Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Pacifica's iWine

My thoughts on wine lists delivered via iPad.

Last night, I journeyed up to Del Mar to check out a tasting menu from the new-ish chef at Pacifica. Since I got the invitation to visit the place, I can’t deliver a binding verdict considering that I usually dine on the sneaky-sneaky. I will say that most of the meal wasn’t up to the level I’d expected, though that’s probably because the restaurant had press dinners while they still had their restaurant week menu out.

The wahoo with tarragon remoulade was excellent. A melange of herbs, briny olives, and deep green sauce surrounded the tender fish, but the most exquisite touch was the inclusion of a few little raisins, nuggets of chewy sweetness hidden in the dish and adding a stroke of genius to an otherwise great plate. Kudos. More of this, please, and less undercooked pork belly and overcooked scallops.

For now, it’s a “wait and see” situation for Stephanie O’Mary-Berwald wearing the big hat at Pacifica.

What I really want to talk about, is the iPad wine menu. I’ve somehow missed out on the experience during the past two years.

My verdict? Wine as a video game isn’t all bad.

Because the data storage for an iPad is effectively limitless (as far as wine cellars are concerned), app developers can put a huge glut of information a mere finger-swipe away from diners. That’s huge for people who are intimidated by austere paper wine lists and the arcane knowledge of estates and bottlings. Plus, it’s just fun to flip through the digital pages and pick a wine. It’s like, wine Pokemon, or something: “California chardonnay, I choose you!” Maybe, in all that flipping, people will absorb a little knowledge. At the very least, it emboldens the timid and entertains the callous.

On the cynical side, I do worry that the experience is cheapened somewhat, as if the cartoonish appearance of the wine list on an iPad encourages people to falsify their knowledge to the point that they’re ordering the simulacrum of the wine instead of the wine itself. Imagine, if you will, that the iPad claims a certain bottle of wine has “smoky tobacco over blackberry and vanilla flavors, great to pair with wild boar sausage,” or whatever. Something tells me that people risk embracing the sizzle, as it were, and forgetting the steak.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

San Diego Reader Best of 2024

A world-class museum, best drinking, best eating, best shops, ups and downs of Del Cerro, parent-friendly playgrounds, peaceful, eaze-y feeling
Next Article

Bluefin tuna, three subspecies vary greatly in size

Lobster opener – gotta go deep for rockfish

Last night, I journeyed up to Del Mar to check out a tasting menu from the new-ish chef at Pacifica. Since I got the invitation to visit the place, I can’t deliver a binding verdict considering that I usually dine on the sneaky-sneaky. I will say that most of the meal wasn’t up to the level I’d expected, though that’s probably because the restaurant had press dinners while they still had their restaurant week menu out.

The wahoo with tarragon remoulade was excellent. A melange of herbs, briny olives, and deep green sauce surrounded the tender fish, but the most exquisite touch was the inclusion of a few little raisins, nuggets of chewy sweetness hidden in the dish and adding a stroke of genius to an otherwise great plate. Kudos. More of this, please, and less undercooked pork belly and overcooked scallops.

For now, it’s a “wait and see” situation for Stephanie O’Mary-Berwald wearing the big hat at Pacifica.

What I really want to talk about, is the iPad wine menu. I’ve somehow missed out on the experience during the past two years.

My verdict? Wine as a video game isn’t all bad.

Because the data storage for an iPad is effectively limitless (as far as wine cellars are concerned), app developers can put a huge glut of information a mere finger-swipe away from diners. That’s huge for people who are intimidated by austere paper wine lists and the arcane knowledge of estates and bottlings. Plus, it’s just fun to flip through the digital pages and pick a wine. It’s like, wine Pokemon, or something: “California chardonnay, I choose you!” Maybe, in all that flipping, people will absorb a little knowledge. At the very least, it emboldens the timid and entertains the callous.

On the cynical side, I do worry that the experience is cheapened somewhat, as if the cartoonish appearance of the wine list on an iPad encourages people to falsify their knowledge to the point that they’re ordering the simulacrum of the wine instead of the wine itself. Imagine, if you will, that the iPad claims a certain bottle of wine has “smoky tobacco over blackberry and vanilla flavors, great to pair with wild boar sausage,” or whatever. Something tells me that people risk embracing the sizzle, as it were, and forgetting the steak.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

A San Diego Wine Gem

Next Article

Next Door: wine for La Mesa

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader