Triangoli @ Cucina Sorella
Best Things I Ate This Month: September 2016
Finally made it over to the new concept from the Urban Kitchen Group (Cucina Urbana, Cucina Enoteca). The place has gone through a few iterations since the glory days as Ken Grill, but this one seems to be the biggest winner. Chef Daniel Wolinsky has a pretty great NYC Italian food pedigree, having worked at Frankies 570 Spuntino, and Prime Meats. And he’s making some of the better Italian food in San Diego at Sorella. Almost all hits in our tasting, but the triangolini pasta, made in-house of course, was phenomenal. Hard to go wrong with goat cheese, mascarpone, eggplant, fig and brown butter balsamic. Brown butter is fancy culinary speak for “jesus this is phenomenal.”
4055 Adams Ave., Kensington, urbankitchengroup.com
Pumpkin waffle @ Café 222
Best Things I Ate This Month: September 2016
I’ve been revisiting some of the all-time dishes in San Diego recently, and was reminded just how good this fall classic is. Chef-owner Terryl Gavre (who also co-owns Bankers Hill Bar + Restaurant and Market) does a pretty simple thing amazingly well. The pumpkin waffle has a chorus of awesome spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves), and topped with candied walnuts and housemade whipped cream. As pumpkin spice mania sweeps Starbucks America in the coming months, this local iteration reigns supreme.
222 Island Ave., Downtown, cafe222.com
Banh mi @ The Grill at the Lodge
Best Things I Ate This Month: September 2016
Chef Jeff Jackson is a local icon, one of the true greats at The Lodge at Torrey Pines. One of the things he’s long been known for are his fantastic liver pates. The classically trained French chef lends his pate to the banh mi at the newly redesigned Grill at The Lodge, and it’s a doozy with pickled veggies, cilantro, peppers, and unctuous pork. One of the iterations of the classic Vietnamese sandwich I’ve tasted in San Diego.
11480 N. Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, lodgetorreypines.com
