The Shores

Saturday, February 13th - The Shores; La Jolla, California

The Shores is located on the beach at La Jolla and they were offering A "Savor & Sip Pairing Dinner" that was based on chocolate in honor of Valentine's Day. The price was great: $30 per person for three courses and an additional $15 per person with wine pairings. Chelsi & Jason had attended a different dinner series at the Shores last year and really enjoyed it - this menu sounded really promising and we thought it would be a great way to kick off the trip!

Four hungry foodies


First thing first - once we were seated we ordered a drink. It had been a long day, what with getting up at the butt crack of stupid in Stinktown to catch a time machine to the west coast, and nothing helps ease the leftover tension travel like a good drink. Jay ordered a Blood Orange Martini made with Grey Goose, Grand Marnier, and Blood Orange while I opted for a drink called the Diva: Sparkling Wine, Elysium Black Muscat, and Aqua Perfecta Raspberry Liqueur. Both drinks turned out exceptionally well - either one could have been too potent or too sweet but they were subtle and tasty and packed a nice punch.

Thank you sir, may we have another?


Not surprisingly we were pretty hungry since all we'd really had to eat were those terrific burgers at Hodads earlier in ther day, so we ordered a cheese plate to share around the table. This was a wonderful cheese plate and a terrific bargain: for $10 we received Humboldt Fog, Point Reyes Blue, Winchester Gouda, and Green Hill Brie along with crostini, fresh fruits, nuts, and some kind of jam (probably fig). Apart from the blue, which I don't particulary care for, I enjoyed all of these cheeses. Nothing says vacation like a fabulous cheese plate!!

Cheesy does it!


The first two dinner courses allowed for a choice between two items while everything received the same dish for dessert. For his first course Jay chose the Sugar Cane Skewered Jumbo Prawns served with Sweet Potato Hash, Watercress, and Chocolate Balsamic BBQ Sauce. If we had a single complaint with this offering it was that it only came with one prawn - a single shrimpie isn't much in the way of an appetizer even if it is served with a tasty tater hash. It all tasted great, especially the balsamic BBQ sauce, but it would have been nice if they'd been a little more generous with the seafood.

Only one prawn ...


I went with the other option for my first course: Saffron Buttercup Squash Bisque with Citrus Herb Croutons, Proscuito, and Spicy Cacao Nibs. As skimpy as Jay's shrimpie dish was I felt like I was given a bottomless tureen of creamy, squashie soupie goodness. The soup was wonderful, especially with those bits of prosciuto. Both dishes were accompanied by a glass of 2008 Riesling, S.A. Prum, Mosel, Germany. I'm not always a fan of Riesling because many of them strike me as too sweet, but this one was very nice - light and bright.

Yum!


For my second course I selected the 5-Spice Midwestern Filet Mignon served with Mascarpone Whipped Potatoes, Fresh Veggies, and Chocolate Port Reduction. This was very good although I would have like more of those whipped taters - they were light and creamy and practically melted in my mouth. The filet was good and the reduction was a nice compliment to the meat. My wine was a 2005 Red Blend - Deerfield "Red Rex", North Coast, CA - I'm not always a fan of red wines because they can give me headaches but I liked this one ... in very small doses. It was a blend of Cab, Merlot, Syrah, Cab Franc, Malbec, and Sangiovese - it was strong and I ended up giving it to Jay because this is really his kind of wine.

Needs more taters, precious!


Jay chose the Pumpkin Seed Crusted Sea Bass with Portobello Mushroom Risotto, Candied Fennel, and El Rey Mole' Sauce. He really enjoyed this dish and said it was quite good - given the seeds and the mushrooms this was something I didn't even bother to taste. I know when I'm beat! Jay's wine was a 2007 Chardonnay, Cuvaison, Napa, CA - this wine I liked a lot even though it was supposed to go with Jay's fish. It was light and citrusy for a chardonnay, and not at all too heavy or oakey.

Seeds, shrooms, and sea bass


Dessert was the same for everyone: Half Baked Chocolate Molten Cake with Vanilla Bean Gelato, Sugar Cookie Roll, and Morello Cherry Coulis. We were all given a glass of 2007 Essensia Black Muscat, Quady Vineyards, Madera, CA. This was a lovely end to a very tasty meal - gooey sticky chocolate and rich vanilla gelato with a dessert wine that tastes just like port! It was almost too much, but we all made an heroic effort to clean our plates.

Mmmmm, dessert!


All in all this was a wonderful meal in a lovely setting - the food was well prepared and nicely presented, the service was good, the drinks were generously poured, the comapny was fabulous, and who among us doesn't enjoy listening to the sound of the ocean waves lapping the shore while having dinner? If we lived in San Diego we would definitely pay The Shores another visit. As it is, dining there with our friends was a great treat - one we hope to repeat some day!

Hodads - Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA

Saturday, February 13th - Hodads Burgers and Paradise on Earth Two Thousand Miles and a Beach Away from Stinktown!

Considered one of the best burgers in America and recently listed by CNN as one of the five best burgers in the entire country, Hodads has been flipping beef patties in Ocean Beach since 1969. The place is something of a dive but don't let that fool you; these burgers are so good that people - the four of us included - will stand in line outside the store front for a table inside the cramped little establishment where burger nirvana awaits. I'd say we waited in line for about 30 minutes before a four-topper opened up, but who cares about wait times when you're with your lovey, your long-lost foodie friends, and are standing two blocks from the beach in 70-degree temperatures with an ocean-kissed breeze blowing through your Stinktown hair?

Pacific Ocean with high waves


Hodads from a distance


Some interior shots of the establishment for your viewing pleasure:

We all ordered tall glasses of refreshing water along with some beer to get the trip properly started; Jason, Chelsi and Jason (yes, there are two Jasons ... get used to it!) also split an order of onion rings which came with "I'm not crying" hot sauce for dippage.

Onion Rings o'Plenty

I ordered a bacon cheeseburger with tomato - they held all the other stuff that normally comes with the burger (onions, lettuce, mayo) because I don't like any of it, especially on a burger. Jason ordered a bacon cheeseburger basket, which means his came with fries. This was one of the best cheeseburgers I've had in a long, long time. The meat was juicy and flavorful without excess grease; the bun was fresh and soft; and the bacon was amazing - rather than plop down a couple of slices they formed a sort of bacon patty that was placed over the hamburger patty, ensuring that each bite was filled with bovine-porkie goodness!

Bacon Cheeseburger


Bacon Cheeseburger Basket

So, was Hodads worth the wait?

Hell, yes!

Would we go back again?

Absolutely!

Should you pay Hodads a visit when the opportunity presents itself?

Yes indeedy, because as they so succinctly state on their website: cows taste good!!!

Eleven Eleven Mississippi

Saturday, February 20th - Jay & Bendy Try a New Dinner Spot Way Far Away in Downtown St. Louis

Here's how it all started:

STL Foodie offered a really unique and fun product around the Christmas holidays: a pack of 52 playing card-sized gift certificates worth $10 off a meal at 52 specific St. Louis restaurants. They are all owner-operated establishments and many of them are trendy hot spots - for $30 we were able to buy the entire pack and a portion of the proceeds were donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I can't pass up something like that - a worthy cause gets some much needed money and my belly gets some much needed food!

Jay and I had tickets for the St. Louis Symphony's performance of Bugs Bunny on Broadway this night and since we were already going to be driving so far from home we thought we might as well use one of our gift certificates to try a new restaurant. I chose Eleven Eleven Mississippi because it's located about five minutes from Powell Symphony Hall and because their menu really sounded appealing. They market themselves as a blend of Northern Californian and Tuscan influenced cuisine operating as something along the lines of a wine country bistro. The restaurant is located in a restored historic brick warehouse in the Lafayette Square neighborhood. That doesn't mean much to either Jay or me ... we just want good food, especially if we're driving 45 miles out of the way to eat it.

Now, to be totally fair and upfront, I was sick last weekend when we dined here. I brought home a nasty cold from California and I'm more than willing to admit that my tastebuds may have been off. But I will say this: Jay didn't disagree with my final assessment and he wasn't sick then and still hasn't gotten sick one week after the fact. So, he either agrees with me one hundred percent or just doesn't care enough to offer up a dissenting opinion. ;-)

Our reservation was for 5:30PM - we arrived a bit early but were seated immediately. The restaurant was only about 1/3 full at that time but when we left the place was packed. It's popular, no doubt about that. Our waiter took far too long to make it to our table and thankfully a completely random waiter brought us some water to drink ... he probably thought I was going to choke to death with all that hacking I was doing at the table.

Eleven Eleven prides itself on having a comprehensive wine list. It was decent but I can't say that Jay or I were bowled over by it. Maybe if we'd had a server who was more interested in discourse we might have pursued it a little further and opted for a wine flight, but he really wasn't overly helpful so we just selected a glass of Pinot Grigio for me and a Shiraz for Jay.

We split an appetizer that had tremendous promise based on the menu description: Wild Boar Ravioli with Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Raviolis


My issues with this dish were two-fold; first of all it was drowning in sauce and secondly there was hardly any filling in the ravioli. It's a Stinktown failing to smother pasta in so much sauce that it's impossible to taste anything else, but I do not like that habit one bit. A little bit of sauce goes a long way and when there is a surfeit of it I always end up wondering what the kitchen is trying to hide. In this instance I think they were trying to hide the fact that these little pillows were only half filled with beef ... or boar ... or whatever it was supposed to be. There was just a hint of gamey flavor but with all that damn sauce it was really hard to tell what kind of meat went into that filling. I was disappointed - this sounded so wonderful when I read it on the menu and the result was mediocre at best.

Jay and I both ended up ordering dinner specials for our entrees. I selected the Pan Seared Day Boat Scallops with Grilled Spinach and Apricot Risotto - there was also a port wine reduction mixed with a buerre blanc. The scallops were pretty good - I did get one that was way too chewy and gristly to eat, but the rest were cooked very well and were light and silky. The sauce was a nice compliment to the scallops but again ... there was major disappointment with this dish and in this case it was the risotto. I expected the apricot to be very subtle but instead it was overpoweringly sweet and I couldn't eat more than one forkful of it. I will give them credit for cooking the risotto well but the apricot was a total mis-fire and ruined the whole effect of the dish. Who wants to eat sweet risotto with their scallops? BLEH!

Scallops and plain old bad risotto


Jason ordered the veal shank which was served on a bed of creamy mashed taters and vegetables that unfortunately included mushrooms. His dish was the real winner of the night - the meat was tender and flavorful and those potatoes were a creamy dreamy taste treat! Luckily he shared them with me so I was able to experience some spud-love.

Veal Shank


I was less than impressed by the dessert menu. I must be turning into a demanding snob in my old age, but it seems like everyone has the same damn dessert options: creme brulee; bread pudding; dark chocolate cake; some kind of banana-y dessert; and maybe gooey butter cake as a nod to local tastes. We went for the one thing that we thought sounded different and chose the Peanut Butter with Dark Chocolate Tower, Peanut Brittle Crisp, and Concord Syrup. We both ordered cappuccinos to drink with dessert.

The mousse looked promising and was very light; the initial taste was reminiscent of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup so I thought that we might have found a winner but then unfortunately it finished off with a really sour aftertaste that no amount of chocolate could erase. We also were under the impression that the sauces on the plate were supposed to be salt caramel and chocolate ... instead we got something that tasted like runny grape jelly and simple syrup. Too sweet again - BLEH!

And, just to continue the nothing made Bendy happy at dinner theme, there was far too much foam in my cappuccino and not nearly enough coffee. So there!

Foam-u-ccino and a horrid peanut mousse thing


We really felt like the restaurant was trying too hard to impress. There are some great ideas on the menu and the presentations were nice in most respects but the flavors need work. In many cases what we found was that certain aspects of a dish overpowered the primary item; for example the tomato sauce that covered any taste of the wild boar ravioli. Perhaps Jay and I are just becoming more discerning and demanding after having a chance to try different things around the country; perhaps my under-the-weather-ness influenced my taste pickiness; perhaps the kitchen had an off night. All I know is that the experience wasn't good enough or impressive enough to warrant a second visit.

As an end note, I'd just like to say that Bugs Bunny on Broadway was tremendous fun and if the show ever makes an appearance in your city and you have the opportunity to attend, do so! The show has great cartoons including What's Opera Doc? The Rabbit of Seville, and a Corny Concerto and truly wonderful classical music performed by a first class orchestra. Even though I was feeling pretty punk I'm glad we decided to go - laughter is the best medicine after all!