honkman's Profile
Alchemy
If you go on a Sunday or around 6pm it is normally relatively quiet to have conversation. Also try to get one of the tables at the wall in the back
Chefs and SMOKING
If you look into research about nicotine (and slso other components of cigarettes) you will see that it doesn't take a lifetime to have significant effects but rather short times to do damage, e.g. lung cancer, taste receptors etc)
Chefs and SMOKING
Nobody said that they can't taste food anymore just that their receptors are damaged enough that they are not even close to tasting food like they did when they didn't smoke. And I also disagree with cowboyardee that all these other parts of a smelling/tasting sensation can make up to damaged receptors. (I agree that tasting is very complex and far beyond just receptors but a very first and integral part are the recpetors and if they are damaged you will have a significantly impaired taste function.
Calm. Quiet. Warm. Peaceful. Soft. Care. Slow. Refined. Hushed. Candlelight.
Grant Grill is nice for a relaxed night but you shouldn't go on Saturday when they have a Jazz trio playing in their lounge. Good music but nothing for a conversation including their restaurant and they often start around 9pm. (And their cocktails are some of the best you can get in SD)
Chefs and SMOKING
What you describe is not tasting/smelling but in some ways using "tasting/smelling memory" to compensate for the decreased tasting abilities due to smoking. But it doesn't help to have a "true" better tasting ability. There is no way around that even the best trained chef will lose significant taste levels if he/she smokes regular - a blocked/damaged receptor is blocked/damaged receptor - you can't cheat nature (they might be able to wing it due to experience)
Farmers Market Favorites
TJ has some of the worst produce (and many other product, e.g. cheese) I have seen in any kind of supermarket. I still don't undertsnad the appeal of TJ to so many people, especially with their strong focus on highly processed crap.
Chefs and SMOKING
There is little doubt that chornic exposure to nicotine will have an effect on your taste. Alkaloids, like nicotine, are known to bind to a range of receptors inlcude those in taste buds. There are several animal studies focusing on it and even though it would be necessary to do clinical studies to really evaluate the effects on humans those data are a good indication and people who believe that they can smoke and it has no effect on their taste are fooling themselves:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17560039
Bankers Hill Bar / Restaurant
Absolutely not offended by your criticsm of Cavaillon - I appreciate if you (or anybody) disagrees with my opinion as it helps to see different points of views about restaurants. I also hope that nobody is then offended if the arguments are going back and forth as I value those threads most were we have really interesting true "discussions" (e.g. the more recent one including Jay about different opinions why SD has the current culinary profile based on its history. A lot of things I learned from it with very different opinions but I never felt that anybody was offended)
Los Pueblos - Clairemont Mesa (Chilangos)
here is a link to their menu:
http://www.facebook.com/lospueblosrestaurant?sk=info#!/photo.php?fbid=10150558544504367&set=o.218330481572764&type=1&theater
http://www.facebook.com/lospueblosrestaurant?sk=info#!/photo.php?fbid=10150558544029367&set=o.218330481572764&type=1&theater
But if you read your facebook page it looks like they are struggling already to survive: "...As this venture and "project" struggles to survive, more small miracles continue to happen, more beautiful spirits continue to put in their "grain of sand"every day..."
Bankers Hill Bar / Restaurant
Perhaps "wrong" is the wrong word and I meant that based on several meals at Region we found that Region was one of the strongest restaurant in SD at that time. (but as you can see from DD's comment not everybody shares this opinion)
Bankers Hill Bar / Restaurant
I guess it is part of the game using the internet where pretty much everything is anonymous and in general voicing an unpopular opinion. But I also think it is part of a cultural difference for us between Europe and the US but also between east coast and west coast how you react on criticsm. Both our companies have HQs on the east coast and there is always tension if they visit the west coast and critizes anything - Somehow people in California often seem to think that any criticism is a personal attack even if it can't be further from the truth. I remember cases were we talked with other guests in restaurants in SD about favorite restaurants and in cases where we mentioned anything not enthusiastic about their favorites they looked at us like we just offended their whole family. (And yes we could just have nodded and agreed that all restaurants are great but if we start a conversation we prefer to be honest about our opinions). (BTW, not great about the hate mails but you are still wrong about Region which was a quite important restaurant for SD ;)
SOPHISTICATED COCKTAIL BARS
It's an older thread but we are always on the look out for new cocktail bars with creative cocktails. There are a number of the established ones like Roger Room, Varnish, Library Bar, Tar Pit, Copa d'Oro we visit regularly
What are your curent favorites (including restaurants with a good cocktail program) ?
Bankers Hill Bar / Restaurant
Some wished that our house would burn down so that we would move out of SD or that we get deported by the USCIS so that we never set a foot again in the US etc.
Bankers Hill Bar / Restaurant
Based on the comments/emails and threats we got on our blog post I have no doubt that they read what we wrote
Farmers Market Favorites
The strength of any farmers market especially in SD shouldn't be prepared food but the great produce. There aren't many places in the US were you get this variety and quality of it throughout the whole year.
Bankers Hill Bar / Restaurant
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/712559
We went back one year later and some small improvements but nothing special. Many better restaurants in SD aiming for similar customer base but with much better food and service.
La Jolla/Del Mar weekend eats
Piatti for lunch (and even dinner) is not bad. I would also look into Georges downstairs even though it is more upscale than the Terrace (where we had very mixed results with the food quality) it is not stuffy. Kitchen 1540 is another great option in Del Mar.
La Jolla/Del Mar weekend eats
At least based on several company lunches I would recommend not visiting Iris. Disappointing food with clueless service
French Laundry
Food and service were outstanding when we went after Corey and Cunningham left. And i agree with some posters that it is hard to deal for a server with this situation when you complain after you ate the dish (which indicates that it was most likely not that cold and hard). I don't really know what the OP expected from the server when you already consumed a course. (And it's not that difficult to get the attention of one of the many servers at FL even if the course is only a few bites.)
Rehearsal dinner suggestions
You could do something at JSix which is closeby. They have excellent, reasonable priced food, very good cocktails. Since they are part of the Hotel SDalomar it should be no problem to rent some large room for the group.
Flavor Del Mar
Flavor will start serving a 6-course tasting menu starting next week. SD sadly lacks places which offer tasting menus so it will be interesting to see how they will be doing.
Venison Leg
Tip Top Meats has a good but often changing selection of game meat (venison, elk and wild boar recently) in their freezer. If you don't find the right cut just ask the butcher to get it. Bishers Meat in Poway also has sometimes venison but overall a much smaller selection.
Tomatoes in San Diego
WholeFoods (LJ) has Cento San Marzano tomatoes from time to time.
What were your last cookbook purchases? Holiday edition!
Volt Ink is similar to the Eleven Madison book as complete recipes might be too complex to make them on a regular basis but you can always use part of one of their recipes and cimbine it with something more simple - it will still give you a lot of new inspiration
Starting to dive into the world of cocktails
We always liked cocktails as part of a nice dinner but just recently started to make our own ones to learn more about the basics of cocktails and the different flavors of the ingredients. One of the first ones was a Tom Collins. What are your first basic ones you made when you started making cocktails ?
Full post and photos: http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2012/02/cocktail-101-tom-collins.html
One interesting discussion about critics, might it be for food, music, art, one often can find in blogs or newspapers circles around the question how much in depth knowledge do they need to be respected critics. There is little doubt that nearly everybody can recognize and enjoy a great meal, painting or piece of music but does it also encompass a deeper understanding of it ? Is it necessary to play an instrument to truly appreciate a musical composition or have an interest in cooking to really enjoy great dinners ? For us the interest in cooking and restaurants always went hand in hand and both benefited from each other. Cooking all the time at home really gives us a good understanding about techniques, flavors, ingredients and how they work together in any kind of dish whereas restaurant visits show us what is possible in the professional culinary world which again also influences how we cook at home. Over the years it also pushed us to try new things at home like charcuterie and cheese making as we wanted to replicate those creations we enjoyed at many places.
If somebody reads our blog on a regular basis it will be quite obvious that we often enjoy to start our dinners with a cocktail before we even start to look on the menu. And we also often end up winding down the night after a relaxed dinner with a late night cocktail at a nearby bar. But over time we also realized that different than when we read a regular restaurant menu where just glancing over the ingredient list gives us a good idea about the flavors of the final dish, reading a cocktail menu was quite different and that we lacked the knowledge about many of the spirits. So what better way to learn about and diving into the world of cocktails than by starting to build up our own cocktail bar and start making our own cocktails at home. One of the very first cocktails we tried was a Tom Collins.
The Tom Collins cocktail has a long history as it was first mentioned by Jerry Thomas, “the father of American mixology”, in 1876 and is a drink similar to the Gin Fizz with the difference of a larger amount of lemon juice, essentially making the Tom Collins a gin with sparkling lemonade. Originally a Tom Collins was made with Holland gin but by the end of the 19th century Old Tom gin (which some believe also accounts for the name of the cocktail), a lightly sweetened version of gin was used, whereas today a dry gin is preferred. Tom Collins is an ideal drink to get used to the floral, herbaceous flavor of gin as the inclusion of sugar and lemon tends to smooth out those flavor components. The Tom Collins with its proximity to lemonade is predestinated as a refreshing summer drink.
Blanca--Last Night Tonight
I was always hoping he would end up running Kitchen 1540 - it would have been a good match.
Blanca--Last Night Tonight
We were thinking about for some of their previous dinners but they are quite inflexible about the pricing if some don't want (or better can't) have the winepairing and a 5-course dinner for $130 without winepairing (as much as we we really like (and will miss) Gavin's cooking) is rather steep.
Blanca--Last Night Tonight
I sent him a message through Twitter after hearing about his move and he confirmed. He will have some last dinners through Simple Supper and then start at a restaurant in SF which is not open yet
