A spicy Old Fashioned
“What sets it apart is the bittersweet chocolate coming up the back”
Joseph O'Brien 2 p.m., Dec. 14
Restaurant Review
An extraordinary battered sole
On a menu of lovely Thai dishes, a simple stir fry stands out
Turns out, I’ve been ordering cashew chicken all wrong. I’ve been doing so since my picky teens, when I was the opposite of an adventurous eater at Chinese and Thai restaurants. Probably for that reason, ...
Brick Bowl is a Korean restaurant
If you’re not down with sourdough or vinegar, you can order bibimbap or Korean ramen.
It reads like the sort of thing you have to try at least once. A new Kearny Mesa spot called Brick Bowl dishes up a new way of eating meat, cheese, and bread. Rather than ...
Solace for breakfast
A North Park restaurant changes its weekday game
Credit Urban Solace as a building block to the lifestyle destination North Park has become. The neighborhood didn’t yet have that national press cachet when Solace rode a rising comfort food trend into what’s now ...
An almost everything-free bakery
No gluten, no dairy, no soy, no eggs, no nuts. Just tasty pastries.
A sign near the door of this bakery promises all goods are free of gluten, soy, dairy, eggs, tree nuts, and peanuts. What’s left? I’m forced to wonder. Starry Lane Bakery originally opened out in ...
Yo quiero gorditas
Doing better than the “best Mexican restaurant”
If you watched a lot of Taco Bell commercials in the late 90s, you might have been left with the impression that gorditas are large tacos made with pitas instead of tortillas. However, like a ...
One more craving
Park Blvd. croissants come close to Paris
It was my wife’s birthday and I was on a quest: To find a really superlative chocolate croissant. Here’s the backstory: We got engaged in Paris back in 2000, and one of the other highlights ...
Blankets, umbrellas, street food, and sun
The Sunday weekly that's not a farmers market
Here’s an awkward faux pas: I showed up at Lane Field Park Market last Sunday expecting to buy produce. It’s not a farmers market. For one thing, there are no farmers: this weekly market is ...
What's the market price on that fish?
Grilled local beats fried anything, despite the cost
I should have been ordering the local catch all along. When North Park’s Beerfish first opened a couple years ago, I went for the fish and chips. They were all right. After it retooled a ...
Dessert for your camera
Photographing — and eating — raindrop cakes
They’ve been labeled a “viral food,” and “cult dessert,” and been likened to silicone breast implants. The Japanese call them mizu shingen mochi, but the internet really fell in love with them in 2016, when ...
Valluno picnic in City Heights
A tour of Colombian food on a single platter
It’s a large plate, draped with a plantain leaf, atop which sits a stunning variety of foods. There are rice and stewed pinto beans, and potatoes. The rice is topped with a fried egg, encircled ...
