An evening inspired by great food and people to remember!

San Diego’s first ever Dishcrawl debuted in the lovely east county neighborhood of Rancho Bernardo, located just 28 minutes north of Downtown San Diego. Our evening first sojourned at The Barrel Room Nate Higson the owner gave us a great introduction to the restaurant. The Barrel Room offers an eclectic bistro menu, but there focus lies with the extensive wine selection, serving 250 different bottles of wine, 60 of which they offer by glass! Nate walked us through a culinary tour of the dishes that would be served that evening. We were presented with a French styled puff pastry inside was a mama’s brie cheese named after his lovely wife Courtney, raspberry preserves and candied pecans, and lamb chops two ways; a cinnamon chipotle espresso rub and a cajun spiced rub.

Our second visit took us to another region of culinary innovation Saigon Bistro and Grill. Lien Pham the owner focuses her restaurant on presenting her customers with food traditional to Northern Vietnam. Lien’s team served us with two dishes from her appetizer menu, Lemon beef and a mango salad atop, grilled shrimp. Absolutely amazing, light, cleansing and tasty, thank you Saigon!!

Are last physical stop, Urge the Gastropub where Beer is the name of the game! George the Manager described Urge as a gastropub that’s primary food focus is American cuisine (using mostly locally grown ingredients). They have a wonderful selection of Beer offering 51 craft beers on tap (subject to change each day) and serving over 50 bottled beers. There menu is definitely All-American but creatively inspired! Urge is known for there Burgers and so we ate,  Sliders two ways, “Burger of the Gods” (balsamic cured onions, applewood-smoked bacon, green goddess aioli & dandelion-feta pesto) and “BBQ Bacon Burger” (aged cheddar, house-made “Quelque Chose Sour Cherry Ale” BBQ sauce, applewood-smoked bacon & chipotle onion fronds). Served with there house cut fries and there most popular chipotle aioli. Delicious Thank you Urge!!  

Our final stop didn’t require us to move at all! I brought the dessert to my dishcrawlers!!!! Karen Krasne the owner of Extraordinary Desserts was featured in this Dishcrawl! She studied at “Le Cordon Bleu” in France perfecting her pastry skills and currently has two location open in San Diego.  We finished our palettes with a Truffe Framboise Cake (fresh raspberries and kirsch moistened chocolate cake layers are surrounded by bittersweet Valrhona chocolate mousse, with fresh raspberries bursting inside and out), Yummy!!!

Thank you to all the fabulous restaurant who participated in our very first San Diego Dishcrawl, and  that shared there signature dishes, THANK YOU! Feel free to stop by and say, “Hi” next time you’re passing through.

Don’t forget to keep in touch on Facebook and the Twitter!

Until we Dishcrawl!!!!

Your San Diego Dishcrawl Ambassador,

Casey

What a lovely evening!

Due to popular demand we went back to the village of Roncesvalles in Toronto; our first visit was at Mabel’s Bakery Lorraine the owner gave us the whole story on why she started this little shop, all the handmade breads, preserves, soups, and baked goods they make on the premises. She also offers a wide range of artisan cheeses, and other goods, all organic….and very tasty. We were presented with Homemade Chicken & Celery & Cerleyroot soup, a selection of Cheeses with pecans, and Triple chocolate brownies & Lemon squares to go.

Our second stop at Blue Plate,a sexed up diner! As Melissa greeted us and gave us the Blue Plate story, Julia the chef and her team, served a full plate with Fried chicken, coleslaw, cheese and meat ploughmans with toast, onion jam and cranberry mustard. Absolutely amazing, thank you Melissa & Julia!!

And on we skipped (not too full yet) over to Pizzeria Defina the friendliest pizzeria in town. They have a wonderful selection of pizza and not to mention the apps are pretty spectacular too!  We ate a Crispy Green Beans ‘fritti’ with truffle aioli, Calamari, Meat Balls, and a Wide arrange of Pizza’s including the Margherita (san marzano tomatoes, fior di latte, parmigiano reggiano, basil) Delicious!!  

Our final stop for the evening was Fat Cat Wine Bar they are serving us Lobster for $20 all summer long. To go with the theme Matt cooked us up Diver sea scallops wrapped in Bacon, and a Lobster Ceviche.

Thank you to all the fabulous places that shared their nearest and dearest items, THANK YOU! Feel free to stop by and say, “Hi” next time you’re passing through.

Don’t forget to keep in touch on Facebook and the Twitter!

Until we eat again!

Your friendly Dishcrawl duo,

Gretchen & Zeion