Dishcrawl Carlsbad - Gregorio's, Knockout Burger, Relm, Swirlicious

Date of Dining: 6/12/2013 
Price: $45 per dishcrawl ticket

The Quick Bit:

+ great event to meet fellow foodies

+ vibrant upbeat atmoshphere

Δ Some restaurants could have taken the event more seriously

Disclaimer: I was provided with a free media pass to the dishcrawl event.

I was surprised to receive an invitation to Dishcrawl Carlsbad as I have not been so active in blogging lately, but I was happy to attend the event and brush off my camera lens to take some food photos.
Dishcrawl is an event organized by foodies for other foodies; it occurs throughout many cities in the US and is growing. During a Dishcrawl, participants always pay $45 for a ticket and get to sample dishes from 4 restaurants along the way. During the Dishcrawl, participants also have the opportunity to talk with chefs, owners, or managers of the restaurants in order to gain some additional insight to the restaurant. For restaurants, Dishcrawl is a great way to showcase culinary specialties to those from out of the area while maintaining and strengthening support with loyal local customers.
I was surprised that our event included 29 participants and that restaurants in the Carlsbad Village had agreed to serve the foodies. Participants of the Dishcrawl ranged from cosmopolitan Carlsbad Village locals to wayfaring gastronomes from Hillcrest and Temecula. Overall, the group was vibrant and had a lot of energy. It was great to have the opportunity to chat with many others who were devoted to cooking and eating well-prepared food.

Gregorio's Italian Restaurant

Location: 300 Carlsbad Village Dr, Ste 208

website

The Dishcrawl started at Gregorio's, a favorite of the locals who have all long visited and developed favorite dishes. Gregorio's prepares a rustic Italian homestyle cuisine that strives to be "your kitchen away from home." Further, Gregorio's donates all profits to charity including the Boys and Girls club four nights a week! These actions of giving back to the community has really resonated well within the community.

shrimp aglio e olio - shrimp, linguini, olive oil, lemon

The shrimp dish was what the restaurant considered its signature dish - it was a healthier take on a shrimp scampi with some additional pasta. The dish contained a healthy amount of garlic that was pervasive throughout the palate. As a minor critique, the dish could have used a little more salt.

eggplant parmigiano - fried eggplant, mozzarella, pasta

The eggplant parmigiana is considered the most popular dish at Gregorio's and it was also my favorite of the trio. I really enjoyed the different layered textures within the dish as well as the rich complexities within the interplay of the eggplant and cheese.

sicilian chicken - chicken, breadcrumbs, fusili, vodka cream sauce

The final dish was the Sicilian chicken, which is another popular dish of the restaurant. The chicken was pounded and deep fried and combined with a fusili made with a vodka cream sauce. I thought that the vodka cream sauce was very well made and served well to cut the richness of the fried chicken. However, I also thought this dish needed some additional seasoning, especially within the breadcrumb batter itself.

Overall, I feel that Gregorio's was a great place for locals to enjoy. While there is nothing fancy about the food, it was still simple food prepared well. It is also amazing that the restaurant can donate profits to charity four days a week.

Knockout Burger

Location: 2971 Carlsbad Blvd

Knockout Burger is a local burger watering hole that is themed around boxing. It's an alternative to In-n-out, but also slightly more expensive.

Knockout Burger was a restaurant that totally didn't take the Dishcrawl seriously and lacked professionalism when dealing with such a crowd. While I can understand that the restaurant happened to get busy prior to our arrival, it still took more than 45 minutes for them to prepare the food for the group. It also seemed unreasonable that they felt all the food needed to be completed at the same time. For a small burger restaurant trying to serve 30 people, they simply should have prepared whatever food they could in whatever time they could and sent it out as it was completed, completely fresh.

Further, the restaurant could have provided some food during the long wait such as fries or free beverages as those are generally low cost items that would not impact sales margins. The way it worked out - the burgers were not completed until after we had already reached the next restaurant and finished the food at that establishment.

cheeseburger

The burger seemed to be a frozen patty as it was largely tasteless and lacked any caramelization that is traditionally expected from a burger. Further the lettuce was wilted and the sauce was waterlogged creating a completely washed out flavor. Finally, the meat to bun ratio was completely off as the "flavor" from the processed white breaded bun completely overwhelmed what flavor was left from the patty. To add insult the injury, the fries were chalky lumps of starch that had somehow managed to survive past their intended half-life.

chicken sandwich

The only thing worse than the fries was the chicken sandwich. The chicken was completely dry, and the waterlogged lettuce completely washed out any flavor whatsoever. The only redeeming quality to the chicken was that it was fully cooked so that I know I'm not going to be infected with salmonella.

Overall, the only good quality of knockout burger was it's name; the food knocked me out, and I'm actually surprised I didn't have to visit the hospital. Perhaps I'll need to send them a bill for cleaning out my toilet though. Stick with In-N-Out which is both cheaper and tastier, or better yet visit the gastrobits favorite fast food burger Elevation Burger while in Carlsbad.

Relm Wine.Beer.Bistro

Location: 2917 State St, Carlsbad, CA

website

The third stop of the Dishcrawl was Relm Wine.Beer.Bistro. I would classify the establishment mostly as an adult lounge as much of the seating is comfortable leather sofas that are spread throughout the room.

Relm's owner Rene Fleming serves as the establishment's curator, sourcing only special boutique wines in the restaurant. These wines are all small production, hard to find wines that have all passed the grade of Mrs Fleming's discerning palate. Most importantly, Relm is an acronym for relax, enjoy, laugh more and epitomizes the experience the Dishcrawl had while at the establishment.

mediterranean salad - strawberries, mixed greens, kalamata olives, cucumber, perponcinis, cherry tomatoes

The salad was a standard salad, but was still put together very well. All the ingredients were fresh and the flavors amalgamated in a satisfying combination even without the dressing.

hummus 

The hummus was a milder variation of hummus in that it didn't contain a lot of garlic. However, I found this to be good because garlic doesn't really go well with wine.

hot spinach artichoke dip

The dip was hot and went together well with the other elements. It also paired better with wine in comparison to some of the other offerings. I enjoyed that there were actual artichoke hearts within the dip.

Overall, Relm was my favorite stop of the Dishcrawl; the atmosphere was extremely comfortable and relaxed and the service was top notch. When the initial food ran out for the Dishcrawl group, they immediately re-filled all the food; the management was more concerned with satisfying the customer than padding their pocketbooks. I was also happy with the selection of wines at Relm as they truly seemed unique. I would definitely stop by Relm again if I was in the area, but in the meantime, I will hope for an outpost to open closer to where I live.

Swirlicious Frozen Yogurt

Location: 2992 State St, Carlsbad, CA

website

Swirlicious is a local spin off of the popular frozen yogurt places that have opened all around the country lately. While the owners have modeled the establishment after some of the more Asian yogurt establishments in San Diego, Swirlicious adds its own distinct ideas to the establishment as well.

At Swirilicious, one gets a cup and then fills it with as much yogurt and toppings as they desire. Yogurt flavors change monthly while toppings vary more frequently. From what I noticed, some of the toppings were truly unique; there were juice poppers which are pearl-shaped balls that contain flavored juice and a nice pop when chewed. Adding this topping would create a nice textural contrast against both the yogurt and other more traditional toppings.

swirlicious yogurt

I opted for a healthier yogurt selection as I got mostly the tart yogurt and filled up with fruits and nuts. The yogurt was very well flavored and all the toppings were fresh and added a unique flavor to the entire product.

Swirlicious is nice yogurt establishment that adds a dimension to the community that otherwise cannot be found. 

Conclusion

Overall, I found the Dishcrawl event to be a success. Many times when eating, it is not necessarily about what the food tastes like, but moreso about the company you enjoy while eating the meal. With a group of enthusiastic foodies, the experience was a great one as I was able to make many new friends and explore an area of town I have never been to otherwise. Further, there was easily enough food for everyone to enjoy.

Note: For the restaurants that participate in a Dishcrawl, it is important to keep some perspective - the participants of the Dishcrawl will be members of media, influential local food-lovers, and potential foodies from further away. When one takes the Dishcrawl seriously and delivers a good experience, the rewards are obviously. Conversely, by not taking the customers seriously, the consequences seem just as predictable. 

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2012 gastrobits awards

After some a short absence, I was compelled to make an update based on my 2012 year end awards.

Looking back at 2012, it was the year where I truly embraced food writing. I set a torrid pace to start the year and then experienced some burn out as we neared the end. Looking back at all the photos, there's so many good dishes that I had during the year. For this year's awards, I've decided to just highlight the best dishes and assign them some arbitrary awards.

Best New Restaurant - Akinori Sushi

Akinori opened just recently has and has been serving an inspired trendy style of high quality sushi. If you like your sushi in the kaiseki style (some hot dishes as well as sushi), then Akinori is the place to experience omakase done right.

Best Vegatable Dish

carrot - TBL3 @ George's California Modern

The carrot cooked from the coffee crust grill was an amazing preparation. The carrot was prepared to actually taste similar to meat in heartiness and texture. The flavors meshed together incredibly well.

Best Ethnic Thai

som tum muazuar - Zabb Elee (NYC)

This papaya salad from Zabb Elee was a masterpiece. There was a wide range of flavors and textures while delivering a rich thai flavor. Best of all, it only cost $10. Unfortunately, you'll have to fly to New York City to sample this dish.

Best Ethnic Latin

octopus - Mision 19 (Tijuana)

The octopus from Mision 19 had a variety of latin flavors with incredible technical execution. Each octopus was cooked very well and had a complex range of sauces to highlight the flavors and texture of octopus. Not only was this dish the best Latin, dish but it was one of the best dishes of the year.

Best Ethnic Chinese

famous prawn in hot wok - Lao Hunan (Chicago)

The prawns were cooked perfectly in the hot wok and had a great balance of flavors and spice to resemble Thai food to some extent. The accompanying garnish added a lot of flavor in the form of herbs and spices to add depth to the dish. 

Best Noodles

tonkotsu ramen - Tsujita (Los Angeles)

The tonkotsu ramen at Tsujita packs a might flavor punch as the broth is boiled for 60 hours prior to serving. The result is an extremely thick and luxurious essence of pork flavor.

Best Ethnic Italian

tagliolini nero - Balena (Chicago)

The squid ink pasta from Balena was sauced perfectly and contained a great amount of flavor of both sea urchin and crab. This is pasta cooked properly

Best Ethnic Japanese

matsutake mushroom soup - Akinori

The matsutake mushroom soup was full of fresh seafood cooked to perfection along with a slow cooked mushroom soup. The flavor of the mushroom transferred well into the broth and was an extremely surprising and fulfilling highlight to the omakase meal.

Best Sandwich

porchetta sandwich - Ariccia Italian Market

The porchetta at Ariccia is amazing in flavor. Recently, the pig was changed to a local acorn-fed pork, which has imparted even more flavor into the finished porchetta product.

Best "Pizza"

tuna crisp - Flavor Del Mar

With nothing comparable to Pizzeria Mozza, the best "pizza" I had was the tuna crisp at Flavor. The mix of the tuna with the umami crisp underneath was the perfect bite.

Best Raw Preparation

raw beef - Totoroku

The raw beef dishes were all amazing at Totoroku, but none were more impressive than the beef throat. The yield to serve a table of 4 requires the slaughter of 1.5 cows. The throat has an incredible balance of natural fat with a pure beef flavor. I enjoyed the raw beef throat even more than the finest toro.

Best Seafood Dish

salad of dungeness crab - A Simple Supper with Gavin Schmidt

The dungeness crab salad capture the pure essence of crab flavor to explode in my mouth. The accompanying spring vegetables really highlighted the sweetness of the crab dish. To top it off, there was some special preparation to the gelatinous wrap that could only be served in an underground dinner.

Biggest Surprise Dish

chanterelle stew - George's California Modern

I didn't eat this until there was 38 minutes left of 2012, which was the first surprise. The second surprise was the incredible unctuous texture of the dish. It was simultaneously rich, while being anchored with the earthy flavors. Each bit was also incredibly light and delightful.

Best Dessert

watermelon, prosciutto, love & break dancing - Evolve Explore Your Senses

The dessert from Jeff Bonilla was not only one of the best desserts, but also nearly the best overall dish I had all year. It combined elements of the savory prosciutto to enhance the sweetness of the watermelon. Every bite was light and packed full of flavor.

Best Overall Dish

smoked beef tongue - TBL3 @ George's California Modern

The beef tongue in this dish had a delicious smoky flavor, but it was the brandade cream that really highlighted the dish. Each bite of this dish was a party in my mouth.

Best Overall Restaurant - George's California Modern

With another awesome TBL3 and a well executed New Years Eve, George's California Modern takes home the title of best restaurant 2012. George's raised its gastrobit rating from gigabyte to terabyte and includes a great wine list worthy of the oenobyte. Last but not least, I had an incident during my New Years Eve experience that was handled masterfully by the front of house. Another food writer commented that it was a "Michelin move," and I agree.

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Cremolose - Flash

Date of Dining: 2/25/2012
Price: $8-12 appetizers, $8-11 sandwiches, $11-15 pizzas
Location: 840 5th Ave, San Diego, CA 92101
website

The Quick Bit:

+ unique environment of Italian dessert + "club"

+ large selection of desserts

Δ "lost" order during non-peak hours

Δ mis-labeled dish naming

Δ could get higher quality ingredients for the price paid

I visited Cremolose along with several other San Diego bloggers as part of a SeriousEats meetup. While the meeting occurred several months ago, I sat on my photos for a long time because I was conflicted on whether to post my thoughts.

On one hand, Cremolose has an interesting concept for downtown San Diego in that it contains the club atmosphere with a wide variety of Italian desserts.

On the other hand, my experience at the restaurant was so bad that I find it hard to write anything even neutral about the experience.

When I ordered my food during non-peak times (as in our party was maybe 15 of 25 people in the restaurant), it took over an hour for my food to arrive. It turned out that despite paying my money prior to the food being served, the ticket was lost and there was no intention to serve the food. Further, when I inquired to my order with the manager, I was treated as a liar and was met with skepticism at my claim even though I produced the receipt.

When the food finally arrived, I felt that the description of the items on the menu may not have correctly reflected the food that was finally served.

The Food

portabello e speck - cow milk mozzarella, portobello mushroom, imported speck, and truffle oil

quattro formaggi - gorgonzola, mozzarella, asiago, and parmigiano

The pizzas were provided as part of the SeriousEats meetup, and was the least offensive food served by the restaurant. Still, I would prefer pizza from Bruno, Blue Ribbon, Calabria, and many other San Diego pizzerias, especially at the price point.

carpaccio di bue - thin sliced filet mignon, arugula, shaved parmigiano, cherry tomato, lemon olive oil

For the price of this menu item, I thought there would be more than the seven thing slices of filet served. Further, the shaved parmigiano didn't make the plate and it was sorely missed as the dish required that additional element to really elevate the flavors against the relatively flavorless filet.

porchetta panini - slow roasted imported pork, provolone cheese, roasted mushrooms, mayo

Calling the protein porchetta would be a huge insult; calling the protein even ham would constitute as an insult to ham. Calling the final sandwich a panini is probably even a stretch.

Conclusion:

Over two months after my dining experience at Cremolose, I still feel some outrage at the memory of the food I was served. If I ever return to Cremolose again, it will be too soon.

Luckily, the company that I enjoyed in meeting the other bloggers and SeriousEats personalities made the time enjoyable and worth the trip. I look forward to more blogger meetup events in the future, but perhaps at establishments with less offensive dining options.

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