At the recent Harborfest, Bayside Park was the place to be for all day family fun. It was also the location for the Tacos & Spirits Revoultion from 11-2pm. So who makes the best tacos in San Diego? We came out to sample tacos and vote for our favorite! At a reduced price of $15 for food and an additional $5 to add spirits, this was a steal of a deal! Dennis wasn't available this time so I invited a good friend of mine to join me. We also checked out the rest of the Harborfest activities afterwards.
Tacos & Spirits Revolution:
My friend and I checked in and put on the bright purple event wristbands.
A quick look around showed a circle of tents surrounding tables for eating and drinking. A lovely blue ocean and skyline were visible to the west.
We were both ravenous. That morning I taught her some Tasting Events 101 such as "Don't eat right before an event."
The first booth we visited had the Spicy Grilled Fish from the Mariscos German Beyer Food Truck (pictured above).
Cheese fondue? Chocolate fondue? Sounds interesting but it's never struck me as something I 'must do'... Cue the entrance of The Melting Pot gift certificate. It was finally time to see what the fuss was about.
The Melting Pot is a national chain with a location in the UTC area, sharing a hotel plaza with a few other fine-dining establishments (Flemings, Trulucks, Cafe Japengo). You can valet directly in front of the restaurant or self park in the hotel parking lot down the hill. The restaurant will validate your parking stub for 3-hours. Self parking is somewhat of a mini-journey though, at least for your first time. Your choices are 1) finding your way to the parking entrance, then traversing the steep hill, or 2) take elevator to ground level, walk past a pool, into the hotel, up the grand staircase and out the hotel entrance to cross the plaza. I've done both. Do whichever you fancy!
The restaurant is always packed so there's usually a wait if you don't have a reservation. Outdoor seating seemed to be quicker for this visit, but it still took 30+ minutes.
Each table has one stovetop, or two for the larger tables, so generally the group must select the same cheese, broth, and chocolate bases. You can increment the serving size (set cost per serving) but it's not required. We decided to go for the 4-course meal to get the whole experience. You get to select each course as well as the cooking style from the menu.
Thirteen restaurants in Old Town are set to roll out tastes of their best Thursday, Sept.10, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Taste of Old Town will give food and spirit lovers the chance to blaze through the streets of Old Town sampling selections of spirits and wine paired with culinary specialties from the 13 participating restaurants. Oh-So Yummy attended last year and you can check out the Taste of Old Town 2014 recap here.
Produced by the Old Town Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Tequila Herradura, Taste of Old Town tickets are $35 online before the event or $40 the day of the event and can be purchased at the will call booth on San Diego Avenue, located next to the Old Town Market. A food-only ticket is available for $25. All of the restaurants will offer samples of their signature dishes, alongside a spirit or wine brand sampling its product.
“Last year’s sell-out Taste of Old Town was a spectacular success, but this year’s event is sure to knock your socks off,” said event chair Chuck Ross of Old Town Family Hospitality Corp., the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Fiesta de Reyes. “The restaurants are stepping up their game and are serving either specially created dishes for this event, or their signature favorites.”
BiCE Ristorante recently added lunch hours to their restaurant about 2 months ago. This establishment has been providing fine Italian dining in the gaslamp for the last eight years and invokes the combined talents of general manager and partner Mario Cassineri and Executive Chef Francesca Penoncelli. Both hail from Italy and bring with them the whimsical flavors and inspirations from their upbringing. We were invited to try out their new lunch menu and stopped in on a Friday.
Upon entry into BiCE (pronounced B-chay), you'll find a contemporary and elegant open bar and seating. The group sales manager Fabrizio introduced himself to us and answered our many curiosities. We also took a peek at the happy hour menu, available between 5-7pm. With the tempting food options and sensible prices, it was no surprise to hear that their happy hour was very popular!
Soon we were seated in the main dining area by the lead server Alfio, a friendly gentleman who was attentive and full of suggestions. We were unsure what to eat so Alfio put in a order for some of the more popular items on their lunch menu.
We spent a lovely but hot afternoon enjoying Latin food, wine and spirits at the 3rd annual Latin Food Fest Grande Tasting in San Diego. This event was held on August 15 between 11-3pm and for one price gave all-inclusive access to over 50 restaurants/businesses. Our experience with last year's Latin Food Fest San Diego as well as this year's Latin Food Fest Los Angeles meant we were no strangers to this tasting event! The event was held at the Broadway Pier, a heavy tourist area next to US mid-way and other San Diego sightseeing places. A parking lot with $16 all day parking was across the street from the main entrance.
This post is divided into the following sections: 1) Food, 2) Drinks, and 3) Awesome People. There were several celebrity chef sightings plus a mini interview!
Food:
We came hungry and feasted our eyes on all the delectable samples awaiting us... then our mouths carried forward the mission to eat from every booth!
Cafe Sevilla's seafood paella and patata bravas were both beautiful and enjoyable.
At West Coast Tavern, we found chicken sopas - very nice and crispy on the outer shell with shredded chicken inside.
Earlier this summer, Dennis and I joined other San Diego food bloggers for a dinner sponsored by Specialty Produce and held at Caffe Calabria in North Park.
Specialty Produce is a family owned and operated food service and retail fresh produce supplier. The above is an example of what you'd find in one of their Farmers' Market Boxes, though they also have a smaller Farmers' Market Bag available.
We were privileged to have Chef MJ Testa of Caffe Calabria and guest chef Javier Plascencia (left) with Chef Claudette Wilkins Zepeda (right) prepare the food for the evening. Items from the Farmers' Market Boxes were the inspiration of the dinner that night!
Hooray! Taco Mania starts today August 14 and goes until August 23!
Throughout our beautiful city, there are restaurants offering $2 tacos and $7 combos. We've done San Diego CityBeat Burger Week and Wing Week and can't wait to check out this promo as well!
After basking in the breathtaking beauty of the Grand Canyon, we headed out of that wilderness into a different kind of wild... the lively Las Vegas strip. After a few hours on the road, we finally arrived at our hotel, the MGM Grand.
The main reason we selected the MGM Grand Hotel? It was listed as having one of the top 10 pools in Vegas!
Presenting the long and winding lazy river in the Grand Pool Complex...
Even without tube rentals, you can easily ride the gentle current while traversing the various areas including the simulated rain droplets or occasional spouting fountains.
