Food Trucks and Fun - Vista

Date: 5/21/2011
Location: Boomers! in Vista


The Quick Bit:
+ Food trucks from LA and OC
+ Not so crowded (good for diners)
Δ Trucks could have opened on time
Δ Could have been more customers (for the trucks)


As mentioned in the past, gourmet food trucks have been a trendy concept in the food industry recently. However, a recent story in NPR suggests that the food truck boom may be coming to an end (or at least slowing down). 


In San Diego, the food truck revolution is still in full swing as the trend seemed to lag about a year behind before taking off. As a result, San Diego is starting to have more gatherings of food truck events this year. Boomers! decided to host one such gathering, inviting trucks from LA and OC to come to each of its three San Diego locations for three consecutive days. The event garnered a lot of local media attention with news of trucks selling out within 45 minutes of opening.


I went with a group of friends and since we have been to several events where the trucks completely sell out of food and we had to wait an hour in line per truck, we kind of overreacted and ordered a lot of food quickly instead of slowly pacing the orders and sharing. As a result we only got to try a few trucks; here are the reviews of the food we tried.


Food Junkies:

Sloppy Jose

left to right: Mahi Mahi Taco, Chicken Biscuit, Bratwurst

So somehow I was roped into ordering from this truck since we saw the low prices and thought that meant it was tasting portions. Pretty much the only good thing I have to say about the truck is that the prices were very good. The food reminded me of what Gordon Ramsay may say when he samples the food at restaurants on Kitchen Nightmares.


Lee's Philly:

left to right: spicy chicken, gogi beef, shrimp taco

I didn't really have high hopes for this truck, but I was pleasantly surprised by the food. I had the gogi taco, which was a little too sweet, but the meat was nicely marinated and not overcooked. Furthermore, their kimchee had the right amount of sourness and crunch (but wasn't really spicy enough). The cilantro and onions added some needed freshness to finish off the tacos. Additionally their taco shells were actually warmed on the flat top and didn't fall apart when picked up - a common problem with fusion taco trucks. Overall I was surprisingly pleased.


Devilicious:

Soft Shell Crab Club

Soft Shell Crab Grilled Cheese

Devilicious is back from their "road trip" and is debuting many new menu items that they were inspired with on the road.  My favorite new item is anything that involves the soft shell crab. I'm not sure where they source their soft shell crabs, but they are delicious and all have a little bit of the "crab juice" that kills your cholesterol but tastes oh so yummy. 


I originally didn't plan to get any food from Devilicious, but after the horrible food at Food Junkies, I had to make sure I got at least some food that I knew would be good. After having the club this past week, I was a jerk and made a special request for a lobster grilled cheese but with soft shell crab instead of the lobster.   (Sorry to everyone in line behind me and to Chef Huffman who had to accommodate me!). Anyway, the soft shell crab is a huge winner in my book, and short of overcooking or oversalting the crab, I feel like anything made with it would taste great.


Vizzi:
At this point, the group was getting pretty full, and Grill Em All still hadn't opened. Luckily I took a look at the Vizzi Truck menu and there was a particular item that caught my eye.

Waygu Beef Sliders

Truffle Popcorn

Foie being cooked

Foie Gras PB&J

So obviously the item that caught my attention was the foie gras - more on this later.


The waygu appeared to a braised beef slider rather than a burger. The meat was very tender and broken down, and the sauce was very enjoyable. My only problem with the dish was that making it from Waygu didn't seem to add anything. By braising the Waygu, all the goodness is already cooked out of the meat. Still, it was an enjoyable dish.


The truffle popcorn was seasoned somewhat unevenly so the truffle flavor didn't really come out. However, I did really enjoy the dried figs mixed into the popcorn and thought they were an excellent touch.


The foie gras was cooked very well and the fig jam and almond butter were also very good. However, the bread was too thick in my opinion and washed out the flavors of the almond butter and the jam when eaten together. Additionally, the foie seemed to have been salted a few too many times, and the fact that the butter used to baste the foie was dripped all over the toast caused the toast to become too salty as well. Overall I still enjoyed the foie (when do I not enjoy it), but I thought the price was very steep for that size of a slice of foie on a food truck. I'd be surprised if they sold 3 more orders of this that day. I would order this again only if it was $15 or if I got a large piece of foie.


Overall, the event was a success even though I didn't get to try Grill Em All. With three out of the four trucks I tried giving at least above average food, this event sets the record for the highest percentage of good food trucks in a food truck gathering.


It will be interesting to see how the food truck trend evolves in San Diego over the course of the next year. Like Mariscos Jalisco in LA, the old school Mariscos trucks in San Diego are still around and deliver a great product as well. It is also incredibly convenient that the food trucks roll right up to office areas to deliver good food at reasonable prices to office workers on a timetable for lunch. On the other hand, if more food trucks such as Food Junkies and Jack in the Box invade the space of the better trucks, the gourmet trucks may earn as bad a reputation as the old roach coaches. Hopefully the food trucks continue to evolve and bring a great product to the table.

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Rancho Valencia - Blogger Tasting Event

Date of Dining: 5/15/2011
Price: $110 for 10 course tasting
Location: 5921 Valencia Circle, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067

Website


The Quick Bit:
+ Upgrade from previous menu
+ Good creativity in the dishes
+ Great plating of dishes
Δ Dishes could have been more refined
Δ Should have been more "wow" to the dishes
Δ Progression of courses seemed theoretical rather than based on experience

Update/Blogger's Note: The food from this event was actually all Chef de Cuisine Aaron Martinez's food. Furthermore Chef Martinez recently accept the Head Chef position at 1500 Ocean, so it probably will not be possible to get this type of food from Rancho Valencia in the future.

Disclaimer: I was invited to this event via SDGourmand, who was asked by one of chefs to organize a San Diego blogger tasting. Tasting menus are not available for walk in diners, but apparently can be arranged with the kitchen by contacting them prior to the visit.


Rancho Valencia is a luxury resort situated in Rancho Santa Fe; part of the resort is the restaurant, which up until recently screamed of dated 80's country club food. Recently the resort was purchase by a new owner, and as part of the renovations, Chef Eric Bauer was brought in to revitalize the menu. Chef Bauer assembled a crew of up-and-coming San Diego talent including Chef de Cuisine Aaron Martinez and Sous Chef David Volk.


Chef Bauer was most recently the Executive Chef at Anthology and previous worked with the Four Seasons Hotels and the Ritz Carlton. He also worked at Morel's Steakhouse & Brasserie at The Palazzo in Las Vegas prior to his stint at Anthology. Chef Martinez has worked as Sous Chef at Addison and was most recently working at In de Wulf in Belgium. Chef David Volk previously worked at Blanca before moving to Rancho Valencia.


As mentioned above, this event was in the planning for over a month. Combined with the previous blogger tasting event for the Los Angeles Bloggers that seemed to go over rather well, this created a large sense of anticipation for me. Combined with the fact that I had been having a tough week at work prior to this event, the dinner became the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel to get me through the week.


The first sign of trouble was that my tough week of work resulted me in waking up the morning of the dinner with a sore throat, cough, and a lot of nasal congestion. Using a variety of home remedies, I was able to clear up almost all the congestion, but I can't be sure just how much my palette was affected. From the conversation I had with the other bloggers, I probably didn't enjoy it as much as they did, but the general feeling of the meal seemed relatively consistent across the board.

Menu - one of the courses was unintentionally left off

The theme of the meal was to be heavily vegetable focused and feature the vegetables to a large extent. In one way, this is a very dangerous approach because it can be difficult to please many blogger omnivores with a mostly vegetable menu. On the other hand this approach could also potentially be safer since it may not showcase as many risky techniques in the preparation of the food.


In the end, I would liken my experience at Rancho Valencia to the Star Wars movies - the prequels. When the prequel Star Wars movies were released, one of my friends actually organized the "line party" for the movie. We camped out a week in advance of the movie and had trivia contests, cosplay, and many other events to promote the event. However, even though the line party was a success, those movies fell short of the excellent standard set by the movies that preceded them. In the same way, I felt this farm-to-table vegetable-focused menu ultimately fell short of some other restaurants that focused on the same themes. In honor of this distinction, I'm going to nickname each course with a Star Wars Prequel Character.


Snacks:
The Shaak Ti course

Cheese and Crackers

These were crackers that were made out of goat cheese with some nice toppings. This course gets the Shaak Ti because it was a minor character in the overall progression, but a female Togruta jedi is both eye-catching and whimsical.

The Mace Windu course

Chicken skin, fava bean, herbs

These chicken skins were fried very well and delectable crispy. This course gets the Mace Windu distinction because the chicken skin is flashy like the purple lightsaber and piece of chicken skin I got was slightly burnt and that burnt bitterness overwhelmed what otherwise should have been a very successful dish.


Core:
Amuse: The Bail Organa course

veggies

This dish was introduced as an Amuse, and while I still think of an Amuse as one bite, it seems like a trend in San Diego to expand on that to a few bites. There was nothing particularly remarkable about this dish, except that it did have a good balance of acidity and flavors to serve as an Amuse. The peas were not bursting with sweet pea flavor, and I feel that that was the downfall of the dish to push it over the top.
This course gets the Bail Organa designation because it was mainly forgettable, but still sets hope for the future of the meal.


Bread:
Droid Army Bread

Assortment of Bread

Jango Fett Butter

Back: Ramp Butter, Close: Horseradish Butter

We asked for bread the moment we sat down, but had to wait an hour before it finally came out. The bread was mostly forgettable hotel bread (especially the uninspired squaw bread), but the butter was very well-made. I thought I would like the horseradish butter, but the ramp butter completely overshadowed it. The flavor of the ramp was infused in the light butter and had a great balance of garlic taste with buttery finish.


The bread is the droid army because it seemed like run of the mill hotel bread with little to no thought involved while the butter get the Jango Fett designation because it deserves to be cloned again and again.


First Course: The Obi-Wan Kenobi course

cucumber, mackerel, verbena, borage

The borage is the purple flower, and was described as tasting similar to oysters. This dish was one of the most successful dishes of the night. The mackerel had a rich oiliness that really highlighted the mackerel flavor, and all of the other elements contributed to the enjoyment of the mackerel. The pickles were a highlight as they complimented the flavors of the mackerel really well. There was also a dab of meyer lemon that really brought this dish alive with the acidity.


This dish gets the Obi-wan designation because Obi-wan was one of the returning characters that didn't suck in all of the movies. He also wasn't forced to have a lot of cheesy dialog.


Second Course: The C3P0 course

carrots & radish, flowers, herb infusion

This dish had some cream made out of ham, which was very salty, and a broth under the foam which was made from smoky ham hock that was also salty. The salty on smoky salty overwhelmed the dish and covered up the flavors of the vegetables, which were supposed to be the highlight.
This course gets the C3P0 designation because the foam seemed unnecessary and slightly annoying.


Third Course: The Padme Amidala Course

coriander, rv escargot, seaweed, zucchini

The coriander in this dish is the coriander flowers, and the seaweed was the green dust. The escargot had a smoky flavor to them that covered up a lot of the natural escargot flavor (that is usually covered with garlic). While this seemed to be a hit with most of the table, I enjoy the flavor of the escargot and didn't appreciate that it was covered up. The other problem I had with this dish was that the coriander flowers completely overwhelmed my palette each time I ate them. Each coriander flower I ate had a wasabi sinus clearing effect on me except that it was coriander rather than wasabi that shot through my sinus.
This course gets the Padme Amidala distinction because it should have been a success, but the coriander flowers resemble the cheesy over-the top dialog that ruined the character as well as the dish.


Fourth Course: The Jar Jar Binks course

potato, lovage, peas, marrow

Aside from the crispy potatoes, this dish was a disaster. The marrow seemed to be missing something, and the small micro-potatoes that were cooked with the lovage seemed to be really heavy and weighed down. It felt like instead of eating that small potato, I was eating entire large Idaho baked potato with each bite.
No need to explain why this dish is Jar Jar


Fifth Course: The Bana Breemu Course

halibut, salsify, shallots, smoke mussel jus

This halibut course was left off the menu. My piece of halibut was cooked perfectly, but other diners at the table complained of having half the fish perfect and the other half overcooked. The smoked mussel jus was overly reduced as there wasn't enough of the sauce and it was a little too salty. There were also additional touches of the Meyer lemon in this dish that didn't work out as well. Because the flavor of the halibut is both one-dimensional and delicate, the Meyer lemon actually overpowered the halibut flavors. The salsify added a nice textural contrast, but really wasn't integrated enough to contribute any flavors.
This dish gets the Bana Breemu designation because actress Bai Ling was advertised to be in Episode III, but was ultimately cut from the movie. Similarly, this dish somehow was missing from our menu.


Sixth Course: The Darth Maul Course

veal tongue, asparagus, rocket, mustard

This dish was another of the most popular dishes of the night. The veal tongue was prepared to perfection and the mustard seeds provided an excellent burst of flavor to contrast the tongue and asparagus. As a slight nitpick, I felt that the white asparagus were overcooked, but many of the other diners felt that the "limpness" didn't bother them because the flavor carried through really well. Perhaps I was spoiled from my previous experience with asparagus, but I felt these asparagus were missing some elements of umami that would have tied this dish very well together. Additionally, overcooked asparagus killed what otherwise should have been a good textural contrast in the dish, so the dish felt a little mushy.
This dish gets the Darth Maul designation because it was one of the best dishes of the night and when I think of Darth Maul, one of the scenes I remember is the closeup of his face where he sticks out his tongue.


Seventh Course: The Yoda Course

foie gras, red onion, beet, eel mousse, sorrel

This nicely seared piece of foie finally satisfied some of my carnivorous cravings which had been missing in the meal. In addition to being nicely seared, this dish made me realize how much I had been missing the savoriness of meat throughout the meal. The sweetness of the beat provided a nice sweet contrast to the fatty savoriness of the foie. I didn't really understand the eel mousse as the eel flavor was very delicate. I don't know that I would have been able to say it was eel if I hadn't been told it was eel.
This course gets the Yoda nickname because it's not Star Wars without Yoda, and the fine dining meal isn't complete without foie.


Eighth Course: The Chewbacca course

morels, ramps, lamb, barley

The lamb was a cut from a braised lamb neck, which had very nice glaze and was very tender. After being denied red meat for so long, I really took to liking this dish because it started to satisfy the meaty savoriness I had been missing for the entire meal. However, this dish lacked some refinement in the way the ramps were used. The ramps still had the roots on them, and it didn't seem to be cooked enough. I tried to cut the ramp to go with the lamb, but I still felt that they were too raw and strongly flavored compared to the lamb. The individual elements of the mushroom and barley ramp risotto were good, but I didn't feel like they really contributed well to the plate as a whole.
This course is nicknamed after Chewbacca because both lack refinement.


Intermezzo: The Count Dooku Intermezzo

apple foam, celery

The intermezzo was actually one of the major highlights of the night. The apple and celery had a great play on sweet and savory to transition from the savory courses to the dessert. The foam was actually used well in this dish and was necessary to the overall composition.
This intermezzo gets nicknamed after Count Dooku because Dooku was the catalyst for Anakin to turn into Vader while the intermezzo was is the transition to the desserts.


Ninth Course: The Anakin Skywalker Darth Vader course

fennel meringues, chocolate, licorice

This course was a big gamble because licorice is one of those flavors that is very polarizing and you either love it or hate it. Unfortunately, most of our table didn't like licorice, so this dish fell flat. This dish was also served with a stout that complimented the course nicely.
This course gets the Anakin because the color imagery conveys the battle of the light and dark sides of the force, and the polarizing quality of the licorice is also illustrated in Anakin; most girls love him while most guys hate him.


Tenth Course: The R2D2 course

goat cheese, rhubarb, rose geranium

This course was also served with a nice dessert wine, which was really important because it was really needed to compliment and finish off the dessert. The goat cheese was a little too savory as a dessert and needed the sweetness from the sorbet and dessert wine to contrast it. However, when these elements were eaten together in balance, the resulting harmony was a nice way to cap off the meal.
This course is nicknamed after R2D2 because R2 was the comic relief in the movie and this dish reminds me of how R2 would balance out scenes in the movies to make them somewhat enjoyable.


Mignardises: The Clone Trooper course

pistachio macaroons

These are nicknamed for the clone troopers because they are an upgrade over the droid army, but were otherwise the standard mignardise.


Overall I was disappointed in the meal at Rancho Valencia. Due to circumstances, either the cold or the previous experience I had to this meal, this meal fell a little short of my expectations. On the other hand, I felt like the dishes were all plated very well and had some good ideas that just needed more refinement. I also felt that while the tasting menu was supposed to be heavily vegetable focused, many of the dishes had things that covered up the flavor of the vegetables. To some extent I feel like to be able to fully highlight the vegetables, you need to put more on the plate so that the flavors can come through more.


Additionally, I really didn't like the fact that I enjoyed the lamb so much only because I had the feeling of missing savory meat in the progression of dishes. Looking at the menu, I can see where the chefs think the progression looks good on paper, but actually going through the meal, the progression of the dishes failed to satisfy me.


I feel that Rancho Valencia is definitely worth another visit in the future, but they need to put together a regular tasting menu where they can refine the dishes and make sure that the tasting menu is an experience that every diner will enjoy. If the chefs aspire to a large tasting menu, perhaps they can do something like have a 4-5 course tasting that is more accessible to regular customers and then an expanded 8-10 course menu for the foodies. 

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Loic Restaurant and Patisserie

Date of Dining: 4/24/2011 
Price: ~ $15 per person for breakfast

Location: 18021 Calle Ambiente, San Diego, CA 92067

The Quick Bit:
+ Run by an award-winning pastry chef
+ Wide selection of French Pastries
Δ Prices could be more reasonable
Δ Experience could be more "magical"
Δ Location could be more convenient

I headed to Loic Restaurant and Patisserie on Easter Sunday with high hopes. Based on what some people had said and the accolades received by Chef Loic Laffargue, I was hoping to have an awesome French restaurant experience that would take me back to my time in Paris.

Loic Laffargue has been training as a baker since the age of 14 and was recognized by the American Culinary Federation's Western Pastry Chef of the year in 2008. Prior to opening his own restaurant Chef Laffargue was the Executive Pastry Chef at Barona Resort and Casino.

While the restaurant is located in the middle of nowhere, I enjoyed a pleasant Sunday morning drive through Rancho Santa Fe that actually relaxed me and increased my anticipation of what I hoped would be a great meal.

When we arrived at the restaurant, I was slightly put off by the fact that I had to enter the Patisserie to order and then sit in the restaurant to dine. This seemed awfully casual for a restaurant that charges the prices that were being asked for breakfast. I was also slightly confused at their breakfast menu as everything was called a "frittata" which completely confused my expectation of what food I would be getting. After ordering, we moved to the dining room to wait for the food to arrive.

Note: I didn't actually eat all the food, but I was able to take photos of the different orders.


Croissant Frittata:

Croissant Frittata - spinach, tomatoes, scrambled eggs inside a crossant

Pesto Frittata:

Pesto Frittata - Tomatoes, Onions, Mushrooms, Pesto sauce with scrambed eggs

My order was the Continental Breakfast (at least I think that's what they called it) which also came with orange juice and coffee. I understand that most restaurants sell you pre-brewed coffee and packaged orange juice, but when I ordered these at the Patisserie, I was actually shown that the coffee was pre-brewed and the orange juice came out of a gallon jug. Since I was going to leave to sit in the restaurant, please pretend that you're serving something of higher caliber at the exorbitant prices instead of just casually illustrating the 300% markup on the glass of orange juice in front of my eyes.

Continental Breakfast:

Continental Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs with black forest ham

So obviously, none of these orders actually were frittatas (or at least fit my definition of a frittata); I would have classified these as more of a "scramble." I'm guessing the use of frittata was to address the fact that the eggs were slightly overcooked. However, they were not so overcooked that I didn't enjoy them. The eggs were also well-seasoned and not overly salty for having the extra salt component of the black forest ham.

As to the croissant that came with my eggs, I was sorely disappointed. I was transported somewhere, but it wasn't back to that cafe in Paris on the Champs Elysees. Instead I was transported to the garbage compactor aboard the Death Star screaming for C3PO to save me.

If you've ever purchased freshly baked croissants, you know that the first day you have them, they should have the nice flaky crunch when you bite into it and the inside should have the rich luxurious layered butter flavor. Furthermore, you know that when you leave those croissants overnight and eat them the next day, the flaky crust has turned soft and the layers of bread inside no longer have same the well-defined buttery flavor.

Cross Section of croissant

The croissant I was served had all the characteristics of a day old croissant. The bread inside didn't have any rich buttery flavor and tasted slightly stale. The only part of the croissant that had any sort of crunch was the middle portion, which was burnt.

If there was any explanation to why this happened, I imagine it would because Loic was not present at the restaurant. Since Loic visits farmer's markets to sell his pastry, my guess is that he took a lot of the freshly baked pastry with him and the rest was eaten by the early Easter crowd prior to when I arrived.

Figuring this was the reason I received poor pastry, I decided to purchase some additional items from the Patisserie to go. Without going into too many details, these items failed to impress me any more than the croissant (although they were certainly fresh).

While I'm willing to write off my experience as bad timing (and Loic's absence), I don't think that the food served at Loic is anywhere near the caliber of Cavaillon. As for returning, I don't think I will return until Loic has been given ample time to work out the kinks. Perhaps he was too distracted by the new dinner menu to put enough concentration on the pastry items in which he built his reputation. If you go to Loic, I think there's definitely a good possibility you will get better pastry than I did, but be prepared to pay a lot for the privilege.

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Blanca - Vegetarian Tasting Menu

Date of Dining: 5/3/2011

Price: $70 for vegetarian tasting menu

Location: 437 S Highway 101 #301, Solana Beach, CA 92075

http://www.dineblanca.com

The Quick Bit:

+ Vegetarian meal was very fulfilling even for an omnivore
+ Wide variety of cooking techniques were showcased
+ Dishes I've previously eaten taste better
+ Some "meat" versions of dishes may be better as vegetarian
+ Great value for the price
+ Good progression of dishes
Δ Some dishes may have been oversalted
Δ Perhaps some ingredients were overused

Last time when I was at Blanca for the Snout to Tail dinner, one of the dishes had a pork chop that was overshadowed by the cauliflower gratin on the plate. We also discovered that Chef Gavin Schmidt was an avid forager and affinity for cooking vegetables well. At some point, Chef Schmidt threw down a proverbial gauntlet and said that he could make a vegetarian tasting menu where meat eaters (namely myself) would not miss the meat. What followed some a lot of wishy-washy planning and re-planning to get some event together. Finally, we were able to work out a date where Chef Schmidt could showcase the vegetarian menu. I went ahead and invited a bunch of vegetarian coworkers to get their opinions also; a question I'm commonly asked at work is where they can go for a vegetarian fine dining experience.

While Blanca offers an excellent wine pairing with their tasting menus, after the alcohol overload from the previous dinner, I was reluctant to indulge in such extravagance this time. We chose to bring a white wine since it was likely to pair well with all the vegetarian courses.

2008 Pierre Matrot Meursault

This wine opened nicely to have a rich, fruit forward body. There was a nice initial dryness when the wine had not opened, that went away as time progressed. This wine paired well with many of the dishes, but it would have been better if there was more dryness at the back end.

Menu for the night

I went into this meal without extremely high expectations despite the impressive Snout to Tail experience. I figured since that was a special event, it would have been much more impressive than the regular tasting menu.

First Course:

Still Life of Local Waters - seaweed, crispy shiitakes, dashi, smoked avocado

The first thing I noticed in this dish was the shiitake mushrooms; they were apparently deep fried which gave them an extremely interesting texture that was half chewy, half crispy. This texture added a lot to the dish to contrast the gelatinous dashi. A very pleasant surprise in this dish was the spherical green apples. The apples had a very nice sweet tartness to compliment the savoriness and umami of the dashi. The smoked avocado really tied together all the flavors and gave a nice and rich finish to the dish. As a small complaint to this dish, the size of the spoon combined with the plate made this dish difficult to eat as it was somewhat challenging to get all the elements of the dish into the spoon.

One of my companions had eaten the meat version of this dish which contains abalone and other seafood, and he commented that thought this vegetarian version was far superior. He thought that the avocado and apple in this version really separated it from the meat version. Chef Schmidt later mentioned that the seaweed was foraged from a local beach.

Second Course:

Vegetable Composition - castelvetrano olives, citrus vinaigrette, chamomile spheres

I have to admit that when this dish first came out I was a little disappointed because it seemed like a repeat from the previous experience. However, the dish that I tasted was far superior as a result of the combination of being much more refined and having more seasonal vegetables included. If there was a vinaigrette in this dish, it was either very light or missing, which was a very good thing. Each of the seasonal vegetables in this dish was raw and had a distinct and enjoyable flavor. Some of the vegetables included were shavings of fennel, beets, asparagus, carrot, and squash. Additionally there were nasturtium petals and the most amazing pea pod. The highlight of this dish was definitely the raw pea pod included in the mixture. Each individual pea pod was bursting with a natural sweetness of the peas, which was a nice pleasant surprise.

Third Course:

Grilled Asparagus - burratta, meyer lemon, fried hen egg, chocolate mint

I thought this dish was the best dish of the night. The asparagus was grilled perfectly and the chocolate mint, Meyer lemon, and fried egg all worked in harmony to enhance the dish. Chef Schmidt mentioned that the asparagus was finished with a soy oil that gave the vegetables a nice savory umami flavor. The fried hen egg was a visual masterpiece and also contributed the runny yolk enhancement to the dish. The Meyer lemon provided the acid, and the chocolate mint provided the fresh herbal kick without being overpowering. The savory umami finish to the asparagus along with the hen egg actually had be say wow when I put everything in my mouth as my mouth was filled with all sorts of contrasting textures and flavors.

Fourth Course:

Artichoke Soup - blood orange, fried baby artichokes

The rest of the table thought this dish was the best of the night. The flavor of the soup was an intense concentration of artichoke, and definitely had everyone say wow. The soup was also very rich and pureed to a very nice texture. However the soup was over-salted, which brought this dish back down to terrestrial levels. The fried baby artichokes and sprig of baby fennel added nicely to the dish. Originally I thought the fennel was dill, but the fennel flavor came through and added freshness to the soup. After finishing this dish, I also took a sip of water and felt a large layer of salt as well as sour acidity wash away. This was an extremely unpleasant feeling.

Digression: Throughout the night, the waiter provided a selection of house-made breads. The first bread was an olive bread, which tasted very mediocre the first time since it wasn't fresh-baked, but which tasted very good when it was brought out freshly baked. There was also a sourdough that apparently was just introduced recently. The sourdough was everyone's favorite and showed remarkable skill in the chef as the sourdough culture was developed from scratch. The final bread was a multi-grain bread, which contained a surprise as there was a small spicy kick to it. Everyone enjoyed the soup so much that we asked the waiter to bring out additional bread so we could mop up the remains of the soup with the bread.

Fifth Course:

Spring Vegetables and Blossoms - nettle emulsion, tapioca

This dish was the most memorable dish of the night as it was the flavors and textures of this dish that I remembered most the following day. The tapioca was prepare with some ginger flavor that completely soaked into the tapioca. The resulting kick of the tapioca and nettle mixture with the vegetables was extremely pleasing. The mushrooms were prepared perfectly and were complimented well with the tapioca.

Sixth Course:

Roasted Summer Squash - basil, vadouvan, kimchee, fried peanuts

This dish was another hit with the table. While many restaurants do some sort of risotto, Chef Schmidt described this dish as more of a rice porridge. He said that he preferred to prepare the rice in this manner because it was creamier and more fulfilling. I agree with his statements that this dish was very satisfying. The Indian diners at the table mentioned that the rice porridge was very similar to an Indian dish except that the kick of the ginger in the rice was much stronger. However, I was very fond of the ginger kick and prefer the porridge the way it was. As a minor complaint, this dish was not over-salted, but the rice did give a weak impression of it. The salt amplified the sourness of the kimchee (that was mixed in the rice), which created a taste that is similar to being too salty, but was not. The squash was cooked perfectly and the peanuts provided a good and needed contrast to the rice.

Seventh Course:

A Day on the Farm - soil, seed, sprout, root, flower

This was another repeat from the previous menu which showed much refinement. I actually enjoyed this dish much more without the slab of meat on top. The flavors of all the vegetables were very amplified and they worked in harmony with the cocoa soil. I especially enjoyed the sauteed kale that was also finish with the soy oil for added umami. Other additions to this dish from the previous version include a celery root puree, white beans and peas that were mixed into the soil. Overall, this dish was much improved from the previous incarnation.

Note:
At this point in the meal, we were the last table at the restaurant so I started to use the flash to compensate for the extreme low-light conditions in the restaurant

Palette Cleanser:

Intermezzo - honey parfait, tangerine, pine

This dish was extremely well-prepared; everyone actually enjoyed this dish more than the dessert. The honey parfait was extremely enjoyable. The crushed pine nuts also included pine needles that were crushed and ground into the mixture, which gave nuts an extremely unique flavor. Two complaints about this dish: we were only given a spoon to eat this and it was difficult to get all the elements into the spoon, so a second utensil would have been appreciated, and we all wished that there was more.

Eighth Course:

Strawberries - various forms with balsamic gelato, black pepper gel, rosemary marshmallow

The waiter mentioned that the long pepper gel was included because putting pepper on strawberries that are not fully ripe has the effect of making it taste sweeter. He was correct in that everyone enjoyed the long pepper gel. The part about this dish that bothered me was the strawberry-prosecco sauce. This sauce was a nice addition to the dish in that the bubbles of the prosecco amplified the smell of the strawberry to give the dessert a very nice olfactory experience. However, when tasting the prosecco sauce, it basically tasted like a very cheap syrup that detracted from the rest of the dish. The cake was very moist and the strawberries were very enjoyable.

Mignardises:

Strawberry Pistachio Petit Fours

These petit fours were very moist and capped off an excellent evening of food. The restaurant was nice enough to provide a few additional petit fours to go so significant others that missed the meal could try some as well.

When Chef Schmidt came out to speak with us following the meal, I expressed that I enjoyed the vegetarian tasting over the snout to tail experience. I don't think he believed me. As to the challenge, I was extremely pleased with this meal and I truly enjoyed all the flavors of spring vegetables. However, even if I ate this way for every dinner the rest of my life, I would definitely miss the meat. I definitely think Chef Schmidt fulfilled his end of the challenge, but I also know that I enjoy eating meat. Also my favorite dish overall at Blanca still has to be the dumpling...

Ever since Snout to Tail, I have been an avid cheerleader for Blanca; I have suggested it many people. I have had two great experiences there myself, but I've heard from some of the people that I've sent that their experiences were not the same as mine. Chef Schmidt commented that he prefers to do tasting menus because the restaurant needs to be able to produce the same high-quality product night in and night out for every customer that walks in the door. I've seen a vast improvement in the dishes offered at Blanca and I hope the improvement continues, but I also hope that if you visit Blanca, you have the same experience that I've had.

Based on my two experiences at Blanca, I'm prepared to award them with both the gigabyte and oeno-byte awards. As for fine dining experiences in San Diego, Blanca provides the best value for the money. If you are not prepared for a tasting menu, they offer a deal where you can order four items for $58. Blanca also has an extensive wine list, which doesn't appear to have extreme markups in price. There are several good wines that can be ordered for less than $50. Owner Seth Baas prides himself on the selection of wine offered at the restaurant.

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