Malarkey Going Ubiquitous
Goodbye, Gio's Bistro in La Mesa; hello, Gingham. Brian Malarkey is becoming a one-man chain (a new Cohn?), with cloth-named restaurants -- Seersucker downtown, Burlap in Del Mar, ad now this one, which is expected to open sometime in December. …
Veteran's Day Specials for Vets
At Sea Rocket (30th & Upas, 255-7049), 11/11 brings a "Salute the Troops" dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Three courses of "Navy food" will be served, and $5 from each dinner will be donated to Team Rubicon, supporting disabled …
White Truffle Dinner at Bice
The chefs at Bice (425 Island Avenue, Gaslamp, 619-239-2423) have gotten ahold of an enormous Italian white truffle (worth thousands) and are ready to do some sharing. On November 14 at 7 p.m., they're staging a seven-course white truffle dinner …
Correction! (Re: Donovan's)
Never believe a press release. I shouldn't either. It's happened before -- when will I learn? So now I owe lots of apologies. In a blog post about the new chef at Donovan's Prime Seafood downtown, I passed on some …
Gluten-Free Fest
More and more readers seem to be suffering from gluten intolerance and asking where they can get a good gluten-free meal (not to mention more information). Gotta think why this is happening. (Skip ahead if you don't want to think …
The Dead Pool, RIP: Kazumi
One of the best sushi shops in town has shut -- Kazumi, in the heart of Hillcrest (right by the movie theater) has vanished. There's some chance Kazumi-san and family may reopen in another neighborhood, but it's just a maybe. …
Bye, Deco. Hi, McFadden's. Bye, Suite and Tender. Hi, Saltbox.
Deco's, the block-long, floor-through Gaslamp nightclub and once-upon-a-time decent restaurant, is gone for good. The new tenant is McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon, which calls itself the "Wildest Pub on Earth." Judging by the artwork in their ads (photos of pretty …
Donovan's Downtown Gets Fishy with Hot New Chef
The Gaslamp branch of Donovan's is not just another steakhouse -- it's now Donovan's Prime Seafood (at 333 Fifth Avenue, 619-906-4850.) And their new executive chef is Kemar Durfield, most recently Chef de Cuisine at Addison. Before that, he worked …
Boorito: Willie and Chipotle Unite for Family Farmers
Family farmers (as in "Farm Aid") are a favorite cause of Our Hero and Smoked Saint Willie Nelson. Chipotle Mexican Grill joins him in the cause to raise up to $1 million to benefit small family farmers through its annual …
Your In-Home Wine Pub
Yeah, we all love hanging out at wine bars, sampling the quaffs, tasting the tapas. But with winter rains coming soon, we may want to hang out by the fireplace for our sipping. A new website, tastingroom.com., offers over 50 …
Ready-to-Roll Fish Papillote Bags
Oh, boy, I've needed this! Last time I bought a hunk of Copper River salmon, I wanted to gently bake it en papillote with a topping of fresh morels and cream (we're talking major ingredients investment here.) So I pulled …
Actually healthy nuked popcorn
A couple of (maybe) helicopter parents back east were horrified to feed their kid the junk chemicals and metals infusing the bags of regular microwave popcorn. to keep them grease-proof and increase the percentage of corn that pops. (Perfluoro-octanol, anyone?) …
Yet more musical chefs:: Delicias
You've read already about Amy DiBiase taking over the kitchen at The Shores. (That's so great, I think she'll work beautifully with manager/sommelier Lisa Redwine in a Woman-Run team. High time that more women were in power positions in restaurants. …
Se No More
The Se Hotel has been bought out of bankruptcy by SF-based Kimpton Hotels and renamed the Hotel Palomar. Kimpton immediately tied in with local arts and cultural organizations (ranging from SD Opera to House of Blues) to offer room packages …
Consumer Reports Scrutinizes Celeb Food Products: Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes
I know you don't really believe that Wolfgang Puck is standing over a giant hot cauldron seasoning soup for the millions or that Emeril is yelling "Bam! when his mustard turns out perfect. Everything that goes out under a celebrity …
Contrary to "Wolfie," Pomegranate lives on
The UT's Food/Entertainment Advertising Manager, Wolfgang Verkaiik, writes little "reviews" of restaurants that take out ads. (They're all raves, of course. But some people actually believe he's a real food critic.) This past Thursday, "reviewing" a new Russian-Ukrainian restaurant in …
A World of Malarkey Coming Atcha!
Local-celeb chef Brian Malarkey and nightclub-entrepeneur partner James Brennan (Stingaree, etc.) are planning to take over the U.S. The time is right, says Brennan: across the U.S., restaurant rents are cheapening in light of the soggy economy (except in Hillcrest, …
Mommy Makes Cakey-Pops
This enterpreneurial business started with a mom's broken pieces of cake. Maria Roldan realized she could tuck them atop lolliipop sticks and encase them in a hard sugar/chocolate glaze. Voila: Cakey Pops, which you'll now find at various local farmer's …
No Jewish Deli Nearby? Go Online
Can't make it to DZ Akins, Milton's, or Brooklyn Bagels? A Chicago Jewish deli called Schmaltz has just expanded, starting with Schmaltz Online. They've got just about everything -- about 35 products, including rye bread, rugelach, pastrami, brisket, corned beef, …
Answer to EdBed's possum question
For mysterious reasons, I can't post an answer to your blog, it accuses me in red print of making mysterious errors but doesn't specify their nature. Very Kafkaesque, Hey, he really is cute, for a possum. If you garden, a …