Last month we attended the Grand Opening celebration of OB Warehouse, one of the newest Cohn Group restaurants in San Diego. We're already long time fans of their restaurants, particularly The Prado and Indigo Grill so of course we were interested! The grand opening required an online reservation and was only $15 for 2 drinks plus appetizers from 6-9pm. We figured that drinks alone were well worth the price!
We found the entrance without too much trouble.
You wouldn't expect it but as soon as you stepped inside, BAM! Bright retro comics adorned the hostess area before you headed up the stairs to the main restaurant.
The bar is on the right and super easy to find. The lighted drink sign is a big hint.
We started out with two of the included cocktails. The Handtruck cocktail (left), was made with Hendrick's Gin, fresh grapefruit juice, and basil syrup. There was a strong mint taste with a tinge of the grapefruit bitters. We also got the Workbench cocktail (right), made with Sailor Jerry Rum, the King's Ginger, and Luxardo maraschino cherry. All I could say was WHOA because it was quite alcoholic in taste.
I'm a member of a few local radio/tv stations (93.3 and CBS8) and recently redeemed a free lunch for 2 voucher at The Field Authentic Irish Pub in downtown.
Dennis and I were both STARVING when we met at The Field for lunch around 1:30pm. I blame this in part to my silly idea of attending the 85 Degree Bakery grand opening, which took away 3 hours of my life. Thank goodness Dennis is a patient husband and waited it out for me.
We looked over the menu and I selected the Chicken Whiskey Boxty ($15). The menu explains a Boxty as "A homemade potato Pancake cooked on a griddle. Originating from the Gaelic word “bactasi” referring to tradition of cooking potatoes on a open fire."
An actual CHEESE Festival? Why yes there is! Escondido (north county San Diego) produces the Wedge Cheese Festival, a glorious event of cheesy goodness paired with beer and wine. I heard about it after attending the Escondido Chocolate Festival in February and knew we'd have to check it out as well!
My cousins and I were trying to find a place to eat in Fountain Valley and we decided to get ramen at Shin-Sen-Gumi. I have tried their special event edition ramen at the Ramen Yokocho Festival in Los Angeles but had never been to one of their restaurants. I was pretty excited as their ramen was one of my favorites that day!
We arrived at the restaurant late into the afternoon and found other groups ahead of us. The restaurant was going to close in half an hour so we were a little worried that we would not have enough time. I was stoked when the waiter called our group from the waiting list but was then disheartened when he said he couldn't seat us because all of party members were not present. Doh!
By the time our last family member showed up we only had about twenty minutes left. Luckily we'd been eyeing the menu while waiting outside so we pretty much knew what we wanted to order.
I decided to get the T-set which was Hakata Ramen and Deep Fried Takoyaki which sold for only $8.50! My goodness. Why can't we get prices like this in San Diego?!
It's beginning to get chilly in San Diego, at least by our standards! Now's the perfect time to find that warm bowl of soup to keep us feeling toasty inside and out. This Moroccan Spiced Lentil Soup with Butternut Squash, Garbanzo and Fava Beans fit the bill for me and is pretty healthy too! It'll be my second recipe on Oh-SoYummy and it won't be the last!
85C Bakery Cafe just opened a location in San Diego, to the delight of many locals who previously drove to Irvine or farther for the goods. The bakery's grand opening was Friday Nov. 14, 2014 which includes specials throughout this weekend (today and tomorrow).
buy any drink, get a free green tea drink coupon for next visit
buy $20 worth and get a free mug (while supplies last)
The night before, there was a "preview" between 6-8pm. Here the owners, managers, and staff were introduced, pretty much everyone who made this bakery possible! *applause applause*. I only found out last minute through facebook from a friend who was suddenly 'invited.' I drove over curious if I could get in too and it worked! Attendees had at least one 'ticket', which was good for their choice of a free baked good, cake or drink. My friend who had an invite got FOUR. Me, only one ticket.
The bakery items were on the right side of the bakery, in clear bins. Trays, liners, and tongs are available for shoppers to pick the items of their choice.
I wandered through the bakery area and picked up this Tomato Cheese Pastry (2.00?). Delicious. You really can't go wrong with multi cheese blend over roma tomato and flakey pastry. I especially like the garlicky topping.
A couple months ago, my nephew flew into San Diego for comicon. He wanted to grab some food nearby so we headed to Underbelly Ramen House in Little Italy. The restaurant is on the smaller side indoors with a counter area where you order, surrounded by a few tables. They've also got additional seating in the open window bar seating and some tables on the other side of the restaurant. You have to go back out and around after ordering to get there. We also got these metal plates with your order number stamped out.
We started out with the Pork Belly Buns. This was my half out of two pieces. It is a nice tasty chunk of meat and accented with pickled cucumbers and fresh greens. They use a ginger hoisin mayo which gives it a little sweeter flavor. These come on steamed buns that are thick enough to hold the rest of ingredients like pita bread.
Birthdays are awesome times to see old friends and it's even better when two friends celebrate together! Two birds with one stone baby! These two ladies picked brunch at Sea & Smoke in Del Mar. I'd heard mentions on local food blogs (kirbie, jinxi, mary) so I was excited to see what they had to offer!
The entrance is on the side, facing away from the street.
The hostess area has a view into their kitchens! Logo'ed glass!
Here's one side of the dining area. We sat in a private back corner that had these cool shadow portraits. There's a whole another section to the left of the hostess stand that is more of a bar environment, including a patio area perfect for happy hour.
The glassware for water is so cool here. It made everyone think of soda cans because of the curve on top!
