We made reservations for a 7 pm seating - in time to catch the sunset, and it was a glorious evening. Of course, April Johnson was constantly at hand to ensure everything ran smoothly, and her team (particularly Dan, our server) paced us nicely.
TBL3 at Georges California Modern - La Jolla, CA
Dinner - Wednesday, April 18, 2012
I'll say it first - there's no better place to enjoy a birthday meal in San Diego than Trey Foshee's dining room. As it turns out, the third time was the charm for TBL3. Not to say that our last two meals were sub-par - far from it. In fact, those meals were already heads and shoulders above anything in the area, but our dinner this evening reflected his team's continuing maturation through the process of conceptualizing these lengthy menus.
We made reservations for a 7 pm seating - in time to catch the sunset, and it was a glorious evening. Of course, April Johnson was constantly at hand to ensure everything ran smoothly, and her team (particularly Dan, our server) paced us nicely.
We made reservations for a 7 pm seating - in time to catch the sunset, and it was a glorious evening. Of course, April Johnson was constantly at hand to ensure everything ran smoothly, and her team (particularly Dan, our server) paced us nicely.
Pizzeria Bianco - Phoenix, AZ
Lunch - Saturday, March 24, 2012
Chris Bianco is practically a living legend. His eponymous pizzeria has likely received more accolades than any other pizza shop in the country. Its current location, the historic Baird Machine Shop in Phoenix's Heritage Square (where it has been since 1996), is a perfect fit for his rustic, simple, soulful fare.
Previously, waits for dinner seating at this shoebox restaurant would stretch upwards of 3 hours. With the introduction of lunch service sometime last year, I'd heard that the lines had been significantly reduced. Indeed, when we rolled in for lunch at 11.15am on a Saturday, we (luckily) managed to snag the last two seats in the place with no wait.
Previously, waits for dinner seating at this shoebox restaurant would stretch upwards of 3 hours. With the introduction of lunch service sometime last year, I'd heard that the lines had been significantly reduced. Indeed, when we rolled in for lunch at 11.15am on a Saturday, we (luckily) managed to snag the last two seats in the place with no wait.
Javier Plascencia at El Take It Easy - San Diego, CA
Dinner - Monday, March 5, 2012
Javier Plascencia is a man in the spotlight - the chef from Tijuana (who actually attended culinary school right here in San Diego) has garnered numerous accolades in the past year - from a feature on "Mexico, One Plate at a Time", to being the subject of an article in the New York Times and a profile by one of my favourite magazines, the New Yorker. I'd only heard about Plascencia last February, when a post by Street Gourmet LA put him on my radar. His food looked fantastic, and since then, I've been actively looking for an opportunity to try it without crossing the border (visa issues ad nauseum).
Leave it to Jay Porter, outspoken owner of The Linkery and El Take It Easy, to bring Plascencia here for a pop-up dinner at the latter establishment. While I've never found the food at Jay's restaurants particularly compelling, I deeply respect his love of our region's product, and his efforts to promote true farm-to-table cuisine in San Diego. So, perhaps it is unsurprising that we would see this union of the two men, given their common goal of highlighting the local bounty.
Javier Plascencia is a man in the spotlight - the chef from Tijuana (who actually attended culinary school right here in San Diego) has garnered numerous accolades in the past year - from a feature on "Mexico, One Plate at a Time", to being the subject of an article in the New York Times and a profile by one of my favourite magazines, the New Yorker. I'd only heard about Plascencia last February, when a post by Street Gourmet LA put him on my radar. His food looked fantastic, and since then, I've been actively looking for an opportunity to try it without crossing the border (visa issues ad nauseum).
Leave it to Jay Porter, outspoken owner of The Linkery and El Take It Easy, to bring Plascencia here for a pop-up dinner at the latter establishment. While I've never found the food at Jay's restaurants particularly compelling, I deeply respect his love of our region's product, and his efforts to promote true farm-to-table cuisine in San Diego. So, perhaps it is unsurprising that we would see this union of the two men, given their common goal of highlighting the local bounty.
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