San Diego

I'm so swamped at work I never was able to talk about my trip to San Diego at the end of April. It was a quick trip for a two day workshop (that was actually productive). A week before the meeting the hotel changed. This turned out to be a win for all because the new hotel was right across from the marina and right next to Little Italy.

I ate a lot of seafood because you know we just don't get good stuff in Oklahoma.

But the greatest part of the location was the fact that Top Chef winner Richard Blais' restaurant Juniper & Ivy was less than a mile from the hotel. I was a little geeked out at that tidbit and planned my eating accordingly.

I'm one of those people that really doesn't mind eating by myself. I travel enough that it has to happen. I made a reservation for one but when I got there they said they had seats at the chef table if I wanted one. I'm not a fool...I of course said yes. Basically I had a view of the seafood section of the kitchen.

Richard Blais is a user of molecular gastronomy. That turned out to be an adventure that I was happy to take. My server was great and she was able to get a lot of things halved so I could try a bunch.

First up was his take on deviled eggs. It was actually an egg meringue. So a little sweet.

Then I ventured into octopus. It was grilled and had an eel sauce glaze. It was cooked to perfection.

Then I moved on to yellowtail tostadas. These were probably the best thing I ate in a long time. In fact I had a half order and then had the other half order.

Then it was dessert time. He made a take on a yodel (you know that chocolate cake with white cream frosting rolled up). This one had liquid nitrogen ice cream in it and then the hard chocolate outside was covered in hot chocolate. Oh my. If I could have licked the plate I would have.

I also had a couple of their crafted cocktails and bought an autographed copy of his cookbook. So I blew my per diem plus more but it was so worth it. I'm happy I was able to go to this restaurant. I really understand how there is a difference in average and highly skilled chefs.