My new trigger food: loaded fries at Arterra

• Address: nachomamasblog.com
• Author: Margo Porras
• From: Hillcrest
• Blogging since: 2010

Post Title: “Trigger” Foods — I can’t prove they’re laced with crack....

Post Date: May 13, 2011

So...tomorrow is my Weight Watchers meeting. Which means I’ll be weighing in. It’s not going to be pretty. This week? I went WAAAAY over my points. Just trust me on this one.

Why? Well, there was that excursion to Porkyland. But I had put aside some of my weekly points allowance for that. What I didn’t “bank” on, however, was the dinner the San Diego Momfia would throw for us contributors last night. It was at Arterra Restaurant, perched atop the Del Mar hills at sunset. There were so many fantastic foods to try! And just when I thought I couldn’t eat another bite...they brought out a dish that, well, let’s just say there’s no way for me to prove that it was laced with crack. Congratulations, Nacho Mama! You now have a new “trigger food”!

Do you have those? I sure do! For me “trigger foods” are the ones that once I start, I cannot stop eating until they’re gone…

My new one? “Loaded” Fries from Arterra. LOADED. FRIES. An innocent, austere white bowl....but here’s what’s lurking inside: French fries mixed with fried, CUBED bacon. Topped with 2 fried eggs. That’s all. And before serving it to you, the waitress tosses it all together as though it were a delicate spring mix of arugula and frisee.

I ate those fries over 24 hours ago and I can’t. Stop. Thinking about them. Yes, they’re loaded with fat. They’re loaded with cholesterol. But they’re also loaded with the most exquisite flavor. And possibly crack. But there’s no way for me to prove that. At least, that’s what the Weight Watchers receptionist will tell me at the scale tomorrow.

Post Title: Nacho Mama’s Day Out — with TATER TOTS!

Post Date: Thursday, December 2, 2010

It’s not often this mama gets a day out. So when I saw on Twitter that my online friends Theresa and Beth were going to be lunching in Hillcrest? I just had to solicit an invitation for myself. After all, the ladies were going to be in Nacho Mama’s ’hood. And? They were going to be vlogging about the launch of their AWESOME new site SDMomfia. AND? It was going to be at R GANG EATERY!!! Which I have been dying to try since it opened but haven’t because, as I said above, it’s not often I get a day out.

Okay, so I totally horned in on their awesome mommy lunch. But it was worth it.

First of all, even though we all live in the same town, and all write for Theresa’s site Rock On Mommies, I’ve never met the ladies in person. We tweet each other all day long, but there is a singular thrill that comes from meeting the face behind the twitter-handle that is difficult to convey unless you’ve actually experienced it. Let’s just say that the web is waaay too small to contain the ferocious divinity that is Theresa and Beth.

Our menu was personally selected for us by R Gang’s a-dorable chef, Rich Sweeney. Who was recently on a show called Top Chef — perhaps you’ve heard of it? He is also mas chulo in person. How lucky am I?

So there we were, enjoying the gorgeous Hillcrest afternoon and gabbing away with Theresa’s webcam capturing it all. They brought us cocktails. In honor of Nacho Daddy (whose real name is Todd) I’d ordered the Hot Toddy. It was absolutely delightful — like I was drinking in the warm Hillcrest sun.

The cocktails made us even more talkative. Until the food came. Then the silence was deafening. Where to begin? First there were Tater Tots. Then a spinach salad with duck and duck confit Tater Tots (even now I have to pause for a moment of silence). Then? A scallop Po’ Boy with some of the tastiest fries I have ever had.

(For my fellow Weight Watchers, I figured I took in about 35 points with this one meal alone! But, that’s what our new Points Allowance is for! And I had the other half of the sandwich for dinner. It was so worth it — for the company and the food!)

[Edited for length.]