DiningDiva's Profile
Penzey's in Hillcrest
Will save the shipping fees and wait when ordering on-line as well
Requesting feedback for cheap eats list for San Diego visit
Alpine is fun to visit and most of the beers I've tried are really, really good. Love Duet, love Nelson, don't love their vanilla beer, bleech :-(
Requesting feedback for cheap eats list for San Diego visit
And I only mentioned Lost Abbey because I know it's less than a 10 minute drive from Stone making it a pretty convenient for non-locals to see 2 ends of the craft beer spectrum in a short visit. I really admire what Stone has accomplished, but let's just say I prefer drinking Lost Abbey ;-O
Bourdain in Baja
Substance abuse was his friend for far too many years and it shows. Too bad, I've always like his edgy POV. Glad to see, however, all the guys and gals in Baja finally getting their due.
I'm going to mangle the spelling of the mariscos cart in Ensenada, but it's something like Guerrerense (it derives from the name of the State of Guerrero). Here's a link with better information, including a little map and the actual address (imagine that!) - http://www.foodgps.com/la-guerrerense-ensenada-2011
Friday downtown during (but not going to) baseball game
The Padres aren't exactly having a stellar season (the tune Heart from Damn Yankees, comes to mind) , so I don't think you need to worry too much about things being overly crowded and chaotic.
BC has given you some good suggestions for getting started. If you don't feel like braving the Gaslamp, you can walk north on the embarcadero from your hotel and go to Roy's which has a nice view of one of the Marinas.
Bourdain in Baja
BC, your idea is better than Boudain's. I thought he looked old, tired, bloated and bored by the whole thing. Beach, beer, food, fun...I can go for that :-)
Requesting feedback for cheap eats list for San Diego visit
Glad cstr mentioned Lost Abbey. They're a stones throw away from Stone (in fact, they are in Stone's old location) and I like them better. It's a good contrast between a local craft brewer that has scored BIG time (Stone) and a very successful local craft brewer (Lost Abbey) that has chosen a somewhat different path.
Yes, yes, yes...go to Tijuana. If you want a little preview tune into No Reservations tonight on the Travel Channel as Tony Bourdain does Baja. Unless you are a fearless driver and experienced driver in a foreign country it's probably easier to park in one of the lots on the US side of the border and walk across. There is a lot of construction going on at the border crossing and the approach to the border changes, plus it can take up to 3 hours by car to cross back. Pedistrian crossing is usually shorter (especially during the week) and taxis are plentiful and reasonable. You will need your passport to get back into the US.
If you aren't familiar with where to eat in TJ you can use these links as a reference
http://www.lifeandfoodblog.com/
http://www.streetgourmetla.com/
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/tijuana_si/
The Mercado Hidalgo is close to the border and an easy way to spend an hour or so. The south side of the market has a lot of candy vendors, there is a terrific cheese shop in the northeast corner of the market and the north side has a large Oaxacan selection, good chiles, mole pastes and medicinal herbs and spices. You can bring dried chiles, beans, dried spices, up to 5# of sealed cheese, candies, jamacia flowers back across the border.
When you exit the market on the corner to your left is a Taco's El Gordo, you can grab a taco there and then a cab, or walk up to CECUT the cultural center and take in the exhibit there.
Take a cab up to Avenida Revolucion. Visit the tequila store (Leyva's Liquors) at about 3rd and Ave. Revo, more brands of tequila, sotol, mezcal than you can shake a stick at, plus there are always a few open bottle to sample. The owner speaks excellent English and if you tell him what you want, he'll do his best to match you up with it. You and your wife can each bring a bottle back. Walk down the street to the Hotel Cesar and have a margarita on the patio.
Don't miss Taco's Kokopelli at Agua Caliente & Ocamp. Delicious, inventive tacos.
Tacos Mazateño for super good shrimp tacos and other marisocos
Cebecheria Erizo on Sonora a couple blocks south of Agua Caliente for wonderful fresh fish and seafood creations. Moderately priced, but other than the tacos, almost everything I've had there is sized to share.
Most taxis are in the $5-8 range depending on how far you're going. A few taxistas speak English, most don't so just write the addresses down for where you want to go and show it to the taxista and they'll get you there in one piece. To come back, just ask the driver to take you to "la linea" and they'll take you to the line for the pedistrian crossing back into the US.
Pretty much every place in Tijuana accepts either pesos or dollars. English is understood, if not spoken, in a lot of places, especially those frequented by tourists.
Just go and have a grand time. The eating's good, the people friendly and you'll be safe.
Links To Non COTM Cookbook Report Threads
Gio, thank you for taking the time and effort to put this list together!! It a handy reference
Bourdain in Baja
Impressive Veggo!
La Paz is so close, yet so far for me. Hard to get to from SD.
San Diego New Places Opening Thread Numero Tres.
I was up there today and there were people in there working. It is the Fish Bucket, they had it written all over the paper in the windows along with the gist of their menu. The door was open so I stuck my head in to see what they were doing. Not much is going to fix that small space, but punching through to the old ice cream shop helped. Lots of galvanized tin going up on the walls.
Do we know where the Fish Bucket gets their fish?
Bourdain in Baja
The Baja peninsula in the summer? That's brutal Veggo, major kudos to you.
Bourdain in Baja
The Baja episode of Anthony Bourdains No Reservations airs tomorrow night (May 28th) 6 pm and 9 pm on the Travel Channel.
AB has called the food in Baja "some of the best in the world" and for those of us that have been eating there, it's true.
D Bar Desserts
Opened yesterday in Hillcrest next to Snooze? Anyone stumble into it by any chance?
http://www.dbarsandiego.com/
Anyone else like to see some new innovative cook shows on Food Network?
I think that's was Essence of Emeril was and it was *totally* different than his BAM Emeril Live show. It was far more tolerable to watch, he was much more low key, more the chef instructor than the chef as entertainer.
Best Bakeries or Baked Goods in San Diego?
Cupcakes Squared was a little iffy when it first opened but they quickly found their footing. I really like their cupcakes too. The lilikoi is my favorite too, and we don't even want to talk about the brioche cinnamon rolls from Con Pane...OMG good.
Where to find gluten, soy, canola oil, peanut, egg, cow dairy, corn free breakfast in San Diego?
Yes, which begs the question as to why the US is one of the only "developed" counties in the world that requires no labeling or disclosure of GMOs in food products. Grrr.....:-(
Where to find gluten, soy, canola oil, peanut, egg, cow dairy, corn free breakfast in San Diego?
This is true Josh. A number of years ago one of my doctors had me do a diet modification as part of a diagnostic process on an issue I was having at the time. He started by having me remove all wheat, corn, caffeine, chocolate and the entire nightshad family from my diet. The first 3 days were hell, carbohydrate withdrawal is ugly. However, by the 2nd week I can't begin to tell you how much better I felt, the difference was pretty incredible. Then the doctor had me start adding things back in. Chocolate was not a problem, nor were the nighshades, corn or caffeine. But when we added the wheat back in, bam, the symptoms all returned. The verdict was that I have a moderate wheat intolerance, not that I'm allergic to it, but that my body has a difficult time processing too much of it. If you read labels, it's pretty clear that wheat is in absolutely EVERYTHING under the sun these days because it's such an effective stabilizer.
Anyone else like to see some new innovative cook shows on Food Network?
But doesn't FN commission those production companies to actually make shows? Does FN "suggest" the content they'd like to see in these shows?
Where to find gluten, soy, canola oil, peanut, egg, cow dairy, corn free breakfast in San Diego?
Also the first post by the OP, so wondering if it's real or just a put on to get the board regulars going
Finding Something Chow Worth at the Mexico City Benito Juarez International Airport?
I was in Terminal 1 10 months ago and it was pretty much as it's always been. It didn't seem to be very different than it had been on previous trips. That said, Term 1 is a long narrow building with a number of little side aisle/corridors some of which lead to restaurants, taxi sitios, car rental desks, busses, rest rooms, etc. I didn't have need to venture down any of them and there may have been renovation in those areas.
I was through Terminal 2 in Sept. 2011 and it too looked pretty much the same as usual. I didn't observe any construction or renovation going on, but then I wasn't exactly looking for it either.
I agree that the web sites for the Mexico City airport are not particularly user friendly. I did find one last year that I thought was fairly useful, but I don't think I bookmarked it. If you haven't checked the forums over on Lonely Planets Thorne Tree, you might want to ask your questions there as well.
Anyone else like to see some new innovative cook shows on Food Network?
...forced accent?!?!?!??? She sounds just like every other Mexican who's grown up on both sides of the border. I hear it everyday, sounds pretty normal to me.
Tijuana and the Baja peninsula are not like mainland Mexico, the culinary traditions are quite a bit different.
Best San Diego Mexican Food?
It's a poorly engineered interchange, I can see where there would be confusion
Best San Diego Mexican Food?
It's been closed permanently for a while. They moved over to La Mesa. They're now on Spring St. at Palm, about a block East of the big trolledy stop.
Best San Diego Mexican Food?
If off, let me say I FEEL YOUR PAIN
But seriously, you tried Silvia's? You're braver than I am girl. You could have gone back up Campo Rd. to Bancroft and seen whether or not the market there had their BBQ going. They do 2 styles of carne asada. Not sure if it's just a weekend thing or not.
Or you could have gone back up Campo to Spring, made a quick right and just on the other side of the 94/125 interchange on Spring St. (at Palm) is Carnitas Uruapan. I think they're open on Monday.
Food Network Star, Week 2 (SPOILER)
I don't disagree with you. As much as I'd like to see a show devoted to hand crafted food, I also have to wonder how big an audience there would really be for it and if Eric Lee is that voice. I don't object to his less than over the top personality and presentation style. . . Isn't that what Bobby is there for in his role as mentor ;-) To develop
that? Time will tell
San Diego New Places Opening Thread Numero Tres.
Word on the street (or at least the local parking lot) is that the old Fish Merchant space in the Keil's shopping center at Jackson & Navajo is being renovated into a fish market. Paper went up in the windows last week as well as the windows of the defunct ice cream/yogurt shop next door that had been vacant for nearly 3 years.
While I think that's a pretty odd location for a fish market, if their product mix is well thought out and priced right, it just might work. No word yet on an opening date...heck, it doesn't even look like they've even begun the reno
