Honkman

I agree on most of what you said beside your "fear" of any kind of dessert/sweets (and fat in a late post). Desserts shouldn't be a every day routine for kids but if you have "balanced" meals together with your kid every day having some high quality sweets from time to time is actually better than having it once or twice a year and the kid will crave it in the future. Sugar and fats by itself are nothing unhealthy - they only become unhealthy if you/your kid eats them all the time in too high amounts. Our daughter (2.5 years) often picks fresh fruits ot vegetables when she has the choice between them or some high quality sweets and part of it is not pretending that sweets are evil but can be part of a balanced diet.

If you eat healthy and your kids eat the same as you it shouldn't be a problem. Don't cook anything else gor them beside what you cooked for yourself even if they might say that they don't like it - they will eventually eat it. Always eat all meals together, nevet on the go. Don't snack and don't let your kids snack throughout the day. There are three meals per day for everybody.

Nam Kao Tod - should be ordered every time at LOS

That is scientifically wrong on so many points by not differentiating between different types of unsaturated fats. Also hydrogenated fats are not the same thing as trans fat, margerine is not trans fat. I would highly recommend to read a very basic chemistry book - one problem in these type of food/nutrition discussions is that it requires some scientific knowledge to discuss otherwise it will be hard to argue about any of these issues

Many (not all) of the important books discussed here are often written >10 years ago and are really important to understand how the cocktail world has evolved over the last several years covering also a lot about the history of many cocktail classics (and similar to cooking it is important to to first have to learn the classics before you really can start experimenting with more complex creations). But what would you consider critical/important books covering the most recent developments: PDT, Drink & Tell,.... ?

Other countries (Europe, Japan) have similar (or even longer working hours) in still less people are overall are obese in those countries than in the US (that doesn't mean there is no obese issue in those countries). So say that being chained to the desk is the main issue isn't really a good explanation - i think it is more an issue of overly large portions in restaurants and processed food and better food eduaction in other countries early on from child age which leads to higher levels of people cooking at home even though they have long working hours which is missing in the US.

Which one ? I always look for good, new bookstores

HF will stain glass

One last tasting menu with Chef Jonathan Bautista Full review and photos: http://bit.ly/1jyK0vo The first look when deciding on the next restaurant to visit is always for the online menu to get an idea about the cooking style and creativity of the chef and how it overlaps with our preferences. But the second look often immediately follows to the personal background page of the chef. It is always very interesting to read the vita of a chef and the different restaurants and chefs he worked for during his career. Having worked for well-known chefs or in prestigious restaurants obviously doesn’t guarantee that a chef will run a good restaurant himself but at the same time it is important to have experienced and successfully worked under high-pressure environments to fully comprehend the restaurant business. And so it is fascinating to put together “family trees” of well-known chefs like Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter or Daniel Boulud to realize their far reaching impact on the dining scene in pretty much every part of the US and even beyond. But the impact of established chefs is not only apparent on the national level but can be quite strong on a local level which was nicely illustrated recently in an article about the influences of just two chefs, Daniel Patterson of Coi and David Kinch of Manresa, on the dining scene in San Francisco. Both chefs have trained and mentored many chefs over the years in their kitchens that their influence on the culinary landscape in San Francisco is undeniable through restaurants like Outerland, Commis or Rich Table but goes even to national acclaimed ice cream shops like Humphry Slocombe. The impact is perhaps best summed up by Chef Evan Rich with “(Kinch and Patterson) don't only teach you to cook. They teach you how to think about food”. And it illustrates that one of the backbones of a great culinary city are strong, visionary chefs who provide environments for aspiring chefs and reasons for them to stay in that city. San Diego might not yet have the depth as a culinary city as San Francisco which can also be explained by the missing opportunities for young chefs to grow and get mentored by such established chefs but over the last few years several chefs, like Trey Foshee, Jeff Jackson, Matt Gordon and Paul McCabe, and their restaurants have started to fill out this role. We recently had the chance to experience two former chefs, Zach Hunter and Steven Molina, who had worked under McCabe at a pop-up dinner at Delicias. Steven Molina has since then moved to Sea & Smoke to run the day-to-day operations of the restaurant but we also met Chef Bautista again at that dinner whom we first encountered as sous chef at a tasting menu at Kitchen 1540. And it reminded us that it was more than time to set up another tasting menu at Kitchen 1540 where he was now running the show as Chef de Cuisine. Chef Bautista finished his culinary education at the Art Institute in San Diego in 2005 before he started working at Roy’s where he moved up the ranks to sous chef. He then moved over to Kitchen 1540 where he started working under Paul McCabe, worked briefly at Michael Voltaggio’s Ink in LA, before returning to Kitchen 1540 as Chef de Cuisine. Interestingly, when we finally made the reservation with Chef Bautista we pretty much found out at the same day that he was planning to start working as Chef de Cuisine at Georges Modern around the same time. Even though we briefly considered cancelling the reservation since it would be on one of his last days at Kitchen 1540 we also felt that it might be a good chance to experience his own cooking before he would work together with Trey Foshee, and it would be interesting to see how his cooking style will be influenced in the future. (The restaurant gave us a very nice but also very dark place and so the pictures are quite grainy) 1st Course: Hamachi, fermented plum, soy, cucumber, daikon Raw fish is often seen as a start to a tasting menu since the delicate fish acts as a welcoming canvas for a wide variety of flavors to awaken the palate. Here we had a nicely done version with hamachi which was lightly torched to give it a unique flavor that held up against the soy yuzu sauce and the fermented plum. The daikon and cucumber added some textural contrast. Overall a very good start to the tasting menu especially with the sake pairing and its floral undertones. 2nd Course: Ocean trout, geoduck, aged parsnip, sorrel, wild trout roe Wood sorrel gave the broth its deep green color and with its tangy, citrusy flavor paired well with the ocean trout. The crispy skin and a piece of geoduck added some crunch whereas the trout roe was integral to the dish with the small bursts of brininess. 3rd Course: Vegetables, caper, lemon, brown butter The bounty of outstanding produce in San Diego is often depicted with a salad course but Chef Bautista took a different path by showcasing it through some outstanding lightly grilled/seared vegetables from Chino Farms ranging from cauliflower, aubergines to turnips. This course was really about the natural flavors of these vegetables only accentuated by a light lemony sauce. One of the highlights of the tasting menu, raising the question why not more chefs in San Diego use these flavors as centerpieces of dishes instead of focusing on meat. 4th Course: Cuttlefish, parmesan, dashi, basil This course reminded us most on influences from Ink in LA – cuttlefish cut into thin pieces and pressure cooked so that it resembles visually and texturally pasta is combined with uni and abalone on one side and a parmesan and dashi sauce on the other side to give a Japanese inspired version of Spaghetti Carbonara. A really well thought out course which combines creativity with flawless execution and you would wish to have a really large bowl. 5th Course: Hamachi belly, Chino turnips, nettle chimichurri It was interesting to see the different approaches between this course and the previous one – the cuttlefish course showcased many different ingredients, flavors and complexity whereas this course was all about simplicity and clean flavors. Succulent hamachi belly and slightly sweet turnips complement each other without blending the flavors. Both are wood roasted to accentuate their roles and the nettle chimichurri connects both with its herbaceous taste. 6th Course: Geoduck belly, razor clam, sunchoke, BBQ, yuzu Tender geoduck belly stood up surprisingly well against the different variations of sunchoke, like sauce and chips, with its nutty flavor. The restrained use of yuzu helped to bring the plate alive. The sunchoke chips and razor clam added some nice texture. 7th Course: Local spiny lobster, fermented onion, crosnes, black trumpet This might have been actually the first time that we had black trumpet mushrooms and it is easy to understand why they are so thought after with their meaty consistency and fruity and earthy flavor with reminiscence of black truffles. The butter poached lobster and the fermented onion sauce with its slightly sour, funky undertones were unexpected companions to the mushrooms but worked remarkable well. 8th Course: Pork short ribs, alba white truffles, potato polenta, kohlrabi Beef short ribs might be one of the most overused ingredients on any menu currently and so it was a nice change to see pork short ribs especially with such an interesting mole-like glaze. The white truffles were an unexpected pairing but worked remarkably well as they stood up against the mole without overpowering the dish. The potato polenta acted as the base of the dish whereas the pickled kohlrabi, a vegetable which should be used more often by chefs, brightened up the dish with some acidity and muted sweetness. Another highlight of the night for which we wished for a much larger portion. 9th Course: Lamb, ash, parley, chestnut, oats Very tender sous vide lamb is coated in ash which gives it a slightly bitter undertone, but what really sets this dish apart is the combination of three different sauces/puree – parsley puree, chestnut puree and fermented strawberry sauce. Each of the three sauces has a very different, distinct flavor which pairs well with the lamb and it’s interesting to try out various combinations of them with each bite. And as in many of his dishes Chef Bautista adds some textural component, here some oats, to avoid a too uniform overall consistency. 10th Course: Cinnamon bun, bay leaf ice cream Kitchen 1540 doesn’t have a regular pastry chef and so Chef Bautista is also responsible for the sweet part of the tasting menu. We started with a wonderful light and airy “unwrapped” cinnamon bun which was accompanied by bay leaf ice cream. Bay leaf is one of these spices you often add to your dishes and it doesn’t have a very prominent flavor but it adds often an important base to many dishes. Here bay leafs took the center stage and the ice cream showed some floral notes with hints of nutmeg and some surprising sweetness. The shaved apple pieces completed this great dessert with some welcomed tanginess. 11th Course: Root beer, persimmon, maple We normally don’t like root beer a lot and so we were a bit skeptical about the last course but actually the root beer foam had the typical herbal notes which often remind us on some medicine and toothpaste but paired well with the cake and the maple ice cream and was a good end to an outstanding tasting menu. When we were setting up the tasting menu we were initially a little bit skeptical as it was on one of the last days of Chef Bautista at Kitchen 1540 and so it was hard to judge how much he would be willing to put a lot of efforts in this tasting menu. But at the same time we also felt that it was a last chance to experience his cooking (and potentially creative cooking in general) at Kitchen 1540. Once we started the tasting menu it turned out to be one of the best we had experienced in San Diego. This was one of these rare occasions where everything turned out to be a perfect night – great food, good pairings, relaxed yet professional service. Often even at the most well known restaurants or chefs some small annoyance happen, e.g. disappointing courses or rushed service but here we just sat down, had a great time and were surprised how fast more than four hours were flying by. Most importantly the food was on a very high level with many well thought out courses which often showed bold yet refined and complex flavors, perhaps best characterized by two of the highlights - the cuttlefish and the pork course. And so it is not really surprising that Chef Bautista decided to take the next career step by moving to Georges as Chef de Cuisine as he seems to be ambitious enough not to stay in this comfortable but not really challenging position at Kitchen1540. And since his cooking is already on a very high level the only logical step as he mentioned in a discussion was only to work under Trey Foshee or move somewhere else. It will be interesting to see where his successor, Chef Brandon Fortune, formerly of Amaya and Aquamoree, will push Kitchen1540 – continue as bastion of fine dining or converting it to a “hotel restaurant”. The cooking style of Chef Bautista shows influences from chefs he worked with and tends to be complex and perhaps sometimes even a bit overthought whereas Chef Foshee has a focused style often aiming at the elemental, pure flavor of the ingredients. Having both work together at Georges will be interesting especially for TBL3 to see how much they will influence each other and especially if Chef Bautista’s style will change over time. We are looking to meet him again at our next TBL3 experience !

If you are working in the business the books might be a very good starting point to have a lot of knowledge combined in one place. It will give you a lot of ideas where you can go with more advanced (modernist) cooking methods but gives you also a lot of understanding about all "old" aspects of cooking. For a chef I would avoid Modernist Cooking at Home

You can buy more than just the adductor muscle (at least in California)

Believe it or not, they have those in China, too! Some of Europe has it to. I find it quite disgusting.Not surprising since it is a German company

Popularity is rarely a sign of quality (otherwise Applebee, Oliven Garden, Cheesecake Factory or McD seem to have the best food even though it is hardly edible). "Middle of the road" food/drinks are popular because they don't offend anybody

For legal reason it would actually be better if somebody not directly associated with your project is witnessing and countersigning your single experiments

Starting to explore sous vide cooking and trying to figure out the "best" times for different cuts (and even though there are the Baldwin or Modernist tables and a lot of internet information there are also a lot of contradictory information). I can get at a close by asian market two bottom round steaks from Snake River Farms which i would like to cook sous vide to have as an end result very tender medium-rare steak. The temperature will be 133-134F but I am not sure about the length of the cooking time. I have read anywhere from 10-72 hours. Any suggestions, as I want very tender but also not mushy meat ?

A lot of people are drinking $2Chuck and it is a pretty lousy wine. I know a lot of people who are very much into wines and none of them would buy anything at TJ (either not cheaper than pther places or cheap but low quality wine) and there are many better places if you want good, affordable wines but just not TJ.

Their fruits and vegetables are often prepackaged stuff and quite low quality and should be avoided. The cheese and wine selection is reasonable prized but again relative low quality. (Yes, 2Buck Chuck is cheaper than in other shops but still not better than a $4 wine, so why bother). TJ is good for nuts/dried foods and some of their salads as lunch. (And some of their stuff is really wired like their 1/2 gallon organic milk which has added milk powder)

But isn't this a problem with all "fine dining" recipes ? If I want to replicate recipes from French Laundry, EMP, Daniel etc. a lot will not only depend on my cooking skills but if I will be able to source the same ingredients, e.g. meat, produce otherwise it will be just an approximation. So I don't see why Ivan Ramen is different than any of these cookbooks.

Looks good. Will it be available in Europe bookstores? Amazon? Not yet, if you know a cookbook store or sous vide importer in Europe that deals in specialty cookbooks I would love to talk to them. I will post when it is here in hard copy about three time and we will take it from there. What will be the price for the book in Australia ?

It's a customers right to have dessert ? It's the right of a business to use every business model they want - the market decides if it is the best one (or at least a sustainable one)

Both are very good restaurants and we would (and will) go again to both in the future. Marche Modern is more of a classical type of tasting menu with a strong, not surprising based on the background of the chef, foundation in French cooking (but many influences from around the world). TBL3 on the other site is novel, more unusual, New American cuisine with more unexpected dishes. Marche Modern is perhaps on a one Michelin star level whereas TBL3 competes with the best restaurants in San Francisco and LA and is more on a two Michelin star level. If we would have to choose between both we would pick TBL3 as we in general prefer restaurants who try to push the culinary boundaries. Costwise TBL3 is ~$170 for 12-14 courses and Marche Modern is about $110 for 7-8 courses

frogprincess - where did you get theratte potatoes in San Diego ?

Full review and photos: http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2013/09/tbl3-at-georges-california-modern-san.html When talking about food with other people, one of the most frequently asked questions we keep hearing is “So what is your most favorite restaurant in San Diego – or any other city that you like to visit for great food ?” And most people are rather surprised to learn that we don’t have one good, universal answer but constantly struggle with it, as it depends a lot on the context. A well made gobernador taco at a Marisco truck, a plain pizza, a Japanese Bento box or dinner at a fine dining restaurant can be equally good and satisfying – as long as you set realistic expectations for each kitchen’s ambitions and limitations. The most important factor for us is that a chef or cook cares deeply about the quality of his/her food preparations, we care more if something is simple but made from scratch than about misleading by relying on trendy dishes and expensive ingredients but in some instances soulless cooking. When thinking about which meals really stand out for us and are not only good, but memorable and outstanding, we often draw parallels between reading, one of our other favorite activities, and meals: every meal has a chance to become something special, but not unlikely when reading a book, a short story is very rarely as absorbing, in-depth and well written as a long novel. And so a regular two or three course dinner can on a rare occasion be outstanding, but we tend to have much better success with longer tasting menus where similar to a novel author a chef has the chance to express his/her creativity in an unhindered manner. At the same time a tasting menu far from guarantees a special night as too often an author might fail to develop his characters, uses well known sequences or simply copies other successful books. For us a unique, great chef is able to “tell a story” with a tasting menu often through notions of seasonality and locality. San Diego has a rather small number of restaurants that offer tasting menus, and most of them are quite short, and so it created some buzz when Trey Foshee at Georges California Modern announced his unique special tasting menu concept TBL3 – one table per night only from Tuesdays to Thursday with an ever changing 12-14 course tasting. Many lauded his effort to raise the culinary bar significantly in San Diego, but not surprisingly others like food editor Troy Johnson downplayed it as the chef just being envious of other chefs getting more recognition for their cooking and not wanting to be associated just with his “famous” fish taco. And so he complained more about “starting to think about deep vein thrombosis” and his “palate struggled to sustain” and ultimately he mentioned that “the concept doesn’t work here. Tourists come for the sun, not dinner. And locals don’t do degustation.” Interestingly one and a half years after this article TBL3 still exists and actual expanded the days, which is not really surprising knowing the unique concept and the background of Trey Foshee. He graduated from CIA Hyde Park in 1990 and worked subsequently at a number of well-known restaurants in increasingly more important roles including Rockenwagner and L’Orangerie in Los Angeles, La Folie in San Francisco, Mauna Lani Bay Hotel in Hawaii before arriving at the Tree Room & Foundry Grill at the Sundance Resort in Utah in 1997 where he gained national recognition by being named as one of the “America's Best New Chefs” by Food & Wine Magazine. He then finally settled in 1999 in La Jolla and became Executive Chef and partner at George’s at the Cove. Here he is responsible for all the different restaurant concepts like the Ocean Terrace and the fine dining restaurant Georges Modern with the TBL3. Even though we had a few, quite memorable dinners at Georges before, since its inception TBL3 was of highest interest of us, but only the recent extension of available days worked with our schedule and we finally could experience what TBL3 at Georges Modern is all about. 1st Course: Northern divine caviar, corn semifreddo What a start to the tasting menu – corn semifreddo which intensified and concentrated the natural flavor of corn without being overwhelmingly sweet. The caviar acted as a salty counterpole but was much less salty then most other caviars and added more of a briny, yet slightly fruity flavor. The grilled baby corn brought a grilled, smoky component to the dish which worked perfectly with the other ingredients and created a wonderful complex, yet refreshing course which helped to open up the taste buds - one of the early highlights of the night. 2nd Course: Melon, Tai snapper, finger lie, kale, mustard Thinly sliced Tai snapper was paired with an interesting mixture of fruitiness and tartness. Melon juice on one side and finger lime and grapefruit on the other side created a good balance to bring out the delicate sweet flavors of the fish. The mustard based vinaigrette supplied a foundation for the dish whereas the fried kale added a textural contrast. 3rd Course: Tomato, cucumber, eggplant The broth made of water eggplant, tomato and basil had a refreshing, almost fruity quality but didn’t overpower the different slices of tomatoes. It was interesting to experience the variety of textures and flavor notes of the different tomatoes. The mini gherkin cucumber added some crunchiness to the dish. 4th Course: Potato, truffle, nasturtium, sour cream Potatoes with sour cream and some herbs are classic German comfort food. Here the dish was brought to the next level with the inclusion of Australian truffles – a very comforting dish which brought back childhood memories and fittingly paired with a white Pinot Noir from Rheinhessen. 5th Course: Local spot prawn, wild fennel butter Dishes throughout tasting menus are often prime examples for complex, well thought-out creations from chefs showcasing innovative techniques and unique flavor combination but sometimes a dish just shines through its simplicity and the quality of its main ingredient. Chef Foshee served here a perfectly prepared single spot prawn highlighting the succulent tender- and sweetness of the meat just slightly accentuated by the wild fennel butter. 6th Course: Lima beans, squid, dried squid broth Sometime you experience surprising combinations in a dish where once you taste them you wonder why you never thought of them before as they are quite obvious like with lima beans and squid. Both ingredients not only have an interesting textural contrast between the slight chewiness and the creaminess but the flavor of the subdued sweetness of the squid complements nicely with the earthiness of the lima beans. The strong umami taste of the dried squid broth helped to magnify this flavor combination 7th Course: Stone crab-uni quesadilla, tomatillo-avocado Chef Foshee’s version of the ubiquitous fish taco has gained quite some recognition far beyond San Diego and here he brought out his next interpretation of a Mexican classic – quesadilla. Instead of the standard meat-cheese combination he chose to replace it with some local stone crab and in a clever twist the cheese with uni which worked extremely well. The house-made corn tortilla was the fitting wrapper but could have been a bit thinner so that the filling might have played an even more prominent role. The tomatillo-avocado salsa completed this great dish with its acidity. The pairing of the dish with a Mexican Cucuapa “Lookout” blonde ale was spot on. 8th Course: Lamb loin, sunflower, farro, chanterelle, pine A dish which worked through its contrasting textures of tender lamb loin served at room temperature and the mixture of wonderful nutty puffed farro and sunflower seeds. The whipped sour cream was the missing link between them and brought the dish together. 9th Course: Scallop, lemon balm, mussel juice Not unlike the course with the spot prawn here we had another course where the quality of a single main ingredient takes the center stage (and it is not coincidence that it is again seafood focused). A perfect scallop steamed in the shell showcased it sweet- and tenderness which was highlighted by the acidity of the lemon balm. The plating throughout the tasting menu was great but this course was particular beautiful with the half shell. 10th Course: Mesquite dusted rabbit, fig, pea tendril Smoking rabbit using mesquite is quite common but in this dish the rabbit loin was actually rolled in mesquite dust which gave it still some smoky flavor but also added some graininess. The pea puree and the mesquite dust both have some related earthy flavors and so the contrasting sweetness of the figs where key to the success of the dish. 11th Course: Beef, marrow, garlic, parsley, truffles The savory courses ended with a sous vide cooked, tender piece of beef. A very first reaction to the course was a bit of disappointment as it seemed to be the “typical” meat focused last course we have seen so often in a “traditional” tasting menu even though it often seems to be out of place. But fortunately this course turned out to be much more balanced and the beef wasn’t only dominating ingredient because the parsley puree, garlic paste and bone marrow could stand up against the beef and the dish ended up to be quite interesting by combining conflicting flavors. 12th Course: Sorrel granite, meyer lemon curd, Chino Farms strawberries A well thought out transition to the sweet part of the tasting menu – sorrel with its bright and tart flavor is often used in savory courses but also worked well with the meyer lemon curd. The well known Chino Farm strawberries added the right level of sweetness. 13th Course: Mango semifreddo, cashew milk ice cream, lemon grass, smoked cashew The description of the course sounded unusual and hard to imagine how it should work together but it turned out to be another highlight of the night. Creamy, yet slightly nutty ice cream worked together with the sweetness of the semifreddo and was counterbalanced by the tartness of the lemon grass gelee. The smoked cashew crumble not only gave some texture but also added a savory component to the dish. 14th Course: Mocha Mousse, espresso salt, sweet cream, cocoa nib A light, yet intense finish to the night – replacing the after dinner espresso or cappuccino with its flavors. The espresso salt really livened up the dessert and showed once more that salt is often also in sweet courses key to complete a dish. We had experienced Chef Foshee’s cooking as part of regular menu items before at Georges Modern so we came with high expectations but TBL3 easily met and even exceeded those. It was impressive to see this high level of cooking throughout the whole tasting menu without any disappointing course. Moreover the flow of the courses was very well thought out and it clearly felt like the kitchen enjoyed TBL3 as an opportunity to cook without any limitations. Chef Foshee’s style feels very focused and driven by the essence of a few key ingredients in each dish. Even though many dishes had complex flavor profiles and were playful the kitchen never seemed to forget what each dish was about. The sweet part of tasting menus is often good but still can feel more like an afterthought compared to the complexity of the savory part. TBL3 and pastry chef Lori Sauer are a clear exception from the rule and the sweet part of the night just felt like an extension of the savory courses and was able to continue and complete the experience. But exceptional restaurants go beyond just great food – the ambience with TBL3 literally the best table in the house with a beautiful view of the ocean and great service. It is fun when a server like Mark clearly is enjoying food just beyond as part of his job. Some of the ingredients of the tasting menu actually were foraged from his garden and he had often some interesting thoughts about the different dishes. We have often lamented the lack of outstanding restaurants in San Diego with a unique dining experience, but Georges with TBL3 clearly plays in the same league as the best restaurants in cities like San Francisco or Los Angeles. It will be interesting to see how the success of a concept like TBL3 will effect fine dining in San Diego. Hopefully it will provide the kitchen at Georges Modern a way for dialogue with the guests to test out dishes and get feedback about them so that they might in some form also make their way to the regular menu. But perhaps more importantly we hope to see some “trickle-down effect” beyond just Georges and that other restaurants and chefs might see this concept as an inspiration to develop their own approaches to test out more adventurous and creative cuisines and help to further improve the culinary scene in San Diego.

I don't think it is the staff's responsibility to automatically make sure that everything is like you want without you telling them what you want. You seem to think that everybody with a small child will have the same expectations as you have but that is simply not true. We also have a small child and we would be annoyed if the staff would bring anything at the beginning just to clam them down and not treat them like a "normal" customer (We wouldn't also like it if they just put the child's food order first - why ?). It's the parent's responsibility that their kids behave or to ask if they want something unusual. I also don't see kids should eat only hot dogs or mac & cheese in restaurants (or do you also only eat these two dishes in a restaurant ?)- isn't the whole purpose of the visit to have great time and also give them the chance to eat different things ?

Pop-Up at Delicias with Chefs Zach Hunter and Steven Molina Full review and photos: http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2013/08/9-course-tasting-menu-as-pop-up-at.html In every profession people tend to grow throughout their careers and develop their own style and identity. Part of this development is often based more on a trial and error approach but another part originates through the influence of mentors/supervisors. These influences can originate by a teacher-scholar relationship but more often they form unconsciously over time by just working together and continuously observing. Cooking on a professional level is perhaps one of the occupations where such influences are often particular distinct. At the same time, since chefs early on in their careers often work or stage at a number of well-known restaurants, these influences get mixed together so that at the end each chef has his unique style but the different influences are often noticeable even throughout single dishes. San Diego has a rather fast rotation of chefs especially on a fine dining level so that very few of them stayed for a longer time and had a significant influence on subsequent generations of chefs. Some of the notable exceptions are Trey Foshee at George’s Modern, Jeff Jackson at AR Valentien and Paul McCabe formerly at Kitchen 1540 and Delicias. The most recent, unexpected move from Chef McCabe to Arizona was quite a blow to the fine dining scene in San Diego but during his stint at Delicias he worked with Sous Chef Steve Molina who took over the kitchen as Chef de Cuisine after McCabe’s departure. Chef Molina graduated in 2008 from the San Diego Culinary Institute and started working in the industry under Chef Vignau at Savory in Encinitas. He then moved to L’Auberge Del Mar were he started as a pantry cook before rising up the ranks to become Sous Chef under McCabe at Kitchen 1540. McCabe’s move to Delicias generated quite some buzz around the restaurant and its future plans which was throughout the years more known as a kind of neighborhood restaurant for the wealthy in Rancho Santa Fe with good but not really ambitious cuisine. The future direction of Delicias was quite uncertain after the recent changes in the kitchen but we were for some time thinking about trying to set up a tasting menu with Chef Molina when we heard about a 9-course tasting menu at Delicias as a pop-up with Chefs Zach Hunter and Molina. Chef Hunter graduated in 2005 from the Arizona Culinary Institute to start at Wildfish Seafood Grille in Scottsdale where he quickly became Executive Chef. He decided afterwards to move to Mugaritz in Errenteria/Spain, one of the most respected restaurants in the world. After moving back to the US and working together with Molina under Chef McCabe at Kitchen 1540 he moved to New York to work as Sous Chef at Atera. Most recently he made the decision to move to Austin to work on an own restaurant concept in the near future but had a stopover in San Diego with this pop-up restaurant night which gave us the opportunity to experience two McCabe alumni with a hopefully daring tasting menu. Snack 1: Albacore, pickled watermelon, pork fat, ice plant The night began with a number of snacks to wet one’s appetite. First we had a small piece of slightly cured albacore, topped with a layer of pork fat and some pickled watermelon – light, refreshing and well balanced. Snack 2: Chicken skin, romesco, dried corn A play on chicharrones with puffed chicken skin - the slightly smoky romesco with peppery notes didn’t overwhelm the chicken skin too much and the dried corn not only added some additional texture but was also well integrated in the playful presentation with its chicken wire. Snack 3: Fermented corn, dried shrimp, panko, aioli The highlight of the four snacks – the corn was fermented for ten days and had a slightly sour taste not unlike good sauerkraut, the dried shrimp added some saltiness and panko gave texture to the dish. A wonderful combination of sour, salty and Umami, of which one was really hoping to have a whole cob of corn. Snack 4: Chicken rillette, mole negro, peach butter This dish presented in a small cocotte had a nice interplay of the crostini, smoked chicken rillette and mole negro but what brought this dish together was the slight fruitiness of the peach butter. It is always interesting to see the interactions of a kitchen team during work and this night was no difference with both chefs and their team working side by side. It is still surprising why Delicias is not using this open kitchen better to bring a different dynamic and ambience to the restaurant instead of hiding it behind some high partition walls. 1st Course: Uni, crispy grains, dashi gelee, powdered yogurt The first course as the start of the dinner reminded us on breakfast at the start of the day. Not unlike cereals with milk in the morning we had in this dish a variety of different grains and seeds with powdered yogurt but what deviated it from your standard sweet morning dish was the inclusion of some pieces of uni and dashi gelee which gave the dish a wonderful salty, maritime flavor. Interestingly this strong dish vaguely reminded us of a course we recently had at Atelier Crenn 2nd Course: Tuna tartare, smoked trout roe, lettuce, smoked chicken gelee, breadcrumbs The presentation of this course was unexpected with a larger piece of lettuce as the centerpiece and the other ingredient coating or surrounding it. At first the combination of the crunchy lettuce with the tuna and smoked roe tartare seemed not really to work but after a few bites the dishes started to grow on us and ended up as a surprisingly balanced dish. 3rd Course: Salt roasted potatoes, dried squid, egg yolk vinaigrette Sometimes good dishes don’t have to rely on unusual ingredients or complex preparations but live through their simplicity – here we had simple salt roasted potatoes with a matching vinaigrette – simple and homey yet somehow elegant. The dried squid chip didn’t add much to the dish and was more of a distraction. 4th Course: Lobster, shaved Chinese sausage, Meyer lemon – ginger emulsion The presentation reminded us on some fish’n’chips we got when we lived in England and the pork-fat poached lobster with its “coating” of shaved Chinese sausage worked also along this lines. As good as the surprisingly large piece of lobster was, not unlike fish’n’chips, some kind of starch component was missing in this dish which was a bit too one-dimensional. 5th Course: Spot prawns, bone marrow, roasted summer squash, wheatgrass emulsion This course was one of the highlights of the dinner with its perfectly cooked prawns and the roasted summer squash. The wheatgrass emulsion mixed with the liquid bone marrow gave the dish an earthy foundation. 6th Course: Fermented long beans, aged lamb, Meyer lemon emulsion, lamb fat aioli This was one of the dishes where it is necessary to get a little bit of everything at each bite to get a balanced flavor. The fermented long beans had a surprisingly sour taste which was tamed by the lamb fat aioli whereas the aged lamb brought some gaminess and minerality. 7th Course: Venison loin, roasted tomato confit, charred onion It was interesting and refreshing to see that throughout the night both chefs used some unusual successions and presentations of the dishes not always seen with tasting menus but it appeared with this course they seemed to step back to the default path of ending the savory part with a meat-heavy course. Even though technically very well made with tender sous-vide venison and strong tasting tomato confit the dish seemed to be out of line with the progression of the tasting menu so far and felt too monotonous with its focus on one large piece of meat. 8th Course: Tartare of beet and sour cherry, coconut tapioca The use of vegetables as part of desserts is becoming increasingly popular and this dish had a very unusual combination of beets and sour cherry which was mainly overshadowed by the earthiness of the beets with some hardly noticeable sweet undertones from the cherry and coconut tapioca. This dish was paired with an unusual cocktail based on champagne and vinegar which actually helped to lighten up the dish with its acidity but it was still a rather challenging course. 9th Course: Candied carrots, chocolate-stout gelato, fermented carrot chocolate ganache The last course was another, but much more successful, take on vegetables as dessert – the natural sweetness of the carrots paired perfectly with the maltiness of the chocolate stout and the fermented carrot ganache acted as an overarching theme to bring both together with the unexpected funkiness of the fermented carrots – a perfect ending to the tasting menu on a high note. A pop-up restaurant event has always a unique character as the chef doesn’t really have to rely on return customers and so has the chance to take some culinary risks and try out some unusual flavor and ingredient pairings. It was good to see that Chefs Hunter and Molina were willing to take this road and served interesting courses with some highlights like the uni, spot prawns or the carrot dessert. And even courses which didn’t really work for us like the beet dessert are laudable as it shows their willingness to try to express their own culinary vision without much compromise. Hopefully Delicias will be encouraged by the good attendance of this pop-up, and GM Alex Campbell mentioned that they are thinking of having such events as a seasonal occurrence. When two chefs cook together it is of course hard to determine who had which influence on which course but overall it was interesting to see how far the cooking style of these both chefs has evolved from that of their mentor Paul McCabe. It will be interesting to track how Chef Hunter’s first attempt at an own restaurant in Austin will turn out to be (and hopefully it won’t be the last time he cooked in San Diego) but the night also really reminded us that it is time for us to set up a tasting menu with Chef Molina at Delicias and experience his cooking first-hand.