"san diego" news and stories

Surfing is big in California, but for me, I'll stick to surfing on the web. We have lots of good food blogs - cooking and recipes, restaurant coverage, and some that do a little of both - out of San Francisco and LA, but we can't forget about San Diego! There are quite a few food blogs based out of San Diego! Here's a list of several I've come across, but let us know if there are more.

• crazy salad - "fine women eat a crazy salad with their meat"
• firefly fifty five - "eating my way through san diego"
• good eats in San Diego - "all manner of other eating experiences from a half vegetarian couple"
• gourmetish - "a food object, idea, or activity that somebody is irrationally obsessed with or attached to"
• journey of a culinary student - in san diego
• milk and honey - "diary of a dilettante"
• mmm-yoso - "as in, yoso-silly, yoso-hungry, yoso-full, or best of all; mmm-delici-yoso!"
• tabemochi - "love your mochi as you love yourself"
• what we're eating
• zen-foodism 

Want to experience the glory of running a four star kitchen - without wasting all that time at culinary school and all those hours on the line? Chris Connolly did just that, signing up for the "Expedite Tonight" package at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. For $698, Chris was able to button into a white chefs jacket and call out the orders to the cooks behind the scenes at the El Bizcocho restaurant, dine with the staff afterward at the staff meal and, the next night, eat in the main dining room of the restaurant he just "worked" in.

Unlike the semi-controlled chaos, ruined dishes and expletives that many would expect to see in a professional kitchen, Chris was impressed with the smooth flow and seemingly relaxed pace of the evening. The skill of the cooks, combined with their practiced familiarity with tasks like searing foie gras, made the evening very controlled. The cooks joked around and admired each others' handiwork, while plating tasting menus and generally cooking everything to perfection.

Was Chris ready to toss in his pen and pick up an apron? No, but after an evening of watching, sampling and spoon stealing, which the article has a full account of, Chris has a greater appreciation of the workings of a real kitchen - and knows that it is more difficult and more interesting than previously imagined.

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It all started at a restaurant called Spread in San Diego, California where a couple of inventive people reinvented one of the most classic comfort foods: peanut butter. Instead of sticking with the traditional "butter" label, the restaurant turned all natural ingredients into a wide variety of nut "spreads." Not only are they organic and without preservatives, but the gourmet peanut spreads and almond spreads are all made by hand and sold in 4-ounce containers. Some varieties are seasonal, but many offerings are available year round and all can be ordered online. Their best seller is the Seasonal Cinnamon, which began as a seasonal flavor, as the name suggests, but is now so popular it sells all year. Dark Chocolate with Pretzels sounds like a combination made in heaven to me, but Chili Mango and White Chocolate Espresso Almond sound fantastic as well.

Today was the first day that three new Viticultural areas, or wine regions, in Washington (Wahluke Slope), Texas (Texoma) and California, can be noted on wine labels. NPR has a nice piece on how this happened in Ramona Valley, near San Diego, Calif. In order to be designated as its own appellation, a region must prove that it has unique topography and climate; that there is some history of the area being called, in this case, "Ramona Valley"; and that wine grapes can, and are, being grown there.

Ramona Valley is distinct thanks to its position about 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean, and about 20 miles from the desert. It cools off quickly during the evening, but the days provide long hours of warmth and good ripening time. Grapes that do well in Ramona Valley, says a winemaker, include Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc.

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