedule so we could eat more. The seafood was especially amazing, and it has ruined me as a chef for the last few weeks-- all I want to eat is fresh sushi and seared ahi tuna, and tacos made with fish caught this morning.... Nothing available in February in Iowa can cut it.

So, let's go on my food tour of San Diego! 

Stop 1: Cafe 222

After escaping a particularly awful session at the conference, my friend Abby and I went out in search for lunch. Thanks to my smart phone, we realized that we were only steps from a cute looking cafe called Cafe 222. The second we sat down (on their sunny patio!) and looked at the menu, our plan for lunch switched to a plan for a very late breakfast. 

Orange Pecan Pancakes

Oh. My. Gosh. There really aren't words to describe what this amazing little cafe has to offer. If you are a Food Network junkie like I am, then you have probably seen The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Well, as it turns out, Cafe 222 is home of the best breakfast Bobby Flay ever ate! Do you realize what this means? Bobby Flay ate at the same restaurant I did! <insert nerd dance here>

Bobby's favorite dish was the peanut butter and banana stuffed french toast, which Abby ordered. I opted for the orange pecan pancakes. Both were so amazing that we didn't say much during the meal other than "augh, ithsoooooo goooood" (pardon the lisp, my mouth was full). Abby actually took our other friend Elaine back the next day for more-- that time they ordered the pumpkin waffles, and the oatmeal, and our other friends tried the banana bread french toast (BANANA BREAD FRENCH TOAST??? WHY DIDN'T I ORDER THAT?)  I would go back to San Diego just to eat here again (like, every day), and they also have given me many ideas for a good meal to try at home!

Stop 2: The Hopping Pig 

While exploring a run-in with a homeless woman who claimed to be named Janet Hitler and threatened to kill all of us, a few friends and I decided we needed a drink to celebrate our survival. Luckily,  the Gas Lamp district which is full of fantastic bars and restaurants. We chose which pub to try based on two key features: 1) sunniness of patio and 2) silliness of the name. The Hopping Pig was the big winner (though the Tipsy Crow was a close runner-up, and we are still mad we didn't go back). 

Sadly, we didn't eat at the Pig, even though the menu looked amazing (local, organic vegetables; gourmet burgers; sweet potato fries), but we did have some fantastic beverages.  Their entire beer menu was all local beers from California, most of which aren't available in the Midwest, so we were almost forced to try something new. . Since it felt like summer outside, I was in the mood for something light and fresh, and I began my vacation love affair with pear cider. 

I can't seem to find the pear cider on their menu now, but I know it was California brewed. It was a little on the sweet side, but who doesn't want a little sweet on a beautiful summer January day? 

Stop 3: RA sushi

The great thing about having your mind in Iowa and your body on the west coast, means you are hungry for dinner at about 4 in the afternoon. While that may not sound like a good thing at first, when you consider the fact that 4 pm is happy hour pretty much everywhere, it turns into a great thing. At RA sushi, we found that not only were their drinks (which weren't too tasty as it turns out) on specials, but so were all of their appetizers and sushi rolls. So, we proceeded to eat more sushi than I have ever seen. I'm not kidding. I had to unbutton my pants mid-meal, and was rocking a "sushi baby" for the rest of the night. But let me tell you, it was worth it! 

For an appetizer, I split some veggie tempura with Abby. This included sweet potato, asparagus, Japanese egg plant, and (our favorite!) Japanese pumpkin. 

For the meal, I had the Rainbow Roll (on the left) and the California Roll. The rainbow roll was incredible. The fish and avocado were not only inside the roll but on the top (as you can see in the photo). It was some of the best tasting sushi I have ever had. I am regretting not getting something more adventurous than the California Roll, but I figured I was in Cali, so why not try it out? It was still delicious, but I felt less bad about leaving a few pieces on the plate at the end of the meal. 

Other big winners of the evening were the Pacific Roll which came with a fresh mango salsa on top and the Viva Las Vegas Roll which was DEEP FRIED and piled high with fresh jumbo crab meat. I am kicking myself for not taking a photo of it, because it was truly unlike anything I'd ever seen. 

Stop 4: Yard House

We actually went to Yard House twice across our five day trip.. and while this began as an accident (I was just looking for a place to accommodate 14 of us for an Iowa psych reunion), when I realized the restaurant I was booking was the same place we'd had drinks the night before, I was totally okay with it.  

For one thing, they have more beers on tap than I have EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. It was amazing. Continuing with my "it's summer!" theme, I tried their house honey blonde, and another pear cider, this one made by Wyder's out of England. This cider was amazing. It was almost as clear as water, and had strong, crisp pear flavor without being over sweet. 

This is only one side of the bar-- the taps wrap around. Not kidding.

For another thing, the food was outrageously good. They had enough options on the menu to accommodate all 14 in our party including multiple vegetarians. I had the Ahi Crunchy Salad and I have been day dreaming about it ever since. Basically, it was a bed of greens mixed with a crunchy slaw in a soy vinaigrette, surrounded by perfectly seared rare ahi tuna. While I know I can't get the same quality of tuna here in Iowa, I still want to try to re-create this perfect salad. 

Hello, gorgeous.

Finally-- I cannot say enough about the service at Yard House. Both nights we were there, every aspect of our experience was perfect. Without a reservation, we got a table for 14 people in only 20 minutes, everyone was friendly and accommodating, and our waiter Matt managed to give us all individual checks without a single mistake. I know that Yard House is a chain, so my new goal for the future is to get a job somewhere they have a restaurant-- it looks like they are expanding to a lot of big cities (including Chicagoland and Atlanta...) so worst case, I will just have to stop by when I'm in town.



Stop 5: The San Diego Zoo


Okay, so we didn't actually eat anything at the zoo, but we did see this ADORABLE panda eating some lunch, so I just had to include the photo.

The zoo was incredible- not only did we see pandas, but we saw Elephants getting pedicures. Like for real... apparently preventative foot care is important for them since they weigh so much and spend so much time on their feet. I guess it makes complete sense, but it was just super funny to me when I saw it happen. Other favorites were the meercats, the skinny polar bears, and the red panda (who we also visited right at lunch time!)


Stop 6: Karl Strauss Brewery

After the zoo, we were tired and exhausted and made it to Karl Strauss Brewery just in time for happy hour! (And just in time to avoid an "I'm hungry" meltdown on my part). We each ordered one of their appetizers (half price for happy hour what what), and basically went to town. Everything that was put in front of us was absolutely amazing. I'm angry at myself for only taking photos of a few of the items.

They had two types of sweet potato fries on the menu. I ordered the chili lime fries (pictured at left) which were the perfect mix of sweet and savory and spicy. I thought they were the greatest things I'd ever tasted, until I tried Abby's "stinky" sweet potato fries which were tossed with gorgonzola cheese. Sweet jebus, those things were amazing!




Aaron had luck with some BBQ (the sauce was made with their Red Trolley Ale) chicken wings, and Mandy got the greatest hummus I've ever tasted. The hummus itself was had a spicy kick from some roasted jalapeno, and the fresh taste of cilantro, and there were finely chopped kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, and chopped almonds on the side. Even without the unique and fantastic taste of the jalapeno cilantro hummus, I loved the idea of serving it with these extra little toppings. Each bite was different and special -- I can't wait to try to re-create this at home! Our final appetizer of the day was Elaine's spinach artichoke dip. While almost all spin-dip is amazing, this one was special because of the fresh Cali artichokes and oven roasted tomatoes. I'm kicking myself for not ordering grilled artichokes at some point while in San Diego, because it was on the menu almost everywhere we went. I love making a healthified version of artichoke dip at home, and someday I might get crazy and try it with fresh chokes instead of canned. It really made all the difference in this delicious dip!

You are probably thinking-- wait, you went to a brewery and only ordered food? Don't worry, my friends. I couldn't resist sampling one or two of the amazing beers they offered. My favorite (pictured above) was the Woodie Gold. It was light and smooth and rich in flavor and accompanied our smorgasbord of appetizers perfectly. Others sampled their Red Trolley Ale (which sounded amazing) and their Hefeweissen (which did not sound amazing to me because I think that Hefeweissens taste like ear wax... don't ask). I wish I could have figured out how to bring a growler of their beer on the plane back with me-- I think that would have been the perfect souvenir from my trip! Oh well, I guess I will just have to go back to San Diego for more!



Stop 7: Ocean Beach

The last day we were in San Diego, I realized I hadn't seen the ocean yet, and that was just NOT okay. So, Abby, Mandy, and I hopped in a cab and headed to Ocean Beach (even though the bell hop at the hotel whose passion was surfing told us that Mission Beach would be "funner, dude"). I'm sure glad we ended up where we did because we had a picture perfect afternoon.

 The beach itself was gorgeous. I mean, it's hard to get a bad view of crashing waves, the vast blue of the ocean, and a slowly setting sun, but it was truly gorgeous.

We spent about an hour walking through the sand, occasionally getting too close to the shore and getting surprised by a big (and FREEZING cold) wave.

I would have been content people watching for hours, but we (I) got scared away by a giant flock of seagulls that was chasing a little girl holding a sandwich. It was equal parts hilarious and terrifying. To avoid the birds and get a better view of the couple dozen surfers, we walked out along the long pier (see photo). From there, we realized that there are tide pools on the other side of the pier so now we *have* to go back so we can explore! We also managed to plan our walk along the beach and out on the pier perfectly so we got to watch the gorgeous setting sun over the waves.




No stop in San Diego would be complete without a meal. I think we called this "lunch", but it was at 4 pm, and probably the fourth meal of the day... but with food this good, who is counting?? Honestly, I don't even know the name of the restaurant we stopped at (though I suppose I could spend a little quality time with google maps and figure it out). I just know we couldn't get in to the burger stand that was featured on the food network because the line wrapped around the corner, so when we saw a sign that said "fish tacos" and "margaritas" just across the street, we jumped at the chance!

I made this picture as big as possible so the tacos look life size and I can pretend to eat them again.

I had a mahi mahi taco and a lobster taco, and I feel like all other fish tacos will be ruined for me for the rest of my life. The fish was so fresh and perfectly prepared that it just flaked apart. The pico de gallo was fresh and light and citrus-y, and I could have probably eaten about five more of these babies and still not been satisfied! I was also excited that Mandy-- who does not like fish-- both ate and LOVED a lobster taco. Abby and I definitely felt like we were a positive influence in Mandy's culinary life! I have yet to figure out how to recreate these fish tacos at home, mostly because I don't know how to possibly get fish that fresh and delicious here in the Midwest. 

And that wraps up my culinary tour of San Diego! I'm hungry (well, and full) just thinking about every one of my stops. Now I can't wait to do some cooking of my own to bring back some sunny California feeling to my life!