Ballast Point Spirits Breed Kentucky-Fried Envy
It took Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits over a decade to cement their reputation as a top tier craft brewery, but it’s taken significantly less time to prove their merit as a craft distillery. It’s been less than three years …
A Pre-World Beer Cup Session with Pizza Port OB
A night after sipping some of the beers reigning Great American Beer Festival Large Brewpub of the Year, Pizza Port Carlsbad, submitted for May’s World Beer Cup, I headed to the reigning Small Brewpub of the Year, Pizza Port Ocean …
Catching Up with Pizza Port Carlsbad at Local Habit
San Diego really is the Napa Valley for craft beer. The region is rich with opportunities to experience exceptional brews. The latest proof of that came to me last week when, on consecutive nights, I had the chance to sample …
Good Eats and a Foie Gras Alternative at Gabardine
Unless you’re lucky enough to live in Point Loma’s affluent inner expanses, it takes something special to justify a rush hour traversing of the long, congested un-thoroughfare that is Rosecrans Street. Count a meal at Gabardine, Point Loma’s new modernized …
Dining Out to Support Big Sister League of San Diego
It's hard to believe, but there was a time when women couldn't be out on the streets of San Diego past 10 p.m. without an escort. The punishment for females who didn't abide by this mandate: a prompt jailing. Frances …
Beer Touring: Rough Draft Brewing Company
The first time I walked into the tasting room at Mira Mesa/Miramar nether regional Rough Draft Brewing Company was in mid-February. At that time, it was completely empty and non-operational; merely a meeting space for owner Jeff Silver and I …
Mother Earth Brew Co. Pale Ale Pays Homage to Fallen Marines
The last time I was talking about Mother Earth Brew Co. brewer Dan Love, I was giving him props for crafting his Big Mother Triple IPA. Churning out that bad mother (shut your mouth) was a big accomplishment, but it …
Beer Touring: Societe Brewing Co.
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/mar/29/21824/ Most people figure the best part of a brewery tour is the tasting component. They’re right. But the most important part of being a beer journalist has nothing to do with imbibing. Often, visits with brewers are alcohol-free affairs. …
Beer Touring: Wet 'N Reckless
Any tour of multiple breweries carries with it both the possibility of discovering the next big thing or the next big disappointment. Sometimes a brewing company you had little to zero expectations for shocks your taste buds into standing up, …
Beer Touring: White Labs
One of the most interesting stops on my craft beer tasting room tour was at a non-brewery. The powers that be at White Labs, one of the largest yeast production companies in the United States, allowed me to come in …
Beer Touring: Stumblefoot Brewing Company
Days spent hitting up four or five local breweries used to be something I’d devote two or three days a year to. These days, with new breweries opening up like crazy and roughly a dozen slated to debut this year, …
Pizza Port Real Ale Festival: Only the Good Die Young
It's the end of an era. An era of scarcity for drinkers in search of cask beer. Referred to in the brewing industry as "real ale," unfiltered, unpasteurized beers that are conditioned in and served from wooden barrels used to …
Urban Eats Rising From Taco Banh's Ashes
If at first you don't succeed...shut down, board up the joint, and overhaul into something different. This scenario plays out all the time in the restaurant industry. Owners think they have what a neighborhood needs and open a business to …
Cooks Confab Adds to its Ranks
It was 2009 when I happened on a talented collective called Cooks Confab. Made up of notable chefs from around town, their popularity rose with each centrally themed grand scale eat-fest they put on. Soon, they were more than just …
Big Upgrades in the Works for Karl Strauss
Soon, fans of Karl Strauss Brewing Company will be able to get their brews straight from the source. San Diego’s eldest craft brewery is revamping its production brewery in Pacific Beach to be visitor-friendly. They’re not just putting in some …
Instruction on Writing Instructional Culinary Prose
Writing a cookbook. It sounds simple enough so long as the author knows how to cook. But as anybody who’s actually sat down to document their dishes can attest, there’s a method to it. That method doesn’t come naturally. Having …
Lettuce All Say Adios to Green Waste
Typically, I write about restaurants, but today’s post is focused on the home kitchen. I recently happened upon a grocery store purchase of such worth that I feel compelled to break away from my normal beat. Not a day goes …
Rocking the Sham Irish Whiskey's Strictly for Shooting
I’m no stranger to food and adult beverage pairing dinners. I’ve experienced numerous multi-course marriages of wine, beer, bourbon, and tequila with many different types of cuisines. Yet, up until recently, I’d never been party to a pairability focused procession …
A More-Than-Conceptual Taste of Puesto
Back in December, I shared architectural models of what Puesto, downtown La Jolla’s new spot for farm-fresh tacos and bowls would look like. But, a rendering and sample menu can only tell you so much about a biz-to-be, so I …
Evolve: Modernist Cuisine, No Letdown
When I reported that chef Daniel Barron was teaming up with fellow gastronomes Flor Franco, Jeff Bonilla and Mike Yen to start pop-up restaurant operation, Evolve, I had concerns. Chief among them was the fact that the crux of their …