Good-Bye Whiskey Girl...Hello, Barleymash
Whiskey Girl, one of Downtown's most popular spots for late-night/early-morning drunken debauchery, is moving out of its space on the corner of Fifth and Market. But fear not stoked frat boys, bachelorette gaggles and metrocentric boozehounds, a new tenant with …
Beer and Candy Canes Link Up
San Diego Beer Week ended over a month ago, but you’d never know it. Beer dinners, cask nights and all sorts of other events are still happening on an almost daily basis. Another phenomenon that’s occurring more regularly is the …
Temecula Has an Iron in the Fire
Temecula’s number of free-standing craft breweries is set to double in 2012 with the addition of Ironfire Brewing Company. That newcomer will join Black Market Brewing Company, an operation that has enjoyed a good amount of success, including an award …
The Marina District's Got Game
My laments over the closing of Little Italy’s Red Velvet are well publicized. The combo wine bar-resto had great food. So, it pleases me to know that one of the culinary minds behind that venture, Lhasa Landry, is at the …
Drink in the Education at Bottlecraft
It’s been said by brewers that no singular ingredient has more influence on a beer’s flavor than yeast. One of my sources went so far as to say yeast accounts for roughly 90% of a brew’s overall taste profile. Yet, …
Donovan’s Wades 20,000 Leagues Beyond Beefy Comfort Zone
Situated in the Gaslamp, in the space that housed the failed Donovan’s Circle of Fifths (and before that, the failed Australian resto, Bondai), Donovan’s Prime Seafood opened quietly earlier this year. However, since landing a chef from the kitchen at …
Local Guitar Company Opening Warehouse to the Public
Usually, when posting to the Reader site, I'm sharing opinions and information on food. It's my number one passion. Music comes runs a close second on the list of things that inspire me. I've been playing guitar for over two …
Award-Winning Brewer Jeff Bagby to Leave Pizza Port
Some people wear tuxes when they’re receiving big awards. At this year’s Great American Beer Festival, the biggest brewing competition in the country, several Pizza Port employees wore t-shirts that read “Who the fuck is Jeff Bagby?” when collecting the …
Artisanal Carnivores Sink Teeth into New Meaty Venture
Having a budding and extremely promising business questionably targeted by the government and drained of its monetary lifeblood via combative legal fees. It would have been enough to make lesser men throw in the cheesecloth. But when you’re as passionate …
I Stand Corrected: 1-in-8 #2 in '12
For writers, it can often feel as though we're typing up hundreds of words at a clip then jettisoning them into a black hole. It's always nice to be reminded that people actually read what you put out there. Comments, …
New Name for a Brew That’s Still a Treasure
It’s hard to find fault with anything produced to raise money to fight breast cancer. I mean, who does that? Well…sometimes I do. Obviously, the creation of such beers is a wonderful thing, especially when they taste great. Unfortunately, they’re …
It’s About Time: Killer BBQ Comes to Town
You walk in, see the skyscraper-like trophies strewn throughout Brazen BBQ Smokehouse and Bar and immediately assume whoever is responsible for the menu and that incredible mixed aroma of smoldering wood and slowly melting animal fat must be from somewhere …
A Jiggerful of Judgment at El Dorado
Last week, I wrote about serving as a judge for the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival. Experiences like these tend to be few and far between. Yet, come tomorrow, I’ll be back in the critic’s saddle, weighing on …
Bobby Flay and Local Chef Rumble in Kitchen Stadium
It’s shot in a studio, lit within an inch of its life, and hosted by a hokey acrobat-slash-actor playing the descendant of an equally hokey yet far less agile Japanese actor. Yet, for all its manufactured Hollywood glitter factor, Food …
Beer and Cacao Worthy of Serious Buzz
When Friday comes around, I embrace my vocational freedom in tandem with a few cold ones. Last week, my workweek-erasing boozing was put on hold. I had a date with some friends to take in a chocolate tasting at a …
Food and Wine with a Side of Scrutiny
The doorway gave way to a room awash with white. Dozens of individuals clad in chef’s coats were shooting the breeze, talking shop or discussing the weather. Unlike in most cases, the climate-related chatter was more than a last-ditch effort …
Going the Route Less Traveled at Davanti
Who’d have thought three years ago that brussels sprouts would be one of the trendiest ingredients around? Not me, but it’s pretty cool that just about every restaurant that opens sticks them on the menu. The fact that these midget …
It's No Lie...Fuego One Is Hittin' the Road
Bar impresario Scot Blair has a lot on his plate. So much so that the owner of Hamilton's Tavern, Small Bar, Eleven, and Monkey Paw is lightening his load. Blair's bidding adieu to Fuego One, a food truck that, when …
Starlite Waging the Battle of the Beauj'
She’s better known for having put together the wine and cocktail program at Starlite, but Kate MacWilliamson has much broader adult beverage goals. Her current mission is to enlighten drinkers to “the magic of Beaujolais.” She experienced the magic firsthand …
San Diego Beer Week: Day Ten
With roughly 500 events from pint nights to festivals and all-out, multi-venue fermentable free-for-alls, San Diego Beer Week can be confusing…and that’s before you start drinking. Fortunately, I know a thing or two about craft beer and our local scene. …